Having the world’s most productive final-assembly plant isn’t good enough for the Boeing Co.
The aerospace giant is in the process of making its Renton plant, which assembles the single-aisle 737, churn out a mind-spinning 52 aircraft a month by 2018.
That will be 10 more than the current 42 it produces. At the same time, Boeing will be adding the 737 MAX airplanes into the production line.
After 2018, Boeing could ramp up the production rate to 63 a month, which it could do without expanding the plant’s footprint.
The Seattle Times’ Dominic Gates has a write up about the changes afoot in Renton. (The article includes a great interactive graphic of the 737 production line.)
The factory is a wonder of modern industrial design and processes. Of course, it also is a testament to the quality of Boeing’s workforce — blue collar and white collar.
For comparison, Boeing’s rival, Airbus uses three factories — in France, Germany and China — to assemble its competing single-aisle A320 jetliners at the same rate.
“Electroimpact’s fingerprints are everywhere in the Renton building where Boeing makes the 737 wings,” Gates writes. “The high-end engineering firm, headquartered in Mukilteo, has designed most of the automated equipment that makes the wings for both Airbus and Boeing.”
Ten years ago, Boeing was making 21 737s a month with a workforce of 9,275 in Renton. As of late 2013, the company had doubled production to 42 a month with a workforce of 12,132, he writes.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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