Howard Building Corporation

Work / R&D/Manufacturing / Zodiac Aerospace

Project Description

Zodiac Aerospace is a global company with over 85 locations and 30,000 employees worldwide. The company develops and manufactures products related to the passenger and flight attendant experience on board aircraft, onboard systems, and safety on the ground and in-flight. Five different divisions focus on the company's core offerings: Cabin & Structures, Seats, Galleys & Equipment, Aircraft Systems, and Aerosafety. Howard Building Corporation assisted Zodiac in consolidating three Southern California locations into a unified 115,000 square foot space designed by architects at SAA. The project included the addition of a 20,000 square foot mezzanine to provide additional office space, bringing the total to over 40,000 square feet, and to accommodate a machine shop which contained 98 pieces of manufacturing equipment. Highly specialized process equipment was relocated during the consolidation, which required the UL certification of each piece of equipment to be in complete compliance with current code. The assembly line process was streamlined using Six-Sigma Lean design principles, which resulted in solution such as utilizing a Unistrut ceiling grid to suspend compressed air hoses and electrical outlets for easier access by users.