Industrialization process in FAL Seville. Case study : A400M

This thesis came out thanks to the Pegasus program for which I applied in May 2013 and lead in a 6 months internship experience in Seville at the A400M FAL (Final Assembly Line). The main purpose of my internship was to support the REC (Rework Electrical Center) and the OSW (Out Standing Work) department whose role will be explained later. At the beginning my principal task was to help Logistic with its huge amount of work due to the Lean-manufacturing model based on “work-packages”. After a few weeks with the MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 10 the installation of cockpit and nose linings was gradually transferred from NZ (Saint Nazaire) to FAL Seville. We can identify the reasons of this transfer with: - The change of definitions due to the immaturity of the design - Zone closure problems, which force to install lining at the end of the process - Incompatibility between panels This new task, meaning a completely new work inflow, involves unexpected problems and a consequent delay from the planned milestones of the entire project. For this reason my objective was to analyze the difficulties brought up by the MSN 10 and to industrialize the process for the followings aircrafts in order to minimize the impact in the different stations. In order to achieve this ambitious goal my study started from analyzing the outstanding work coming from NZ using Airbus tools, CATIA models and also having the opportunity to watch and interact with the building process of the aircraft. A first part of the essay is dedicated to an overview of the actual background of the industrial aeronautic model, making also a comparison with other companies, and explaining the different roles, phases and problems that takes part during the development of an aircraft; therefore its illustrated the FAL of Seville remarking his organization and reporting functional tests done in the aircraft. The second part of the thesis is focused on the A400M with an overview of the principal characteristics, features, systems and capabilities. After that, it is explained in detail the problem of an industrialized installation of linings and equipment, my approach to the problem using tools such as CATIA, CI (Configuration Item), and also some blue collar’s advice. Finally the report wraps up with the results, a few closing remarks and conclusion from the experience.