As the first 737 Max 8 test aircraft moves the pre-flight phase, Boeing now has one-third more production capacity in the 737 final assembly centre in Renton, Washington.
The first product to emerge from the newly-opened “central line” gives Boeing more flexibility to respond to Airbus’ recent decision to increase A320 output to 60 aircraft per month before 2020.
So far, company officials haven’t announced a similar plan to raise production beyond a target of 52 per month set for 2018. But executives have said there remains “upward pressure” on 737 demand and negotiations are ongoing with the supply chain.
“We are studying all the time,” says Keith Leverkuhn, Boeing vice-president and general manager of the 737 programme. “Airbus made their announcement. We like where we’re at. [Boeing] is challenging the supply chain all the time going, ‘What if? How high can you go?’”
In a different way, “going higher” was exactly how Boeing created extra capacity in Renton’s densely-packed facility. Whereas Airbus spreads final assembly across four production lines scattered across Europe, China and the USA, Boeing concentrates 737 final assembly under a single roof with two hangar bays named 4-81 and 4-82.
Each hangar has contained a single assembly line with an adjacent feeder line running alongside. To establish a third assembly line, Boeing consolidated both feeder lines into a single, three-level vertical structure called the systems integration tool inside the 4-82 hangar.
On the top two floors, workers install wiring and electronic systems inside completed fuselages nestled into nine available positions, with three positions each dedicated to one of the three assembly lines. The lowest floor holds the build-up stations for major sections, such as the stabilisers and nacelles.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
