Rivetira
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Every fastener, flawless fit.

Rivetira brings autonomy to the aircraft assembly line — autonomous drilling, countersinking and fastening control, AI hole, fastener, gap and FOD inspection, metrology-assisted alignment, predictive shimming, sealant and join control, and an as-built twin that hits the fit before the join.

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41.6M

Holes drilled under agent control

68%

Shim hours removed per join

97.9%

Right-first-time structural joins

rivetira · final assembly · line 2 Live · Station FA-02

Takt adherence

96.8%

▲ +11%

RFT holes

99.4%

▲ +3.8%

Open NCRs

7

▼ -62%

FOD events

0

■ 0.0%

02004006008001,000Holes / hour06:0008:0010:0012:0014:0016:0018:0020:0022:00Holes / hourTarget
Drilling throughput against target, station FA-02, current shift
Drilling throughput against target, station FA-02, current shift
TimeHoles / hourTarget
06:00712860
08:00884860
10:00941860
12:00806860
14:00902860
16:00968860
18:00934860
20:00889860
22:00851860
0%25%50%75%100%Hole quality99.4%Countersink flush99.1%Fastener seating98.7%Gap within nominal97.2%Conformance (%)
In-station conformance by check, current shift
In-station conformance by check, current shift
CheckConformance (%)
Hole quality99.4%
Countersink flush99.1%
Fastener seating98.7%
Gap within nominal97.2%

Airframes assembled on Rivetira across commercial, defense, business-jet, eVTOL and space-structure programs: 8 factories, 70 assembly stations.

Meridian Aerostructures Calder Aviation Group Northvane Defense Solstice Jets Helion Air Mobility Orbital Frame Systems

The most demanding assembly humanity builds is still largely done by hand

An airliner is millions of parts and fasteners joined into a structure that must fly safely for decades. Airframe assembly remains craft-bound, rework-heavy and paced by a retiring, security-cleared mechanic workforce that cannot meet demand.

05001,0001,5002,000Rework hours / airframeJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecRework hours / airframe
Rework hours per airframe on a design-partner line, 12 months of deploymentRework fell 59.5% over twelve months as stations moved from shadow to closed loop.
Rework hours per airframe on a design-partner line, 12 months of deployment
MonthRework hours / airframe
Jan1,840
Feb1,790
Mar1,655
Apr1,520
May1,390
Jun1,240
Jul1,110
Aug990
Sep905
Oct840
Nov790
Dec745

1M+

Fasteners in a single widebody airframe, every one of which must be traceable to spec

3.4×

Average hand-fit shim iterations per major join before a gap closes to tolerance

$20B

Aircraft assembly automation, metrology and factory software market, growing ~14% annually

Assembly autonomy, measured on the line

Every figure below is produced by the same telemetry the agents act on — station cycle, hole quality, gap field, fastener state and conformance. Pilot and design-partner aggregate, trailing 12 months.

Holes drilled under agent control

41.6M

▲ +32% cumulative, all lines

Right-first-time, structural joins

97.9%

▲ +9.1% vs 88.8% baseline

Shim hours removed per join

68%

▼ -68% 96 h → 31 h

Assembly-line uptime

99.94%

▲ +0.3% edge runtime, trailing 90 d

Aggregate across design-partner lines. Baselines are the same stations before Rivetira, measured over an equivalent period.

Seven agents, one assembly loop

Each agent owns one part of the structural build. They share one perception layer, one as-built twin and one conformance record, so a decision made at the drill is visible at the join.

Drill & Fasten

Adaptive control of drilling, countersinking and rivet/bolt installation.

Holes controlled / shift 18,400 · Countersink depth σ 0.011 mm · Adaptive feed decisions/s 240

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Hole & Fastener Inspection

Vision + in-process metrology sensing of hole, countersink, fastener, gap and FOD.

Detection recall (FOD) 99.1% · Flushness resolution ±0.008 mm · Inference latency p99 38 ms

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Align & Shim

Metrology-assisted alignment and predictive shimming that removes hand-fit loops.

Gap prediction MAE 0.031 mm · Shim iterations 1.0 (from 3.4) · Alignment cycle 22 min

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Seal & Join

Sealant application control and fuselage / wing-body join sequencing.

Bead width CV 4.2% · Sealant waste −37% · Join sequence steps 1,180

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Line & Takt

Moving- and pulse-line station balancing, takt optimisation and travelled-work control.

Stations balanced 46 · Takt breach warning 4.2 h ahead · Travelled work −44%

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Robot & Handling

Crawlers, AGVs, positioners and cranes moving and holding large structures.

Fail-safe stop <40 ms · Crawler positioning ±0.05 mm · Handling events/day 2,900

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Quality & Conformance

Right-first-time, non-conformance, rework and full airworthiness traceability.

