An aircraft every 10 days!

When Lockheed, the giant American plane maker, decided that they wanted to create a production line for the latest "Jet Assisted Take Off" version of their highly successful Hercules Cargo Aircraft, it became obvious that it would need to include a series of very special access platforms.

The Lockheed plant in Marietta, Georgia USA covers over 44 acres (about the size of 40 football pitches) and is the largest in the world. In the face of worldwide competition, Hi-Store, based in Four Marks, Hampshire U.K. won the contract for design, supply and installation of the whole system.

Each unique workstation floor system incorporates a range of  multi-level adjustable components, designed to accommodate the work force at optimum level for their particular construction task. These workstations are built to such accurate tolerances that they each close to within 25mm of the aircraft. In addition, each floor features specially designed retractable and moving sections which open up to enable the progressively growing aircraft to be taken to its next location. The old manufacturing system relied upon each  aircraft being built in one place around its own cargo platform, with additional components built elsewhere in the factory and then brought to this static location.

Now, the cargo floor is assembled in the first of a line of "production" bays. After 10 days it is moved to the next bay and so on down the line until completion. As it progresses, components such as wings, tailplane, forward fuselage, engines etc, which are being built in nearby bays, are brought to the main line and "body mated" to the central part of the airframe. Effectively, this new system means that a new "ready to fly" aircraft leaves the final bay every ten days.

To meet the tight project deadline, the first part of the system, the mid fuselage floor, was built at Hi-Store’s U.K. factory, taken by road to Manchester and flown to Lockheed.
 
While this was being installed Hi-Store started working with a sub contractor in Roanoke Virginia, U.S.A. who manufactured the second and subsequent phases to Hi-Store’s designs and specifications. Components for these phases could be delivered by road, thus providing obvious savings of both time and money. The whole  job was completed by Hi-Store's "on site" project manager.