Boeing 787-881 N787BA (msn 40690) (ZA001) PAE (Brandon Farris), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Boeing (Chicago) yesterday (June 28) commemorated the opening of a new 787 vertical fin assembly line at its production facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. Operated by Boeing Fabrication, the site will build the vertical fin assemblies for 787 Dreamliners built at Boeing South Carolina. Production on the new assembly line is slated to begin in July.
The new assembly line was designed and built using Lean Manufacturing techniques. These techniques reduced required floor space and increased production capacity without adding new brick and mortar facilities. The 35,000 square feet (3251.6 square meters) state-of-the-art composite assembly line will help improve the efficiency of the final assembly and delivery process at Boeing’s 787 facility in South Carolina.
The Boeing Salt Lake City facility currently supports fabrication activities across all Boeing Commercial Airplane models. It is scheduled to deliver its first vertical fin to Boeing South Carolina during the fourth quarter 2011.
Copyright Photo: Brandon Farris. Please click on the photo for additional information on the 787.