what we do As a tool engineer for Commercial Airplanes in Everett., Wash., Rob Dixon finds innovative solutions to problems. In this Frontiers series that profiles employees talking about their jobs, Dixon explains how 3-D printing is one of the new problem-solving tools he uses. I’m not afraid to try things. I’ve been trying things since I was a kid. I like to say “fail fast” because sometimes we fail too slowly and we drag things out. We need to fail as fast as we can so we can move onto something that works. For two years, I’ve been a tool engineer on the TRACC (Tooling Rapid Action Change Cell) team at the Everett plant. My job has evolved into inventing. There are six of us. We try to solve hard problems. We use 3-D printers that create prototypes and products for manufacturing. They have one like this up in the International Space Station. Here’s how it works: The customer will bring us a problem and an idea about how to fix it. As a team, we work on a solution and come up with a CAD (computer-aided design) model. A file is sent to the 3-D printer. The printer is like a computer-controlled, hot-melt glue gun that incrementally adds layers of material to create a part. We’ve gone from using 3-D printers just for prototyping to also using them to fabricate tools. We have three printers that we try to keep running all the time. I live close by, and when a machine needs to be changed on the weekend or late at night, I’ll come in to accommodate the build schedule. 10 Boeing Frontiers I have nine patents, three pending. Some involve lots of people and some just me. It’s mainly clamps and clips, but one is actually an airplane part, a window-reveal design. Some of my designs are trade secrets. Most of our stuff is driven by safety, ergonomics and quality. I grew up in Ohio, but I pursued my mechanical engineering technology degree from Montana State University because Boeing hired a high percentage of graduates from that program. I was just totally obsessed with airplanes. As far as any product of any type in the world, there’s nothing that compares with a Boeing jet! I’ve been successful because I don’t give up. When somebody says you can’t do that, it’s almost like a challenge to me. I really enjoy finding something people haven’t seen. Ideas are like pingpong balls. They bounce off one another. They stimulate us. Also, I’m a TRIZ practitioner, one of a couple dozen in the company. TRIZ is a Russian problem-solving system, a tool to come up with simple solutions. One thing it does is focus on contradictions, on engineering contradictions. I use the philosophy whenever I’m thinking about something. For example, a clamp has to clamp hard but cannot clamp hard and crush the part. My biggest goal is to help Boeing implement 3-D printing technology. Our new engineers will take this to the next level, and I train them accordingly. The printer is not going to be a solution for everything, but it is a big part of the future. Doing something that’s never been done is exciting—and Boeing really has given us the tools to be creative. n da niel.w.ral ey@boeing.com Fit to print This engineer is helping implement 3-D printing technology by Rob Dixon, as told to da n ral ey
Frontiers June 2015 Issue
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