Why Boeing is Using Photo Driven AI in its Factories

An AI tool, developed by Boeing, can quickly validate part numbers so inspectors can easily confirm the correct components are installed on aeroplanes. 

Boeing engineers developed the solution to streamline quality inspectors’ work and improve accuracy.

According to McKinsey, AI is expected to herald a new age of efficiency in operations, in manufacturing and supply chain alone, it could reduce expenses by up to half a trillion dollars.

The photo-driven AI technology

To avoid manual entry of long serial numbers, inspectors of Boeing's aircraft are now able to photograph part information with a handheld device. 

AI then extracts and logs the data into the aircraft readiness log (ARL).

The tool is embedded with optical character recognition (OCR), which reads the text and validates it against a part information dictionary. 

Then it populates the part serial number into the aircraft readiness log directly. 

Wanbin Song, Boeing AI Team Lead at Boeing Korea Engineering & Technology Centre (BKETC), says: “Quality inspectors identified the challenges in their current process and guided our design.

“Their insights guided us through the development journey and helped minimise disruption to existing workflows.”

Collaborative partnership across continents

The effort was led by engineering teams from BKETC and Boeing Artificial Intelligence, who partnered with colleagues in the US to design the tool.

Jay Oh, Boeing AI Senior Manager at BKETC, says: “With rapid field deployment in mind, ARL, Boeing AI, Information Digital Technology & Security, and BKETC worked closely together.

“By taking charge of their areas, the teams delivered a prototype ready for on-site testing in just eight months, showcasing their dedication to field innovation.”

The tool supports inspection of more than 1,400 aircraft parts.

AI promoting efficiency

Before the deployment of the AI tool, more than 70% of Boeing 737 part serials were entered manually. 

The team was able to improve inspection time by over 17 hours per aircraft.

The tool launched on production lines in the Boeing Renton Factory and the Boeing Everett Factory in 2024. Boeing is planning to implement the tool at Boeing South Carolina.

Boeing is evaluating other uses of OCR, to assist with documentation and improve both quality controls and production system integration.

Hector Silva, Vice President of Regulatory Compliance and Core Quality at Boeing, says: “The engineers spent weeks on the factory floor, meeting with Quality inspectors daily, running workshops and iterating on the tool to minimise disruption to long‑standing processes.

“The team focused on listening to users, making incremental changes inspectors could adopt quickly and integrating OCR into legacy workflows to reduce the number of devices inspectors must carry.”

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Rising aircraft demand 

According to McKinsey, rising passenger demand for air travel is meeting with a constrained supply of new aircraft. