Automated/mechanized drilling and countersinking of airframes

Modern aircraft manufacturing involves drilling and countersinking hundreds of thousands to millions of holes. Doing this work by hand accounts for 65% of the cost of airframe assembly, 85% of the quality issues, and 80% of the lost time due to injuries.The focus of this book is on automating the process of drilling and countersinking holes during airframe manufacturing. Since this is the area of greatest return on investment for airframe producers, the book provides a stepped approach for evaluating possible areas for applying automation and a detailed description of the process for choosing, acquiring, and transitioning the right machinery for success. It also provides a vision for a 10- to 15-year future state of airframe manufacture. Read more... Abstract: Modern aircraft manufacturing involves drilling and countersinking hundreds of thousands to millions of holes. Doing this work by hand accounts for 65% of the cost of airframe assembly, 85% of the quality issues, and 80% of the lost time due to injuries.The focus of this book is on automating the process of drilling and countersinking holes during airframe manufacturing. Since this is the area of greatest return on investment for airframe producers, the book provides a stepped approach for evaluating possible areas for applying automation and a detailed description of the process for choosing, acquiring, and transitioning the right machinery for success. It also provides a vision for a 10- to 15-year future state of airframe manufacture