Traced actions/day 1.4M · NCR cycle time −52% · Audit export < 90 s

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Perceive, plan, control, verify, learn

The same loop runs at every station, from a single drilling cell to a whole moving line. Nothing is actuated that has not first been simulated against the as-built twin.

  1. 01

    Perceive

    Vision, in-process metrology, laser tracker and photogrammetry fuse into a live as-built model of the structure, hole, gap and fastener state.

    38 msFusion latency p99

  2. 02

    Plan

    Align, shim, drill, countersink, fasten, seal and join are sequenced against the predicted gap field and the program tolerance stack-up.

    4.1 sTwin sim per join

  3. 03

    Control

    Feed and speed, interference, torque, bead geometry and crawler position are driven adaptively, with fail-safe stop at every actuator.

    240 HzControl loop

  4. 04

    Verify & learn

    Hole, countersink, fastener, gap and FOD are sensed, conformance is logged immutably, and supervised corrections retrain the models.

    1.4MTraced actions/day

As-built twin gates every step Perceive 38 ms fusion Plan 4.1 s twin sim Control 240 Hz loop Verify & learn 1.4M traces/day

Production, not orders, is the bottleneck

A multi-thousand-jet backlog, narrowbody rate ramps and defense recapitalisation are all rate-limited by assembly. Autonomy moves the constraint.

01020304050Airframes / monthQ1 24Q2 24Q3 24Q4 24Q1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25With RivetiraManual baseline
Monthly airframe output, design-partner final assembly lineBaseline is the same line’s pre-deployment trajectory, extended on its own trend.
Monthly airframe output, design-partner final assembly line
QuarterWith RivetiraManual baseline
Q1 241414
Q2 241615
Q3 241916
Q4 242317
Q1 252718
Q2 253119
Q3 253620
Q4 254121

Rate at Q4 25

41/mo

▲ +95% vs baseline 21/mo

Positions added

0

■ 0.0% same station count

Overtime hours

−29%

▼ -29% assembly mechanics

Every hole measured, not one in four

Hole diameter, countersink flushness, fastener seating, edge distance, gap and FOD are sensed in process — so a non-conformance is caught at the station that created it.

  • Within spec
  • Outside spec
05001,0001,5002,0002,5006.326.346.366.386.40Hole diameter (mm)Holes
Hole diameter distribution, 6,786 holes, wing lower skinSpec window 6.33–6.40 mm. 24 of 6,786 holes outside spec, all flagged in station.
Hole diameter distribution, 6,786 holes, wing lower skin
Hole diameter (mm)HolesWithin spec
6.32 mm3No
6.33 mm22Yes
6.34 mm168Yes
6.35 mm940Yes
6.36 mm2410Yes
6.37 mm2280Yes
6.38 mm810Yes
6.39 mm132Yes
6.40 mm19Yes
6.41 mm2No
1,284NCRs, 12 mo
Non-conformance by root cause, trailing 12 months
Non-conformance by root cause, trailing 12 months
SegmentShare
Hole quality / burr34.2%
Countersink flushness21.6%
Gap & shim fit18.4%
Fastener seating / torque13.1%
Sealant profile7.9%
FOD4.8%

Predict the gap field before the structures ever meet

Hand-fit shimming can consume weeks per join. Rivetira fuses metrology into a predicted gap field, machines the shim once, and closes the join in a single pass.

  • Under nominal
  • On nominal
  • Over nominal
-0.60 mm-0.30 mm0.00 mm+0.30 mm+0.60 mmFrame 42 · upper+0.09 mmFrame 42 · lower-0.14 mmFrame 46 · upper+0.31 mmFrame 46 · lower-0.06 mmRib 12 · fwd-0.22 mmRib 12 · aft+0.18 mmRoot fitting L+0.42 mmRoot fitting R-0.37 mmDeviation from nominal (mm)
Predicted gap deviation from nominal, wing-body join, 8 control pointsGreen is under nominal, red is over. Predicted before mate; measured agreement 0.031 mm MAE.
Predicted gap deviation from nominal, wing-body join, 8 control points
Measurement pointDeviation from nominal (mm)
Frame 42 · upper+0.09 mm
Frame 42 · lower-0.14 mm
Frame 46 · upper+0.31 mm
Frame 46 · lower-0.06 mm
Rib 12 · fwd-0.22 mm
Rib 12 · aft+0.18 mm
Root fitting L+0.42 mm
Root fitting R-0.37 mm
0 h25 h50 h75 h100 h125 h0.0 mm0.2 mm0.4 mm0.6 mm0.8 mm1.0 mmMeasured gap (mm)Shim hours
Shim labour against measured gap, before and after predictive shimmingCircles are the manual baseline, squares are predictive shimming — shape as well as colour.
Shim labour against measured gap, before and after predictive shimming
ObservationMeasured gap (mm)Shim hours
before 10.12 mm18.00 h
before 20.28 mm34.00 h
before 30.41 mm52.00 h
before 40.55 mm71.00 h
before 50.63 mm88.00 h
before 60.78 mm104.00 h
after 70.11 mm9.00 h
after 80.26 mm14.00 h
after 90.44 mm19.00 h
after 100.57 mm26.00 h
after 110.66 mm31.00 h
after 120.81 mm38.00 h

