WARTON, England—BAE Systems is in the process of building an aerospace “factory of the future” at its plant here that assembles the Typhoon fighter jet. When it ramps up later this year, the retooled facility will feature state-of-the-art assembly tools and systems, including collaborative robots.
“Our engineers will soon benefit from collaborative robots designed to support people with complex manufacturing of combat aircraft,” says Dave Holmes, manufacturing director at BAE Systems’ air business. “We’ve only really started to scratch the surface of what automation can do in industry and some really exciting possibilities are emerging as we enter the fourth industrial revolution.