Walked through the Boeing Everett factory last month, felt like a kid again

I got a chance to tour the Everett plant last month on a weekday visit. Walking through the 747/777 assembly line hit different. The sheer scale of those wire bundles running through the fuselage was insane. Saw a senior tech repairing a cracked connector on a 777x wing spar. He was using a manual crimper from the 90s, no fancy digital tools. Made me think about how much we rely on old school techniques even with modern planes. Has anyone else toured a big assembly plant and spotted something weird or outdated still in use?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin7772d ago

That manual crimper from the 90s is exactly the kind of thing that gets me lol. I've heard Boeing still uses some of those old-school tools because the new digital ones just don't hold up as well in the factory floor conditions, all that dust and vibration messes with the sensors. Did they mention if that specific connector was for avionics or just a basic power circuit? Because the FAA has some really specific rules about what kind of crimps you can use on flight-critical stuff, and I'm wondering if the manual tool was their way of staying compliant with an old approved process.

patricia_king232d ago

Actually I gotta push back on the Boeing thing a little. They do still use some old tools but not really because digital ones can't handle dust or vibration. The real reason is more about certification hell. Once a tool is approved by the FAA for a specific part number, changing to a new tool means recertifying every single crimp joint across all those planes. That's millions of dollars and years of paperwork. The old manual crimpers just work and nobody wants to rock that boat. As for the connector type, I think you're overthinking it a bit. The original post didn't say if it was avionics or power, but honestly the FAA rules are more about the crimp quality standard than the tool type itself. You can pass FAA inspection with a Harbor Freight crimper if it makes the right indent shape and pull test passes. The manual tool from the 90s was probably just what they had on hand that day.