on“ anything that holds or puts aircraft together and sub-components. The facility is focused on automated industrial systems in North America.” They manage all aspects of program management in the engineering supply chain, installation, service, and support. Once that’ s in place, they support those products. Their service includes software developed for an automated assembly line; machines require automation and programming.
Rodeheaver said,“ We offer a factory 4.0 solution; the core intention is to collect metadata and deliver it to the client so they can choose to integrate it into other systems.”
In the aerospace industry, process engineers like to be involved from the beginning of a project.“ We can start very early in the process,” Rodeheaver shared. He said that allows them to ask how they want to build an aircraft while assessing skill sets and experience across the organization.
With this approach, they review the factory layout, key equipment, production rates and throughputs, financial analyses and budgets, and offer joint engineering with the process. He added,“ We prefer this because we create a solution that will work for them and is viable in the industry, over specifications that may not be easy to meet.”
Hanson reiterated this thinking,“ Depending on where the customer is in the lifecycle, we can get involved. He said that when customers launch a new aircraft product, such as commercial aerospace or rotorcraft, they start at the beginning of the lifecycle.“ We can do studies, plant layout, recommend how much equipment you need, what the process flow will look like, how much staffing is needed, and provide an estimate of costs.” Their thought process is that, traditionally, an automation project concluded with installation and commissioning. Today, they understand that moment marks the true beginning of its industrial life, designed to work alongside people, reinforce its technical capabilities, and ensure stable, safe production environments over time. They have tools that provide a visual summary of the proposed factory. He calls this white-space engineering; they ask, " Where can we apply automation?"
Torres said this shift in thinking is a cultural shift from traditional manufacturing to automation over the past few decades.“ Many of today’ s difficulties stem from designs that were not conceived with automation in mind: complex tolerances, geometric variability, and artisanal processes
28 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS