Airbus is investing in automation to tackle huge backlogs for its commercial jetliners. The European company plans to boost output of its most popular airplane, the A320, over the next few years.
By 2018, Airbus expects to raise production rates from 42 planes a month to 50 units. It eventually plans to crank up A320 production to 60 planes a month at its factories in China, France, Germany and the United States. That kind of production volume, which would be unprecedented in the commercial aerospace industry, will require automated assembly lines.