I'm guessing it's for the time it takes to acquire the parts from a supplier, correct? I mean, Southwest has 189 orders for 737-700s and currently it seems they will never get them. One 777 takes about how many days to build? A 737 should be less, right?

http://bit.ly/LrpL7V

 

11 days to a possible 6 days.

http://bit.ly/LrpL7V

 

11 days to a possible 6 days.

 

Well that's not exactly what I meant.

 

I was talking about the supplier of the parts, such as the engines from Rolls-Royce or General Electric and the seats from XXXX, etc. etc.

Way too many variables there Diego. For example, an engine manufacturing runs productions in batches and doesn't produce one engine at a time. The size of the batch is according to market demand.

 

The larger a batch the longer it will take however they will be producing engines faster per unit. A smaller batch won't take as long however each unit will calculate to a longer cycle time overall.

 

I've spent years building production models for a Cummins engine factory and their are many many variables that lead to cycle times throughout the operation. Components that take longer to produce are done in either larger batches or multiple operations.

 

I also worked on the Boeing 737 landing gear line back in the mid 1990's and that was similar as they produced in batches according to demand, and also supplied other landing gears to other aircraft in batches on the same production line.

 

The amount of time it takes comes down to the supply and demand rule. Any production line can step up when needed with overtime and second shifts if Boeing requires, then during a slower period the second shifts are shut down and overtime eliminated.

I had a guest lecture from someone from Fokker Landing Gear once. I forget what the exact lead time on their landing gear was, but I think it was somewhere between 9 and 18 months. One of the main reasons was that in between different forging and other process steps the landing gear had to be sent to a different company to receive heat treatments.

 

Also airlines might want to spread out the deliveries so they have time to raise the required cash in between.

Thanks for the replies! For me, it's very interesting to see how these small parts and a group of people can build such excellent airplanes...

 

I mean look at this

If only PMDG's was built as fast... :LMAO:

Edited May 20, 201214 yr by linux731

The tricky part is getting lead times correct. If the market looks like a boomtime and you have up to a two year lead time on some major components then in 2 years it could be a recession and too many large components on hand sitting on racks.

 

Even components have a shelf life that if not used in X amount of time means they will be scrapped. This can get really expensive on top of a failing economy.

Even components have a shelf life that if not used in X amount of time means they will be scrapped. This can get really expensive on top of a failing economy.

What kind of components?!? Food?!

What kind of components?!? Food?!

 

Anything that can surface rust that is not being used. Cast Iron parts are an example. Parts sitting on a shelf is not how they were designed to be used and degrade over time.

Anything that can surface rust that is not being used. Cast Iron parts are an example.

 

Ah. Considering Boeing builds their aircraft in South Carolina and in Seattle...

Does anyone know what effect the damage caused by the tornado to the Kansas City plant is having on the 737 line? I can't imagine it doesn't have a significant impact on it's production. They should consider moving out of Tornado alley!!!

To assemble the 737 and 787 I believe 3 days is all it takes.

Not going to answer the more complicated stuff. So many parts. If the OP wants to he should pose the question direct to the manufacturer's PR department.

Does anyone know what effect the damage caused by the tornado to the Kansas City plant is having on the 737 line? I can't imagine it doesn't have a significant impact on it's production. They should consider moving out of Tornado alley!!!

 

Nowhere in the United States are they completely safe from ANY natural disaster, even North Dakota...

To assemble the 737 and 787 I believe 3 days is all it takes.

Not going to answer the more complicated stuff. So many parts. If the OP wants to he should pose the question direct to the manufacturer's PR department.

 

Not quite. Boeing is eventually aiming at producing 10 787s a month (so one every 3 days), 737s I think they want to up to something like 45-50 so more than one a day, though they have multiple lines. One aircraft coming off the line every 3 days doesn't mean it took 3 days to put it together though. There are always a bunch of aircraft going through the line in various stages of completion. I think the total lead time is 1-2 years depending on which components you want to include.

 

The tricky part is getting lead times correct. If the market looks like a boomtime and you have up to a two year lead time on some major components then in 2 years it could be a recession and too many large components on hand sitting on racks.

 

Even components have a shelf life that if not used in X amount of time means they will be scrapped. This can get really expensive on top of a failing economy.

 

Fortunately aircraft are ordered quite far in advance so you have quite some advance warning to get your lead times correct.

Nowhere in the United States are they completely safe from ANY natural disaster, even North Dakota...

 

Not to mention the fact that _any_ alien invasion or apocalyptic natural disaster invariably occurs in the US (New York, mainly) :-)

 

Marco