Pratt & Whitney Canada is planning to build PW600 family engines at the unprecedented rate of one every 8h as it prepares to cope with what it believes could be massive production demand for the new generation of very light jets.
"We know exactly what we have to do, and an 8h assembly time is our target," says P&WC president Alain Bellemare. The rapid assembly scheme, built on the concept of a moving production line, is based on a novel scheme established through a United Technologies-developed "3P" production planning process.
P&WC is streamlining the flow from suppliers and has simulated the entire process from assembly through to test. "We're going from days to hours," says Bellemare, who says the numbers of suppliers have been reduced by 60% to around 26.
"We are gearing up for 1,000 engines a year," he adds, saying this will include the PW610F for the Eclipse 500 and the PW615F for Cessna's Citation Mustang. P&WC also plans to extend the 3P process to cover the PW300 and "all our new products", says Bellemare, who adds that "20 engines are in the development pipeline". The 8h assembly plan will be carried through from "day one" even if P&WC's production target does not achieve the high rates envisaged.
The PW610F is on track to make its first flight on the company's testbed as early as the end of September.
Source: Flight International
