KUKA Aerospace Opens Plant in France

KUKA Systems North America LLC (Sterling Heights, MI) has officially opened its new R&D and production facility for advanced automation solutions in Le Haillan, France. This investment underscores the company’s commitment to meeting the rising global demand for sophisticated robotic processes used in aircraft assembly.

The Le Haillan facility manufactures multi-function end effectors, as does the company’s global headquarters for aerospace in the U.S. “This dual manufacturing capability creates synergy in the manufacture and support of this key technology for our customers worldwide,” says Robert Reno, the group vice president for KUKA Systems Aerospace, which in March 2014 acquired a French operation formerly known as Alema Automation, a leading manufacturer of aerospace tooling solutions for stationary, track-mounted and mobile robotic platforms. That acquisition followed years of a distributorship agreement and close collaboration between the two companies.

Construction of the facility in Le Haillan, a suburb of Bordeaux, was finished on time and on budget this January. The building comprises 1,445 sq m of production space and 1,123 sq m for engineering and other departments. “This exceptionally well-equipped building enlarges our footprint so we can continue expanding our business,” remarks Philippe Prat, the managing director of KUKA Systems Aerospace in Le Haillan. “It makes a strong statement to our current and prospective customers, the giants of aerospace worldwide and their Tier 1 suppliers, about our capability to support our products and automate more assembly processes.”

End effectors are the functional units attached to the end of a robot arm that perform specific production or logistical tasks. In aerospace assembly, these tasks include drilling, riveting, fastening, lifting, positioning or applying a coating, adhesive or sealant. Some are multi-functional, meaning that tools can be changed by the robot, without manual intervention or taking the robotic cell or platform off-line. A robot can switch between drilling holes and inserting rivets or fasteners in those holes using the same multi-function end effector.

These robotic and other automated processes allow major aircraft manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers to build more units faster and with great precision and repeatability. They can take workers doing repetitive jobs like riveting that are hard on the body and re-assign them to value added work elsewhere in the assembly process.

KUKA’s European customer base includes Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Stelia Aerospace. Its U.S. customers include Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Gulfstream Aerospace and Bell Helicopter. The company has built a highly automated assembly line for Northrop Grumman to build center fuselages for the F-35 jet fighter. It also is building automated manufacturing systems for both the Boeing 777 and 737-MAX programs. For Gulfstream, it is supplying tooling and mobile robotic platforms to help build its newest corporate jets, while it is supplying a complete assembly line for building Bell’s new super-medium class commercial helicopter, the 525 Relentless.

www.kuka-systems.com