Across the entirety of Boeing’s 787 global supply chain from Charleston to China, Nagoya to Naples and Winnipeg to Washington, executives, manufacturing planners and engineers are in the late stages in developing a document that will dictate the future of the planet’s most ambitious industrial undertaking.
The document, known as Z18, the latest of 18 revisions to the 787 schedule, dictates all aspects of the fabrication, final assembly flow and customer delivery planning for each aircraft.
A preliminary version of Z18 has been examined by Boeing Commericial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson and is expected to be reviewed shortly by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, senior program sources tell FlightBlogger.
Sources familiar with the schedule indicate that ZA001’s first flight is likely to be slated for the late November/early December time frame, with first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter of 2010.
However, Boeing maintains that no decisions on the schedule have been made and the disclosure of the overall program timeline detailing first flight and aircraft certification will be announced by the end of September.
The development of Z18 is a closely held process that takes into account the short and long term production strategies, the ability of suppliers to ramp up and incorporate design changes, the capacity of final assembly operations, the requirements of airlines, as well as the financial considerations that impact the decision-making process.
Scott Fancher, 787 program vice president and general manager, was quoted in July as saying it was no secret that Boeing required a second final assembly line to support the production ramp up and meet the unprecedented demand for the aircraft.
Z18, as a result of this future requirement, could be the first program schedule that Boeing develops with provisions and planning for a second 787 assembly line in mind, no matter where it is located.
Fancher, who’s responsible for the implementation of the schedule will require more art than science, his role likened to that of an orchestra conductor, ensuring that each of the partners moves in unison at the required tempo.
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Photo Credit Andrew Sieber
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.