metrology
“In the connected factory of the
future, increased levels of
information and automation
become the main focus in testing”
helps but is not unnecessarily costly, does
not increase the floorspace needed or
make the final assembly line a less
flexible environment.
Along with the semi-automated and
automated tests, simulations for more
automation and the development of the
company-wide DDMS, there are changes
being introduced for staff. They now use
tablet computers for testing and
inspection, which Airbus says improves
both the efficiency and effectiveness of
the quality test and inspection work
needed on the FAL.
The DDMS is also expected to enable
an operator-centric production system in
which workers will use augmented reality
with information overlaid over the lenses
of smart glasses. The system, which is
called Realistic Human Ergonomic
60 SEPTEMBER 2019 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
Analysis (RHEA) requires staff to wear sets of goggles
that provide the 3D virtual XWB models within their
field-of-view to interact with. This is expected to help
with equipment installation by showing where cables
and brackets need to go, avoiding quality issues and
reducing rework. The pace of technological change on
the shop floor is so great that Airbus is altering how it
trains its apprentices by putting more emphasis on IT
systems and robotics.
In the connected factory of the future, increased
levels of information and automation become the main
focus in testing. From the test stand, the automated or
semi-automated test equipment sends its data into an
interoperable platform, like Skywise. Here it is added to
and compared to suppliers’ data, creating a coherent
picture of the quality standards. This in turn influences
the FAL’s digital twin, while augmented reality on the
shop floor is used to remove simple human error that
reduces quality. In this way, testing generates data and
increasingly data is the life blood of innovation. \\
200
data integrity personnel
10
A350s built every
month
AIRBUS A350
EXTRA WIDEBODY (XWB)
With the retirement of the Airbus A380
program, the A350-1000, the larger of
the two versions of the A350, is now the
biggest aircraft the European aerospace
company produces. The A350 XWB is
Airbus’ long-range aircraft family and the
newest member of the European firm’s
widebody product range. The A350s are
built in Toulouse at the company’s newest
final assembly line (FAL), called the Roger
Béteille A350 XWB FAL.
Unveiled in October 2012, the Roger
Béteille A350 XWB FAL consists of two
buildings, covering 11 hectares of land in
total. Roger Béteille was a founding father
of Airbus and died in June 2019. Designed to
have the lowest environmental footprint of
any FAL ever built by Airbus, this 72,000m2,
L-shaped facility houses the initial stages
of final assembly, involving the join-up
of fuselage and wings. It also includes
19,000m2 of offices, workshops and
logistics areas.
The first A350 was delivered to Airbus’
launch customer, Qatar Airways, on 22
December 2014 and that aircraft,
an A350-900, started commercial operations
on 15 January 2015, flying daily from Doha
to Frankfurt. Airbus achieved its production
rate goal of making 10 A350s per month
earlier this year – a goal it had set itself for
2018. It is now considering increasing its
A350 production to 13 a month.
4
4 // The 72,000m2 Roger
Béteille A350 XWB final
assembly line in Toulouse,
France is where the
aircraft’s wings are joined to
the fuselage
(Credit: Robert Coppinger)
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