Boeing 747, 767, 777 And 787 Manufacturing Site
Everett, Washington
The Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 airplanes are manufactured in Everett, Wash., which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Seattle, near Snohomish County's Paine Field. Paine Field is a regional airport with a 9,000-foot (2,743-meter) runway.
As Boeing's largest site, Everett also is home to hundreds of employees who work in the Global Partners organization, which is responsible for contracting with and managing Commercial Airplanes external suppliers, as well as several internal airplane components suppliers that build airplane interiors, electrical systems and commercial electronics.
The site's main assembly building, which the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledges as the largest building in the world by volume, has grown over the years to enclose 472 million cubic feet of space (13.3 million cubic meters). Its footprint covers 98.3 acres (39.9 hectares). The original factory was completed in 1968. From its original size, it was expanded by more than 45 percent in 1980 to house the 767 assembly line, and another 50-percent enlargement was added in 1993 for 777 assembly. The site, too, has grown to 1,025 acres (415 hectares), including 215 acres (86 hectares) of paved yards and parking, and 282 acres (113 hectares) of building area.
Each day, parts and subassemblies come to the plant from all over the globe. More than a thousand suppliers ship components by truck, rail, air and ship from throughout the world and all 50 states. The largest parts are received at the Port of Everett, Wash., and then are loaded onto railcars that climb a 5.6 percent grade - the steepest active standard gauge in the United States. Up to 15 railcars a day deliver parts to the Everett site.
Although rail cars may be rolled right into the factory for unloading, Boeing added a 33,000-square-foot (3,066-square-meter) rail terminal building in 1992 to unload parts containers arriving by train. An adjoining rail yard, containing approximately 2 miles (3 kilometers) of track, has a railroad turntable originally built in 1899 by the Great Northern Railroad, now Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad.
Inside the factory, overhead bridge cranes cruise 90 feet (27 meters) above the floor on 31 miles (50 kilometers) of crane rail network, supported by the roof trusses of the factory building. Operators in the cranes unload subassemblies from shipping fixtures and move airplane parts from one airplane assembly position to another. Along with a fleet of more than 100 forklifts, 18 cranes - each capable of lifting 34 tons - carry 747 and 767 parts through the factory. Eight additional 40-ton cranes are used for 777 production.
With six million parts in the 747 and more than three million each on the 767 and the 777, the systems used to order, track and distribute the correct part to the correct assembly point at the right time is no less complex. Developing the plans and follow-through to successfully assemble all of those parts is one of the things in which Boeing employees take great pride.
On the current schedule, the first parts to go into the assembly process are the wing spars - internal beams that run the length of the wing. Wing spars and skins, machined by Boeing at the Frederickson site in Puyallup, Wash., arrive on a unique truck trailer. It is so long that its rear wheels must be steered by a driver sitting in a cab beneath the back of the trailer. About four-and-a-half months later, the wing spar will be in a finished airplane.
The Everett factory accommodates production lines for the 747, 767, 777 and 787 airplanes. Production rates vary with market activity, but have been as high as seven per month for the 747 and 777, and five per month for the 767.
As the production line moves, the airframe gets closer to the doors through which the finished jetliner will roll out. Four of the six hangar doors are 81 feet high (25 meters) and 300 feet wide (91 meters) and two are 81 feet high (25 meters) and 350 feet wide (107 meters).
In addition to the factory and warehouses, the site contains nine office buildings and one 500,000-square-foot (46,451 square meters) building that supplies interior paneling and stowage bins for all Boeing jetliners. Finished airplanes may receive the distinctive markings of the purchasing airline in any of the three paint hangars.
Approximately 25,000 people on three shifts work at the Everett site.
The Boeing Everett plant is so large that it requires its own fire department, security force, fully equipped medical clinic, electrical substations and water-treatment plant. Storm water is controlled through a system of engineered wetlands and holding ponds, the largest of which can hold 20 million gallons (75 million liters), enough water to float an ocean-going ship. The aircraft fueling area has room for five airplanes, and pre-flight areas accommodate 26 finished jetliners.
Because of its size and magnitude, the Everett plant represents Boeing to the world. Recent dignitaries have included U.S. President Bill Clinton; U.S. Vice President Al Gore; former Texas Governor and now U.S. President George W. Bush; Russian President Boris Yeltsin; Chinese President Jiang Zemin; Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia; Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia; President Ion Iliescu of Romania; Prince Philippe of Spain; President Meri of Estonia; King Hussein of Jordan; His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, The Duke of York; President of Slovakia, Mr. Michal Kovac; President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia; and U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert.
The Boeing Everett tour, which is operated through the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour, is located just north of the Boeing Everett site in Mukilteo, Wash. The center is open year-round to the public and hosts more than 130,000 people annually.