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Increasing world competition is forcing U.S. industry to find new ways to not only survive, but excel, in the rapidly expanding global economy. The production side of manufacturing currently faces pressure to keep down cost and, at the same time, improve quality. The use of increasingly powerful, yet flexible, part-handling/positioning systems, along with their associated automatic riveting machines, can help. A semirobotic part-positioning system and elevated automatic riveter used for the assembly of aircraft engine nacelles and extremely contoured panels including control schemes, applications, and implementation are discussed.