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The Portable Fastener Delivery System or PFDS, has been developed at the Boeing St. Louis facility to streamline the manual fastener installation process. The PFDS delivers various fasteners, on demand, through a delivery tube to an installation tool used by the operator to install the fasteners in an aircraft assembly. This paper describes the PFDS in its current configuration, along with the associated Huck® International (now Alcoa Fastening Systems) installation tooling, as it is being implemented on the F/A-18E/F Nosebarrel Skinning application. As a “portable” system, the PFDS cart can be rolled to any location on the shop floor it might be needed. The system uses a removable storage cassette to cache many sizes and types of fasteners in the moderate quantities that might be required for a particular assembly task. The operator begins the installation sequence by calling for the particular fastener grip length needed using a wireless control pendant.

The installation of aerospace fasteners with pneumatic or cordless tools generally requires specialized systems which are dedicated to the fastener hex size and torque, often requiring laborious disassembly for a configuration change. This paper presents a quick change system that can be used together with a large variety of tooling configurations and provides instant socket exchange without requiring wrenching or disassembly. A comparison with traditional socket system is made, highlighting the characteristics and benefits of this new technology in terms of ergonomics, productivity and cost.

Following the trend in automotive manufacturing, electric cordless tooling platforms are gradually being adopted for aerospace assembly tool systems. This paper introduces a new portable aerospace fastener assembly tool system based on the cordless electric technology platform. These systems are significantly more accurate than traditional pneumatic–based assembly tool systems and offer a range of process monitoring options. Cordless assembly tool systems make the assembly process easier, faster, safer and more accurate. These systems have the ability to provide traceability with time & date stamp for each installed fastener and provide wireless communication to enable process monitoring in real time. A comparison with traditional aerospace tool systems is made, in terms of historical evolution and working performance. Lessons learned from automotive applications are brought to aerospace industry. Key benefits include better ergonomics, improved accessibility, productivity and cost.