Raytheon Aircraft Machine Fastening From Manual to Machine - One Company's Changeover

General Aviation is a competitive industry in which improved quality and reduced manufacturing costs are crucial to long term success. To this end, Raytheon Aircraft Company recently embarked on a massive manufacturing technology improvement initiative. One assembly process targeted for this technological update was riveting. Prior to the launch of this initiative, the bulk of fastener installation throughout the company was completed manually.

To change the process to machine fastening, an Integrated Product Team was assembled and tasked with evaluating machine fastening as an alternative to replace hand riveting in all applicable areas within the company. This machine fastening program developed a vision to become the General Aviation Leader in machine fastening technology by the end of 1997.