Airbus Is Teaching Jetliners to Dance With Robots in Hamburg

Airbus SE has manufactured planes in a maze of brick- and metal-clad buildings outside Hamburg for the better part of three decades. Every day, whale-shaped cargo planes called Belugas touch down on the adjacent airstrip and disgorge fuselage tubes, wings, and cockpit sections that will be joined together into commercial jetliners. The production process has changed little over the years. Passenger jets are some of the world’s most complex machines, but making them remains surprisingly artisanal, with millions of rivets installed largely by hand.
A short stroll from those original production halls, behind the facade of a towering building the length of two football fields, a revolution is taking place. Last year, Airbus inaugurated a facility for the A320 model where the assembly line, the fixed cranes to move the planes, and many of the workers are gone. Instead, there are open spaces, robots, and mobile assembly platforms operated by remote control. Building an aircraft is basically a long to-do list, says Eckart Frankenberger, the company’s chief industrial architect, who led the design of the new layout.

Spotlight

Other News
Engineering Tech, Construction

Comfort Systems USA Announces Acquisition

Business Wire | February 01, 2024

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. today announced that it has closed its previously announced transaction to acquire Summit Industrial Construction, LLC (“Summit”) headquartered in Houston, Texas. As previously disclosed, Summit is a specialty industrial mechanical contractor offering engineering, design-assist and turnkey, direct hire construction services of modular systems serving the advanced technology, power, and industrial sectors. Summit’s capabilities encompass a wide range of modular and site-based construction, including process piping, equipment setting, large pipe rack trestles, and related steel erection and specialty concrete work. Summit is a trusted supplier to some of the world’s largest advanced technology, power and industrial companies and is currently deployed on several major chip fabrication projects. Initially, Summit is expected to contribute annualized revenues of approximately $375 million to $400 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $35 million to $40 million. In light of the amortization expense, Summit is expected to make a neutral to slightly accretive contribution to earnings per share in 2024 and 2025. Brian Lane, Comfort Systems USA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are delighted to announce the closing of our agreement to acquire Summit, an extremely capable provider of modular and other complex mechanical services. Summit brings a stellar reputation as a modular technology leader in growing end markets, including multiple ongoing and large semiconductor projects. We are happy to welcome Summit’s wonderful leadership team and excellent production and craft workers across many states, and we are confident Summit will continue to innovate and grow as a part of our network of world-class contracting companies. We are grateful that Summit has chosen to become part of Comfort Systems USA.”

Read More

Spotlight

Resources