The following is a unique case study expounding on automatic fastening technology designed and engineered to ramp up a Tier 2 supplier that had no experience with automatic fastening, to efficiently produce a large volume of fuselage panel assemblies with demanding process requirements in a very short amount of time. The automation technology integrated for the skin to stringer & skin to window frame fastening were two GEMCOR G12 five-axis CNC All-Electric fastening systems coupled with a Cenit offline part programming system. This joint solution served as a launch vehicle for Center Industries to efficiently supply the full rate of fuselage panel assemblies for a large volume commercial aircraft program without having any automatic riveting experience. The aero structure sourced to Center Industries has tight manufacturing tolerances & quality requirements without room for error or scrap whereby Drivmatic® fastening with CNC positioning and offline part programming was the feasible approach.
The CNC automatic riveting and part programming technology detailed in this paper provided a technical solution to meet the challenges Center Industries faced as a new supplier for aircraft panel assemblies. These included 2D paper drawing conversion to 3D offline part programming capability, integrating tribal process knowledge, developing factory flow, becoming proficient with automatic fastening technology, integrating flexible, user friendly machines for automatic part positioning & riveting, producing a large volume of panel assemblies with demanding tolerances in a short amount of time and accommodating a demanding delivery schedule.