Andrew Doyle/LONDON
FOKKER WILL have cut build times for its JetLine family of Fokker 70 and 100 regional jets from 30 months, as it stood in 1992, to just nine months by the second half of 1995, the company claims.
The Dutch manufacturer has set three separate targets to enable the nine-month goal to be reached, by sharing equally the 180 working days available between the manufacture of parts subassembly of major components and final assembly of the complete aircraft.
Several measures have been implemented to realise the 60-day target for parts manufacture, including the elimination of storage phases between manufacturing steps and a review of parts routing.
In the final-assembly stage, Fokker has concentrated on network analysis and redesign of the production flow.
Fokker says that the production flexibility afforded by short lead times will be "a vital weapon in winning orders" in future years.
Source: Flight International