Fuselage panels for the Boeing 747 aircraft have been assembled at the Northrop Commercial Aircraft Division Alameda (D2) facility since the mid 1960's. The assembly work has been accomplished using Gemcor CNC Drivmatic systems. These systems have performed reliably since their initial installation in the late 1960's, but have recently begun to show their age.
In 1992, the decision was made to establish a project that would direct the retrofit of these systems to state-of-the-practice condition.
This paper will discuss the planning, scheduling and specification development for that project.
