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Aircraft Interiors chooses Rexroth aluminum framing systems
01 Dec '07
3 min read
C & D Zodiac nearly tripled its production rate by converting its airline passenger seat assembly line from batch and queue to continuous flow manufacturing using a series of assembly stations constructed of Rexroth aluminum structural framing.
C & D Zodiac Inc of Ontario, California, designs and manufactures multiple components for commercial aircraft cabin interiors. The company recently decided to convert its production line from a batch and queue system to a one-piece, continuous flow line.
C & D now uses a series of assembly station carts constructed entirely of aluminum structural framing components and systems supplied by the Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies group of the Bosch Rexroth Corporation. Now, a finished chair ranging in price from $1,000 to $3,200 comes off the assembly line every 18 minutes in the box and ready to be shipped, representing a 196 percent increase compared to prior production rates.
According to Ryan Newham, C & D Zodiac industrial engineer, the batch and queue system repeatedly left the production line with a hundred or more seats on the production floor in various stages of construction, which caused several problems.
“All of the work-in-progress seats occupied limited floor space and were not producing any profit,” explained Newham. “And, while the seats waited for a next step or parts, they were susceptible to damage as workers and equipment were forced to move around them.” In addition, noted Newham, the seats were only partially completed, which saddled C & D with the burden of trying to track their various stages of completion and made it difficult to manage timely inspections and quality control.
C & D Zodiac Inc of Ontario, California, designs and manufactures multiple components for commercial aircraft cabin interiors. The company recently decided to convert its production line from a batch and queue system to a one-piece, continuous flow line.
C & D now uses a series of assembly station carts constructed entirely of aluminum structural framing components and systems supplied by the Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies group of the Bosch Rexroth Corporation. Now, a finished chair ranging in price from $1,000 to $3,200 comes off the assembly line every 18 minutes in the box and ready to be shipped, representing a 196 percent increase compared to prior production rates.
According to Ryan Newham, C & D Zodiac industrial engineer, the batch and queue system repeatedly left the production line with a hundred or more seats on the production floor in various stages of construction, which caused several problems.
“All of the work-in-progress seats occupied limited floor space and were not producing any profit,” explained Newham. “And, while the seats waited for a next step or parts, they were susceptible to damage as workers and equipment were forced to move around them.” In addition, noted Newham, the seats were only partially completed, which saddled C & D with the burden of trying to track their various stages of completion and made it difficult to manage timely inspections and quality control.
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