No missing bolts: a glimpse into China’s C919 smart factory
Shanghai mega factory creates real-time tracking system to monitor all plane parts, tools and technicians, ensuring top-notch safety checks
Following several high-profile aeronautical production quality lapses in recent years, including a door falling off mid-flight and tooling left inside aircraft, the last thing any plane manufacturer wants is a missing bolt or any oversight that slips through manual checks.
Enter the futuristic assembly line of C919, China’s first domestically developed large passenger jet.
This network integrates 5G wireless connectivity with time-sensitive networking to create a hybrid communication backbone that connects every sensor, robot, tool and worker across the final assembly line, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Automatica Sinica in August.
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China’s home-grown C919 plane touches down in Hong Kong on ‘historic’ flight
Unlike conventional factory networks that separate data collection, communication and control, the Chinese system unifies them into a single, intelligent loop – a concept known as sensing-transmission-control integration.