The Future of Airplane Factory: Digitally Optimized Intelligent Airplane Assembly
The Future of Airplane Factory: Digitally Optimized
Intelligent Airplane Factory defines the architecture, key
building blocks, and roadmap for actualizing a future airplane
factory (FAF) that is digitally optimized for intelligent airplane
assembly. They fit and integrate with other FAF building blocks
that aggregate to a Digitally Optimized Intelligent Airplane
Factory (DOIAF).
The word "intelligent" refers to the ability of a system
to make right decisions and take right action in the highly dynamic
and fluid environment of the modern airplane manufacturing space.
The event-driven dynamics inherent in the complexity of this
environment drive the need for expert knowledge which resides in
intelligence systems incorporating the experience of experts.
Expert knowledge need not be smart, brilliant, or possess genius as
long as the outcomes are derived from right decisions resulting in
right actions-applied rapidly to sustain an optimized factory
enterprise.
Complete factory enterprise visibility requires a higher order of
decision capability that current operating systems do not have. A
highly visible factory collects and displays data and information
as it happens-at a rate beyond the ability of humans and current
systems to analyze, process, decide, and act upon. Expert systems
are constructed to present humans with right decisions in the form
of optimal choices for right actions by incorporating the knowledge
of experts into the logic for the decision. Structured
Knowledge-Based Expert Systems (SKBES) are incorporated in this
book and defined as a critical component for full enterprise
actionable visibility.
The power of the Digitally Optimized Intelligent Airplane Factory
not only is found in its ability to unify the factory, reduce touch
labor, improve quality, and streamline throughput but it also
enables a significant reduction in above-the-shop-floor support and
management. Such an ecosystem frees the human to focus on the
complexity of interpersonal responsibilities.
If the use of a DOIAF can be viewed as a holistic mechanism, then
the human can be the agent engaging with that mechanism; improving
negotiations for pricing, contracts, or other person-to-person
events that require instinct and relationship.