Hit the fit before the join

Every airframe diverges from CAD the moment the first hole is drilled. The as-built twin models that divergence — fit, gap, shim, drilling and structural conformance — and simulates the join before a single fastener is installed.

  • Simulates fit, gap field and shim geometry against the real as-built structure, not the as-designed model
  • Gates every autonomy promotion: an agent only takes a step in the plant after it takes it in the twin
  • Predicts tolerance stack-up across the whole join sequence, not point by point
  • Replays any historical join for root-cause analysis and airworthiness investigation
How the twin works
0.0 mm0.2 mm0.4 mm0.6 mmPeak gap (mm)Section 41Section 43Section 44Wing box LWing box REmpennage
Twin-predicted vs measured peak gap, six major joinsMean absolute error 0.031 mm across 1,900 modelled joins.
Twin-predicted vs measured peak gap, six major joins
StructureTwin predictionMeasured as-built
Section 410.31 mm0.34 mm
Section 430.44 mm0.41 mm
Section 440.28 mm0.30 mm
Wing box L0.52 mm0.55 mm
Wing box R0.49 mm0.47 mm
Empennage0.22 mm0.24 mm

Every station, every structure, one record

Sort any column. The same table backs the audit export an airworthiness engineer hands to a regulator.

Assembly station performance, trailing 30 days
FA-01 · Fuselage section joinSection 41/4399.2%0.041 mm18 h96.4%
FA-02 · Wing-body joinWing box98.6%0.062 mm31 h94.1%
FA-03 · Empennage attachVertical/horizontal99.5%0.028 mm9 h98.2%
FA-04 · Systems installationHydraulics/electrical97.8%0.055 mm12 h95.8%
FA-05 · Final assemblyInteriors/doors98.9%0.037 mm6 h96.9%
WG-11 · Wing skin-to-sparLower skin99.1%0.033 mm22 h97.4%
WG-12 · Wing skin-to-sparUpper skin98.4%0.048 mm26 h95.2%
FS-21 · Fuselage panelBarrel section99.3%0.030 mm11 h97.9%

Where the line is losing its takt, four hours before it does

Station balancing is a continuous optimisation, not a quarterly study. Rivetira predicts the breach and proposes the resequencing that avoids it.

  • Takt adherence 89.9%–99.2%
Shift AShift BShift CWeekendFA-01 Section join98.4%96.2%94.1%91.8%FA-02 Wing-body97.1%95.4%93.2%90.4%FA-03 Empennage99.2%98.1%96.4%94.2%FA-04 Systems95.8%94.2%92.6%89.9%FA-05 Final96.9%96.1%95.0%92.7%
Takt adherence by station and shift, trailing 30 daysOrdered sequential scale — darker is lower adherence. Values are printed in every cell, so the map never relies on colour alone.
Takt adherence by station and shift, trailing 30 days
StationShift AShift BShift CWeekend
FA-01 Section join98.4%96.2%94.1%91.8%
FA-02 Wing-body97.1%95.4%93.2%90.4%
FA-03 Empennage99.2%98.1%96.4%94.2%
FA-04 Systems95.8%94.2%92.6%89.9%
FA-05 Final96.9%96.1%95.0%92.7%

What changes on the floor

Plant directors, liaison engineers and airworthiness leads on what autonomy did to their numbers.

“We stopped arguing about whether the gap was 0.4 or 0.6 millimetres. The twin predicted it, the shim came off the machine right, and the join closed in one pass.”

Dana WhitlockDirector of Wing Operations, Meridian Aerostructures

−64% shim hours per join

“The rate ramp was going to cost us four more positions. Instead the line rebalanced itself every shift and we found the capacity inside the stations we already had.”

Marcus AdeyemiPlant Director, Final Assembly, Calder Aviation Group

+38% delivered rate

“Every hole is now inspected, not one in four. My airworthiness record writes itself, and I can hand an auditor a complete trace in ninety seconds.”

Priya RaghunathanChief Quality & Airworthiness Engineer, Northvane Defense

100% inspection coverage

Reads and writes back to the machines you already own

Rivetira is not a rip-and-replace. It connects to the drilling machines, crawlers, trackers, shim cells, sealant robots and MES already on your floor over APIs and OT protocols.

