Developing Smart Tools for the Airbus Factory of the Future

In the manufacturing and assembly of aircraft, the room for error is very small. Tens of thousands of steps much be followed by operators, and a single mistake in the process could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. By adding intelligence to the tools and shopfloor systems, Airbus will be able to simplify the production process and improve efficiency. Working with National Instruments, Airbus will be managing and checking the tasks the operator is completing. Airbus calls this their Factory of the Future, an incremental long-term research and technology project that is critical to their competitiveness in manufacturing processes. The initiative has been carefully planned over the past few years, and, with with the help of NI technology, they plan to accelerate their development process and bring their vision into reality.