Kawasaki Builds a New Plant for the Boeing 777X

Tokyo, September 24, 2015 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. today is starting construction of a plant to manufacture the Boeing 777X, as formally contracted this July.

The new plant is being built on the grounds of the North Plant of Nagoya Works 1, Kawasaki's aircraft assembly and component production facility. The total floor area is to be approximately 13,000 m2, and construction is to complete at the end of December 2016. In the production of the Boeing 777X, Kawasaki is responsible for the forward fuselage, the center fuselage, the main landing gear wheel well, the aft pressure bulkhead, and the cargo door. Kawasaki is aggressively introducing new automation technology that it has developed to make production more efficient, such as cutting-edge production facilities that use Kawasaki robots and inspection equipment that implements high-performance sensors.

The Boeing 777 family is already in service all over the world. Boeing has taken orders for over 1,500 units in total, including the various derivative models. Kawasaki started production of products for the Boeing 777 at Nagoya Works 1 in 1992 and continues intense operation.

The Boeing 777X project is a continuation of this. Through its participation in the project, Kawasaki intends to work hard to continue stable production, obtain the newest production technology, supply high-quality products, and develop and expand its civil aircraft business.

The following is an overview of the new plant.

Overview of the New Plant

Address: 3-20-11 Kusunoki, Yatomi-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan
Total building area: Approximately 13,000 m² (length 200 m, width 50 m, height 19 m)
Main equipment:

1) New skin splice riveter

A machine to splice, bore, and rivet fuselage skins, capable of processing more complicated positions than before

2) New frame shear tie riveter

A machine to bore and rivet fuselage shear ties and reinforcement frames, capable of processing over a wider range than before

3) Robot automation equipment

Large-bore drills, robots that use large-bore drills to bore skins automatically, and more