Despite various delays due to everything from a machinists
strike to fastener glitches, Boeing announced last week its final 787
Dreamliner designated for flight test is now undergoing final assembly.
Boeing announced last week that progress is continuing on
its fleet of 787 Dreamliners. The ZA001 - the first flight test Dreamliner - is
having its paint touched up before finishing factory testing. Power was brought
onto the second airplane, the ZA002, in late February. The ZA002 is now undergoing
build verification tests. Production work continues on the ZA003, ZA004 and
ZA005.
Late last year, fastener
problems plagued the project. A fastener shortage was a major problem in
the early production stages of the airplane. Later Boeing reported installation
problems with the fasteners - so much so they removed and replaced every
fastener pin to get the problem fixed as quickly as possible. The pin was, at
times, the incorrect length.
A strike by the International Assn. of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers last September, along with supply chain delays, forced Boeing
to adjust
its production and delivery schedule. The strike halted production in the
company's factories for nearly two months. At the time, Boeing officials said
they would not intend to assemble airplanes during the strike.
The 787 Dreamliner has orders for 878 airplanes for 57
customers.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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