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Most new aircraft programs encounter the challenge of balancing the time required for design optimization with product delivery constraints. The high cost and long lead times of traditional tooling makes it difficult for aircraft manufactures to efficiently meet ever-changing market demands. The large size, low relative stiffness and high positional tolerances required for aircraft components drive the requirement for rigid fixed tooling to maintain the precision part relationships over time. Use of today’s advance 3-Dimensional CAD systems coupled with the high accuracy of CNC machines enables the success of the determinate assembly approach for aircraft tooling. This approach provides the aircraft manufacturer significant lead-time reductions while at the same time it supports enhanced system flexibility. Determinate assembly for aircraft tooling has been proven to be high successful for tooling manufacture on large-scale system such as the A380 and A340–600 wing assembly projects.

The incorporation of split mandrel coldworking into a single- station, automated wing assembly machine advances the technical quality of automated production. Coldworking innovations, including the CMX process and new puller unit development, combined with new clamp-up technology, have eliminated the need for manual dissasembly and deburring, both costly and time consuming procedures. These advances in automation are illustrated in the development of a next-generation automated unit created for wing production of the Airbus A340-600 wide-body program. This paper describes the implementation of new fastener and coldworking technology that led to the development of this automated manufacturing system.