Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [84]
In late March, from the other side of the globe, the first Alenia-built fuselage Sections 44 and 46 arrived in Charleston.
The first half of 2007 was perhaps the most critical period in the history of the 787, as the trickle of parts arriving at Everett turned into a torrent. On May 11 the first Section 41 nose unit and aft fuselage section arrived from Spirit in Wichita and Vought in Charleston, respectively. With the arrival of the first wing set from Japan on May 15, and the first center fuselage sections from Global Aeronautica the following day, the major elements for ZA001 were finally in place and assembly could start.
Even though the first center fuselage and nose Section 41 were loaded into the assembly jigs on May 16, the process was officially marked by a ceremony five days later, on May 21. “Today we begin assembling the first airplane of a new generation,” said Strode, who added, “the 787 not only will revolutionize air travel, it represents a new way of building airplanes.” The mood at the event—outwardly, at least—was upbeat, and Boeing felt optimistic about meeting the target date for roll-out, which was set for July 8, 2007. In the U.S. dating convention, this was 7-8-07, a day carefully selected to symbolize the Dreamliner as well as to avoid a clash with the Paris Air Show. The “power on” milestone, in which all the systems would be electrically activated for the first time, was penciled in for late July, with first flight targeted for August 28, 2007.
LEAN LINE
Amid the growing anticipation, Boeing officially inaugurated its 787 final assembly line and invited the media to view the closely guarded facility in late May. Although only allowed to look down from a balcony high up in the west wall of Building 40-26, the dramatic new changes were immediately obvious in the “lean” way Boeing planned to put the new Dreamliner together.
The new vision for 787 assembly was a simple nose-to-tail flow. Gone was the line of partly assembled aircraft in their traditional “slant” positions, and with it the complex choreography of moving them down the line slot by slot. Compared with the visually busy lines elsewhere throughout Everett, the 787 line in Building 40-26 would seem almost empty even when it was pumping out one aircraft every three days—a record for any widebody.
The line looked uncluttered mostly because the massive “monument” assembly tools had vanished as part of the move to “lean.” Thanks to this, and the decision to bring in the 787 parts as large sub-assemblies, the line and its new processes were unlike anything seen before in the Everett building since the first bays were erected for the 747 program more than forty years ago. “This is a very different production model,” said Westby. “There are changes in technology covering everything from the way we exchange information to the logistics involved in how we get the parts here.”
Looking like a real aircraft for the first time, the 787 moves to position two for landing gear and engine installation, as well as interior installation. In this scene, however, the second flyable 787—ZA002—remains far from being as complete as it should be at this stage. Although components were 50 percent more complete than ZA001 on arrival at Everett starting from June 2007, final assembly did not start until February 2008—about six months later than expected. Note the rudder already prepainted for balance reasons in ANA livery, and the distant 777 tail in Emirates colors in the adjacent assembly bay. Mark Wagner
Although Boeing’s principles incorporated a “real focus on ease of manufacturing as well as ease of design,” Westby added, “we’ve take a lot from the people who are helping us build this around the world. But by far, we’ve taken the most from what we’ve learned on our other lines, particularly the 737 and 777.”
By the time the 787 assembly was being established, the 737 and 777 lines were flowing through the factory with aircraft assembled in a nose-to-tail position, the 737 line at Renton moving