Boeing said it will take over the Boeing 747 fuselage panel work from its supplier Triumph Aerostructures. The fuselage panels will be...
Boeing said it will take over the Boeing 747 fuselage panel work from its supplier Triumph Aerostructures.
The fuselage panels will be built at Boeing's Macon, Georgia facility beginning in 2018, providing assembled fuselage panels to Boeing's 747 final assembly line in Everett, Washington
Boeing says it has worked with Triumph Aerostructures for many months to ensure a smooth transition for the 747 supply chain.
Boeing will invest approximately $80 million in employee training, tooling and building modifications over the next three years to transition Macon into a commercial aircraft structure manufacturing unit, as current defense work at the facility is scheduled to be complete in mid-2016.
Defense work currently performed at the Macon site includes replacement center wing sections for the A-10 Thunderbolt II, as well as sub-assemblies for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Fuselage panels for the C-17 Globemaster transport airplane were also produced at the site until earlier this year.
Facility staffing will be temporarily reduced during the transition. The site will ramp up to full production on 747 fuselage panels by mid-2018, at which point it will employ up to 200 people.
Macon will become the twelfth manufacturing site for the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Fabrication organization, which has operations in three countries.
The fuselage panel assembly transfer to the Macon site is the first of several new work packages for the 747 currently supplied by Triumph Aerostructures that Boeing will announce in the coming months.
Other 747 structures work now done by Triumph Aerostructures, including the empennage, floor beams and flight surfaces, is currently being competitively bid to selected suppliers. Boeing expects to have sourcing decisions for all the work completed this year.
Triumph has produced Boeing 747 fuselage panels since the aircraft program began in 1966, delivering more than 1,400 fuselage ship sets, including those for Air Force One. This fuselage section is 172 feet long. Each shipset has 21 major side and door panels delivered to Boeing in six custom, oversized railcars.
At Macon, Boeing will equip the site with new tooling and equipment, which will occupy the entirety of the 220,000 square foot facility. A new advanced manufacturing production system will reduce the time to produce fuselage panels while also increasing quality and enhancing employee safety.
Boeing manufactures the latest variant of the iconic 747 jumbo jet designated 747-8 in passenger and freighter variant.
The successful advent of more efficient twin engined jetliners like Boeing 777, 787, Airbus A330, A350 has resulted in sales drought for the four engined Boeing 747 and its European rival Airbus A380.
Boeing currently has 25 firm orders for the type, enough to sustain production for 2 years.
