Zeal is real over 787's virtual rollout

Boeing completed assembly of its first 787 Wednesday, and all the pieces fit together marvelously — on computers.

In a display of the powerful software tools it uses on the new jet program, Boeing showed digitally generated snippets of the production process to about 3,000 employees and more than 100 visiting airline representatives.

The simulation incorporates accurate digital versions of the plane's myriad pieces, testing whether the major sections built by partners around the world will fit when they arrive in the Everett final-assembly plant.

"We really don't have time for them not to fit," Mark Jenks, who leads the design and production of the jet's wings and tail, said in the video presentation. "When they come together the first time, they have to fit."

In a briefing, 787 program chief Mike Bair said there will be around 500 machinist jobs initially on those final-assembly lines, rising to as many as 800 at full production.

He said the program remains on track to fly the first airplane in August and make the first delivery in May 2008.

"This is not a cartoon made up for display, but real digital data," said Bair of the jet's "virtual rollout."

A huge screen inside the Everett factory showed a video animation of final assembly, which includes a partly moving line. Large sections of the airplane moved into place for assembly on various custom-made wheeled lifters.

Small trolleys and light scaffolding moved in and out around the airplane, but unlike Boeing's current manufacturing procedures, no overhead cranes lifted pieces and no huge fixed structures held sections in place.

The images presented won't win any video-game prizes. The animated machinists assembling the sections resembled plastic Playmobil figures, and the big screen showed the airplane structures in low resolution.

Yet the images suggested an impressive level of planning and control in advance of the first real sections of the airplane coming together next year.

Executives expressed confidence the digital simulation of production will help avoid delays like those that have derailed the Airbus A380, now two years late because of issues with wiring installation.

Boeing demonstrated how an earlier simulation showed that an electronics box made by Hamilton Sundstrand wouldn't fit in the jet's electrical-equipment bay because a beam was in the way. Engineers redesigned it so that it fit.

"There should not be any surprises," said Greg Southern, lead manager of the final-assembly process. "We're very confident."

Still, even this smooth digital simulation won't translate into perfection in the real world.

Kevin Fowler, vice president in charge of processes and tools, said the virtual model will not ensure an exact fit for all parts.

Traditionally, airplane assemblers have always had to insert little pieces — called shims — to fill the spaces between parts that don't fit perfectly. On the 787, Fowler said, machinists will be supplied with kits of pre-made shims, customized for each particular section they are working on.

"There will be shims, but far fewer," Fowler said. "We can make very accurate parts. ... Every partner can verify when they measure their parts that it fits against the virtual model."

Fowler said the digital-modeling software has shortened the development program by a year and will produce "cost savings of the order of 20 percent."

Boeing uses software made by Dassault Systemes of France to model the 787's entire design and production process.

The database, 16 terabytes in size, is held on computer servers in Bellevue and can be accessed by Boeing's major partners around the world.

Dassault Chief Executive Bernard Charles said that while Airbus used the company's CATIA computer-design tools on the A380 project, it did not use its global-collaboration software or the production-simulation software.

Such tools, he said, could have avoided some of the issues that have troubled the A380 program.

But Charles said Airbus is beginning to use the software Boeing displayed Wednesday, "starting now."

In his briefing, Bair said final assembly will provide about 1,000 jobs initially. About half of those will be machinists; the rest will be manufacturing engineers, quality inspectors and managers.

Bair said the number of machinists jobs will rise to around 700 or 800 when the program is at full-rate production.

Other points from Wednesday's briefings:

• Some of the partners "are struggling" to complete their work, and weight remains a problem, said Bair. But Boeing is piling on people and resources, and the program remains on schedule for a physical rollout in summer 2007. "Scrambling is a core competency of the Boeing Company," Bair said.

• Boeing has spent money marshalling needed resources on the assumption some installation work planned for elsewhere will have to be done in Everett for the initial run of airplanes. "There are some partners who are going to be late," Bair said. "We know how late they are going to be."

• The 787 development costs remain below the commitment made to the Boeing board in 2003, despite the recent increase in spending. Boeing hasn't disclosed that amount, but analysts estimate total costs at about $10 billion.

• Boeing eventually aims to assemble a 787 in Everett in just three days, but that's a long-term target. Bair said the program will get assembly time down to six days as it builds the first 100 airplanes in the first two years, then drive toward the three -day target after that.

• The large, bulbous converted 747s that will ferry sections of the 787 Dreamliner around the globe will be painted white with a new marketing name on the side: Dreamlifter.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com