Drilling & fastening

  • Flex-track crawlers
  • Gantry drilling machines
  • C-frame riveters
  • Automated fastening cells
  • Hand-fed ADUs

Metrology

  • Laser trackers
  • Photogrammetry rigs
  • Structured-light scanners
  • iGPS / indoor GPS
  • Articulated arm CMMs

Shimming & sealing

  • 5-axis shim machining
  • Liquid shim dispense
  • Sealant robots
  • Cure monitoring
  • Bead inspection

Factory systems

  • Assembly MES
  • PLM / as-designed models
  • ERP work orders
  • Quality / NCR systems
  • Historians & OPC UA

OPC UA, MTConnect, MQTT, ROS 2, REST and file-drop connectors. Read-only shadow mode first; write-back enabled only after twin validation.

Land on one cell. Expand by station, module and site.

Priced on the metric it moves. Start where the ROI is clearest, then extend the loop across the factory.

Cell

$16,000

/ assembly cell / mo

One assembly cell or station, one workflow. The wedge that proves ROI before you scale.

  • Choose one: drilling & fastening control, metrology & predictive shimming, or inspection AI
  • Factory edge runtime for one cell
  • Hole, countersink, fastener and FOD sensing
  • Dashboard, alerting and OT write-back
Start with one cell

Factory

Most popular

$100,000

/ mo

The whole loop across the factory: perceive, plan, control, verify — plus the as-built twin.

  • All seven agents across every station
  • As-built assembly digital twin (hit fit before the join)
  • Line balancing and takt optimisation
  • Robotic large-structure handling supervision
Model a factory rollout

Enterprise

Custom

land $800k–$10M ACV

Multi-site standardisation for OEMs and tier-1 aerostructures suppliers.

  • Multi-site deployment and central model governance
  • Custom program, structure and tolerance models
  • Factory edge fleet with air-gapped option
  • ITAR / export-controlled programs, on-prem
Talk to sales

Annual prepay saves 15–20%. Outcome-based components available on rate, rework, shim time and right-first-time.

Shadow first. Autonomy is earned, not switched on.

Every agent starts by watching. It is promoted only when its measured accuracy clears the mechanic-plus-metrology baseline and the twin agrees.

  1. Weeks 1–4

    Shadow

    Agent observes the station, predicts every outcome, actuates nothing. Accuracy measured against what the mechanics actually do.

  2. Weeks 4–10

    Advisory

    Agent recommends feed, shim geometry and sequence. A human accepts or rejects; every rejection becomes training data.

  3. Weeks 10–20

    Supervised

    Agent actuates with a human in the loop and a live fail-safe stop. Airworthiness-critical dispositions still require sign-off.

  4. Week 20+

    Closed loop

    Agent runs the step. Humans handle exceptions and the twin gates any change to the control policy.

87.5%90.0%92.5%95.0%97.5%100.0%Prediction accuracyWk 2Wk 4Wk 6Wk 8Wk 10Wk 12Wk 16Wk 20Wk 24promotion gateAgent accuracyMechanic + metrology baseline
Agent accuracy against the human baseline during shadow and advisory phasesPromotion to supervised autonomy requires four consecutive weeks above baseline plus twin agreement. The value axis is truncated to resolve the crossover.
Agent accuracy against the human baseline during shadow and advisory phases
WeekAgent accuracyMechanic + metrology baseline
Wk 288.2%94.1%
Wk 491.4%94.0%
Wk 693.6%94.2%
Wk 895.2%94.1%
Wk 1096.4%94.3%
Wk 1297.1%94.2%
Wk 1697.8%94.1%
Wk 2098.3%94.2%
Wk 2498.6%94.3%

Questions engineers actually ask

Anything else goes to the people who build it. Ask an assembly engineer or read the full FAQ.

No. Rivetira controls the machines you already own through their APIs and OT interfaces — flex-track crawlers, gantry drills, C-frame riveters, shim cells, sealant robots and trackers. We add perception and control, not iron.

Typically ten to twenty weeks. Agents run in shadow for the first month, advisory for the next six weeks, and only actuate under supervision once measured accuracy clears the mechanic-plus-metrology baseline and the as-built twin agrees.

Yes. The factory edge runtime holds all geometry, imagery and metrology locally, with on-prem and air-gapped deployment, US-person access controls and per-program cryptographic separation.

The agent degrades to advisory and raises the condition to a human. Airworthiness-critical and structural dispositions always require sign-off — autonomy never silently guesses on a safety-of-flight decision.

Every baseline is the same station before deployment, measured over an equivalent period, from the same telemetry. Every chart on this site carries its underlying data table.

Bring autonomy to your assembly line

A line assessment maps one station, quantifies the rework, shim and rate opportunity, and returns a modelled ROI in three weeks. No production disruption.

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