EVERETT, WA—Kuka Aerospace plans to open a new 29,000-square-foot facility here adjacent to Boeing’s assembly plant. The facility will employ 75 people when fully operational.
AUBURN, AL—GE Aviation is investing $50 million to bring 3D printing technology to its assembly plant here. The company plans to use high volume 3D printing to mass-produce components for jet engines.
SEATTLE—Boeing has pushed some factory work on the 787 Dreamliner to the uncovered tarmac outside its assembly plant in Washington state in an effort to keep churning out the popular plane at a rate of one every three days. At the same time, at least 16 Italian-made fuselage sections for the 787 have stacked up in a Boeing hangar in Wichita, KS, rather than being shipped directly to the factory, a sign of changes in the production process.
CHICAGO—Sciaky Inc. has received a purchase order from a major aerospace parts maker to provide an electron beam additive manufacturing system. The system will help the manufacturer save time and cost when producing large, high-value metal parts.
Automakers are increasingly using hydroformed metal tubing in vehicular structures. Compared with stamped and welded metal parts, hydroformed parts weigh less, cost less, and have a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio.
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC—Boeing may now proceed with development of almost 500 acres near its assembly plant here. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved the aerospace company’s plans to offset the loss of wetlands at the site by preserving nearly 4,000 acres near the Francis Marion National Forest northeast of Charleston.
EVERETT, WA—Boeing may deploy robots on its airplane assembly lines as early as next year. The company has been testing its Fuselage Automated Upright Build technology in secret over the past year and has found success drilling rivet holes on 777 fuselages. Boeing believes the FAUB will improve workplace safety and production speed.
SEATTLE—A Chinese citizen was charged with plotting to steal data from U.S. defense contractors, including a successful hack of Boeing’s computer system, amid an expanding crackdown on industrial espionage by China.
SHANGHAI—Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China has opened a cavernous assembly plant near the airport here that will soon produce a rival to the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.
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