How Boeing makes 40 737s a month

[53k]

Did you ever wonder how Boeing produces over forty 737 airplanes a month?

The train arrives with the main body in the morning.

This 3:28 minute video is fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/SE71NJl-naY?autoplay=1

[48skyliner]

The 737 is certainly more complex than anything built in WWII, but it is interesting to compare this with the B-17 production. The engines, landing gear and gun turrets were shipped in, but the structure was built in-house, and they were at one point delivering 16 airplanes a day from the Seattle plant.

[Gunslinger]

That was great. Thanks for the link.

[Buzzard]

Thanks 53k for the link to knowledge-love it.

[Chris Pile]

Yup. The bodies are made in Wichita, and then are shipped halfway across the country via rail. It's a beautiful thing.

[gsx_martin]

The Airbus A320 production look nearly similar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWtlDsteh5o

We produce approx. 20-25 aircrafts of the A320 Family in Hamburg/Germany, 15-18 in Toulouse/France, 4-6 in Tianjin/China and 4 in Mobile/Alabama in a month

The bodies and parts are made in several european countries, for example Toulouse/France, Broughton/Great Britain, Getafe/Spain, Stade/Germany and then will be shipped for assembly to the 4 main production facilities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CguTM233xoc

[Big Smooth]

We can ramp up even more :-) ... If it aint Boeing I'm not going...

Boeing is also global. Airbus and Boeing rely on the same supply chain. We are competitors, but work together at an international level to make aviation safe.

[Jarrod]

I had the privilege of touring the Airbus assembly plant in Mobile on Monday. Very impressive. I've been in paper mills, foundrys, cryogenic tank plants, and steel mills before. Needless to say this was the cleanest and most controlled facility. Also the only climate controlled large plant - which is nice in south Alabama in the summer. The most interesting thing to me is that all of the component parts except engines are shipped from Germany even though a large percentage of the other parts are made in America. Apparently it is a logistical necessity despite shipping costs. And they bragged that they have more American parts in their plane than the other company (as they called Boeing). Also said that if they stopped taking orders on the 320/321 today, it would take 9 years at current production to fill all orders. At around $100 million per plane.

[48skyliner]

Selling these very expensive airplanes in foreign countries always involves a lot of politics. The agreement to have mechanical, hydraulic and electronic parts and even structural assemblies, like flaps and body panels, made in the customer country is often part of the sales negotiations.

[Swifster]

That was very interesting. Short of painting the plane last, it's very much like a modern auto assembly plant (only larger).

[gsx_martin]

.... We are competitors, but work together at an international level to make aviation safe.

That's true

[Commander Eddie]

One of my brothers works at the Boeing plant in Everett Washington and I had a chance to tour part of the facility last year during there occasional Friends & Family day. He programs the 5-axis CNC machines that make some of the critical parts, right down to shims. I was very impressed by the scale of the place. It is also very clean. Overhead cranes move almost everything during assembly. One of the buildings I toured was 5 million square feet. Awsome. This is construction on a grand scale.
If any of you ever get a chance to do this I highly recommend it. My brother will be retiring from Boeing soon and he actually said he will miss it.

[Chris Pile]

He programs the 5-axis CNC machines that make some of the critical parts, right down to shims

So he's a CATIA jockey?

[rockne10]

It amounts to the world making jets for the world. Whether Boeing or Airbus, the global economy can not be reversed.

http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-787-dreamliner-structure-suppliers-2013-10

[gsx_martin]

Not all suppliers, but also interesting (FAL means Final Assembly Line):