Bombardier Aerospace Sharpens Manufacturing Efficiencies with Laser Tracking

Laser tracking technology helps Bombardier Aerospace gain significant efficiencies over old inspection methodologies, and achieve remarkable reductions of time and manpower to get the job done.

Article From: Time Compression, Belinda Jones

Posted on: 8/1/2004

The name Bombardier is eminently associated with innovative aircraft for the business, regional and amphibious markets. In fact, the company is the third largest civil airframe manufacturer in the world. Bombardier Aerospace is a group of Bombardier, Inc., a diversified manufacturing and services company that also manufactures rail transportation equipment and provides financial and asset management services. Headquartered at Montréal International Airport (Dorval), Bombardier Aerospace leverages a rich heritage of more than 250 years of aviation history through the accomplishments of Shorts*, Learjet*, de Havilland* and Canadair*. The company has pushed the envelope to produce 14 new successful aircraft programs in the past 14 years.

Bombardier Background

Bombardier Aerospace has some 28,000 employees, and maintains full aircraft and aircraft component design and production facilities in Canada, the United States and Northern Ireland. The company's overall emphasis lies in three areas: (1) continuous innovation, (2) the highest level of productivity, and (3) the creation of products that meet their customers' needs. Bombardier is making sure these initiatives are met by employing world-class manufacturing technologies. A good example is the use of LTD500 laser trackers from the Metrology Division of Leica Geosystems (Norcross, GA).

Bombardier Aerospace's Saint-Laurent (Québec, Canada) facility is focused on component manufacturing for various planes including the Bombardier* CRJ* Series, Bombardier Challenger* Series and Global* Series families of aircraft. This facility also produces structural components for other aircraft builders such as Boeing and Aerospatiale. The Saint-Laurent facility was the first in the company to install and integrate laser trackers to build, install and inspect jigs in their manufacturing operations.

The LTD500 is an industrial measurement system used for a variety of applications in manufacturing and engineering. The device is a light, portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) with tracking facilities that reside on a specially designed cart. A high precision, high-speed tracking 3-D laser interferometer and precision angular encoders deliver a measuring rate of up to 1,000 points per second, and accuracy up to 25 microns. Typically used in harsh industrial environments, these particular laser trackers are well-known for their durability, a factor that ensures the delivery of consistent and repeatable measurement results.

Bombardier Aerospace currently owns thirteen LTD500 laser trackers, and has used them for the past four years. These non-contact devices are used for testing and measurement in many different operations including assembly, part mating, reverse engineering and experimental bench tests. Today, more than 125 well-trained operators use the laser trackers.

Eric Roy, laser tracker coordinator of Tooling Department 304, is a tooling specialist and a 15-year Bombardier veteran. During his career, he was a lead hand and a jig builder. He explains the transition to laser tracking, "The Leica laser trackers are used mostly in fabrication and inspection ... roughly 75 percent usage in fabrication, the rest of the time for inspection and reverse engineering applications. This was a big change for us in the way we build tools, and we realized the benefits in a short period of time. Jig fabrication is much faster now. We gained significant efficiencies over our old inspection methodologies, and at the same time, achieved remarkable reductions of time and manpower to get the job done. We also incorporated greater tolerances in tooling for the Bombardier CRJ100/200*, CRJ700*, CRJ900* and other components. Repeatability within our processes is better and the precision is exponentially higher."

Capturing Data with Software

The Leica Axyz software enables the complete integration of laser trackers into Bombardier's tooling. Using the software in tandem with the LTD500, operators can measure components and jigs, whether medium to large size, with this electro-optical technology. Collecting data from a wide variety of measuring tasks can generate a wealth of information. To ease the data management pain, the coordinate data is stored into one central, secure database. The measurement data can be easily accessed with customizable report generation tools.

Axyz helps the tooling department to quickly adapt the laser tracker to operational needs of the shop floor user, or for supervisory management. Bombardier engineers use laser trackers along with the software in conjunction with their CAD/CAM software programs-CATIA( and Mastercam(. The Axyz programming interface has an open architecture to create modules for any CAD/CAM/CAE application software and for training purposes as well. The laser tracker can be fully controlled out of industry standard data formats like Microsoft Excel, Word, Access and Visual Basic, which can be exported from Axyz. The software allows multiple sensors to work concurrently or independently within the same or different 3-D coordinate system(s).

Automation, Verification and Quality
Using the patented ADM (absolute distance meter), the LTD500 can be pre-programmed for point-and-shoot measuring and will search out the assigned coordinates. The tracker beam will be shooting toward each target awaiting the operator to put the target into the checkpoint hole. This process only requires one operator; therefore, this capability alone helped to reduce flow and build cycles in comparison with the older methodology. As the operator moves around the shop floor freely, if a laser beam is broken, it can be easily recovered at its last location or can be captured in space within a few seconds.

Another Axyz software feature is the Process Automation Module (PAM) used to program a system that prompts the operator in a step-by-step mode. As the laser tracker acquires data, it will intelligently move on to the next step. This type of automation foolproofs the system, reduces manual error and is ideal for training. Roy and three other department members developed an in-house training program for their operators, and created standardized procedures and instructional manuals.

Further Down the Track(er)

According to Kees Kroon, MIS for Department 304, Bombardier is continually on the watch for opportunities to implement additional automation into their operations. Using the laser tracking technology in other areas is certainly in the company's future plans. Final assembly work is performed in two other Canadian plants. The assembly of the Bombardier Challenger and Bombardier CRJ200 is performed at the Dorval plant.

With its sound business plan, Bombardier Aerospace is focused on cost-effective, lean manufacturing. Melding laser tracker systems into their operations is certainly testimony of the company's head-on approach to investing in resources that help achieve new heights in productivity and quality.

For more information contact Eric Roy or Kees Kroon of Bombardier Aerospace (St. Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) at www.bombardier.com

Bombardier Aerospace Sharpens Manufacturing Efficiencies with Laser Tracking

Bombardier Background

Capturing Data with Software

Automation, Verification and Quality

Further Down the Track(er)

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