Cycle time study of wing spar assembly on aircraft factory

Aircraft manufacturing processes require a high amount of time to carry out them owing to the large volume of various operations and the high utilization of manual labor. This paper focuses on cycle time study of aircraft assembly using a wing spar as a case of study. Through lean philosophy has been studied the current process and have been analyzed the obtained results. The overall goal was to find potential areas for productivity improvement and propose new solutions that would reduce significantly the cycle time. Results showed a 20% reduction in cycle time through application of lean philosophy, achieving 67% final saving if automation being applied. The study gives significant contribution to the overall goal, showing that. Is possible and necessary to bet for new techniques and technologies for manufacturing processes in aeronautical industry. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.