BOEING’ S $ 1 BILLION INVESTMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE UNDERSCORES THE COMPANY’ S LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO THE PUGET SOUND REGION, where the Renton factory has
served as the home of the 737— Boeing’ s best-selling commercial airplane family— for more than five decades. Boeing will continue building 737s in Renton for years to come. As the latest generation, the 737 MAX continues to see robust global demand from airlines, with thousands of airplanes in the company’ s backlog.
As part of its efforts to better meet this demand, Boeing recently opened a new production line for the narrowbody airplane. Known as the“ 737 North Line,” this fourth production line sits approximately 40 miles north of Renton, in Boeing’ s Everett factory.
Since it opened in 1967, the Everett site has been synonymous with Boeing’ s wide-body airplane programs— including the 747, 767 and 777. With the introduction of narrow-body production to the site, Boeing will increase its capacity by building on the long history of aerospace in the Puget Sound region.
Wings begin assembly in Renton before traveling on road to the Everett factory. Here hydraulics and electrical systems are installed.( Paul Gordon photo © Boeing)
PREPARING FOR PRODUCTION
The transition to a multi-site production strategy for the 737 has been a years-long undertaking. First, construction within the Everett factory transformed an existing widebody production bay into one suitable for narrow-body production. This included building new tooling to hold 737 fuselages before landing gear are installed, as well as dividing the space into more factory positions to align with the production process used in Renton.
In addition, Boeing engineers developed a wing transportation system— allowing partially assembled airplane wings to travel from Renton to Everett by road. Teams in Renton will continue assembling the wing structure, before transporting the wing to Everett for the installation of hydraulics and electronic systems. Once finalized, the wing is ready-at-hand to be joined with the fuselage.
20 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS