Airbus has passed the halfway mark in its effort to slash its A320 family final-assembly process from 43 working days to around 25 by year-end.
The European manufacturer initiated the programme in Hamburg and Toulouse in 2003.
"It has involved close collaboration between both sites to re-engineer all facets of the aircraft assembly process: structural assembly, systems' testing and flight line," Airbus says. It adds that its Hamburg site – which assembles A318s, A319s and A321s – and its Toulouse A320 line have reduced the number of workstations used to put the aircraft together.
"In Toulouse a 50% decrease in this part of the production cycle has been achieved by replacing the three stations needed to assemble one aircraft by a single integrated station," the company says.
"Similar time-reducing principles have been applied to the Hamburg site, where a final assembly line for A320 family aircraft was inaugurated in March."
Airbus points to other factors that have contributed to getting lead times down, including the provision of new machinery and tooling systems.
Source: Flight International
