CAD/CAM Systems
In the mid-1980s, The Boeing Company invested in three-dimensional CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) technology. The pilot programs clearly demonstrated the benefits of modeling airplane parts as three-dimensional solids in the CATIA (computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application) system.
CATIA - along with several Boeing-created applications - allowed Boeing engineers to simulate the geometry of an airplane design on the computer without the costly and time-consuming investment of using physical mock-ups.
Value of Digital Pre-Assembly
Studies show that the most pervasive problems in manufacturing airplanes are:
- part interference (incidents of assembly parts overlapping each other) and
- difficulty in properly fitting parts together in aircraft final assembly.
By 1989, Boeing was confident that it could significantly reduce the costly rework caused by these problems by digitally pre-assembling the airplane on the computer. The technology offered:
- improved accuracy in part design and assembly,
- instantaneous communication capability,
- improving the quality of airplane designs, and
- reduction of the time required to introduce new airplanes into the marketplace.
The opportunity to apply the new CAD/CAM approach as well as other new engineering and manufacturing ideas came in 1990 with the launch of the Boeing 777 twinjet.