Doug Harper, automated cell technician, builds a thermal anti-icer that funnels hot air off the engines of a Boeing 737 into the wing's leading-edge slats. Tube & Duct worked together with colleagues in Emergent Manufacturing's Moonshine Lab to reinvent the manufacturing process and to design and build right-sized equipment. Their efforts resulted in an 85 percent cost reduction, with the entire assembly now built in 10 minutes instead of 13 days.

Stretch press operators Ron Wester (top) and Dave Morriss position the enormous jaws of the machine to pull and form aluminum sheet over a die to produce complex parts. The ability to manufacture very large parts is what makes stretch-press forming one of the unique capabilities of Auburn's Integrated AeroStructures.

Toolmaker Walt Norton cleans a test panel for a Boeing 7E7 fuselage developed with stringers fully integrated instead of bonded on the skin. The test panels were created by Emergent Tooling and Developmental Manufacturing-organizations that work together to design and build state-of-the-art tooling in support of revolutionary new manufacturing techniques vital to product development for Boeing's new airplane.

Machining mechanic Bob Brunke checks lattice rail shipsets prior to assembly. Auburn Machining invested in specialized equipment to coproduce with Auburn's Integrated AeroStructures unit the lattice rails used in overhead crew rests for 777s.