The ALE-50 pylon program was selected as a lean manufacturing pilot program in early 1997.
The 3035th F-16 delivered from the Fort Worth facility is the 3900th produced worldwide. Deliveries of the pylon began three months ahead of schedule in December 1998.
The B-24 production line, which is shown during peak in the 1940s at Air Force Plant No. 4 in Fort Worth, TX, delivered 3034 aircraft.
The F-16 final assembly at the Fort Worth plant has produced 3035 F-16 aircraft.
The last B-24 delivered from the plant is pictured here with the signature of employees from the facility.
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Lean manufacturing techniques were used by Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems to deliver the first lot of F-16 pylons three months ahead of schedule. The pylons are built to carry the ALE-50 towed decoy system. The ALE-50, which is used for thwarting radar-controlled missiles that threaten the aircraft, consists of a launcher/controller, an isolation rack, a decoy magazine, and two expendable decoys. The F-16 can carry two ALE-50 pylons on outer under-wing stations. The company is contracted to deliver 413 ALE-50 pylons through June 2000 for U.S. Air Force Block 40 and 50 F-16 aircraft.
The company designated the pylon program a lean manufacturing pilot program in early 1997. The program employs lean techniques such as a flow manufacturing cell, point-of-use delivery by suppliers, and self-verification quality assurance. The company expects as much as an 88% reduction in the time it takes to build a pylon.
A first article inspection process was used to verify the quality of the product and the lean manufacturing process. The final proof came when the completed pylon, with an ALE-50 launcher/controller, was loaded onto an F-16 and all fit and operational checks were completed.
The next four pylons will be manufactured in a similar manner to refine the manufacturing technique further prior to starting full rate production. Initial production was scheduled to begin early next year, starting at 10 pylons per month, and rapidly increasing to 30 pylons per month by May. According to the company, the program's success thus far should permit that schedule to be accelerated significantly.
Another manufacturing success recognized by Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems was the delivery of the 3035th F-16 from its Fort Worth Plant. This makes the F-16 the largest production program in the plant's history, surpassing the 3034 B-24 bombers delivered during the 33-month span from April 1942 through December 1944. During the B-24's production run, peak employment at the plant was over 30,000 and production ran six days a week with three shifts per day.
In comparison to the wartime production of the B-24, the peak delivery month for F-16s from the Fort Worth plant was October 1981 with 33 aircraft. The peak year for total F-16s delivered was in 1987, with 284 aircraft produced.
Worldwide, this milestone F-16 was the 3900th delivered. F-16s have been built on assembly lines in four other locations — Belgium, The Netherlands, Turkey, and Korea — with the latter two still performing final aircraft assembly. Currently, nineteen countries operate the F-16, and several other countries are also ordering the aircraft.
Frank Bokulich
