The Boeing Company
US aerospace & defense manufacturer using industrial robots for drilling, riveting, and composite assembly across 737, 777X, and 787 production lines.
The Boeing Company is one of the world's largest aerospace and defense manufacturers, founded on July 15, 1916, by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. The company is publicly listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol BA and moved its corporate headquarters to 929 Long Bridge Drive, Arlington, Virginia, in 2023. Boeing employs approximately 172,000 people globally and reported revenues of $66.52 billion in fiscal year 2024. It operates across two principal divisions: Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) and Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS).
Boeing has progressively integrated robotics and factory automation into its manufacturing operations across multiple aircraft programs. In the 787 Dreamliner program, robots drill approximately 80 percent of the holes in the tail assembly, and a quadbot system (four coordinated robotic arms) drills approximately 3,000 holes in the aftbody section at Boeing's South Carolina facility. The 777X wing factory in Everett, Washington, employs large-scale robotic systems for wing panel assembly tasks. For the 737 MAX, robots perform drilling of engine heat shields and related fuselage components.
Boeing's Flexible Robotic Drilling Systems (FRDS) automate drilling and rivet installation across multiple programs, improving hole precision and reducing assembly cycle time. Robotic arms are also used for coating application with micron-level accuracy, reducing material waste. FANUC robotic systems are deployed across Boeing facilities for drilling and riveting, coating removal, aluminum welding, and polishing.
Boeing's automation strategy also includes AI-driven quality control, digital twin systems, and IoT-based production analytics through its AnalytX platform. However, Boeing has also experienced automation setbacks: it abandoned a large-scale fuselage assembly robot introduced for the 777X after six years of implementation difficulties, returning that work to human machinists.
Boeing's robotics and automation investments are primarily embedded within its own manufacturing operations, not offered as commercial robot products or services to external customers. Its relevance to the robotics supply chain is as a major end-user of industrial robotic systems from vendors such as FANUC, and as a driver of aerospace-specific robotic tooling and process development.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
MQ-25 Stingray
Carrier-based autonomous unmanned aerial refueling aircraft for US Navy.
ScanEagle
Long-endurance small ISR unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu.
Orca XLUUV
Extra-large autonomous undersea unmanned vehicle for the US Navy.
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Contact The Boeing Company
WEBSITE
https://www.boeing.com/PHONE
+1 703 465 3500HEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
1916
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
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Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
-
Funding Total
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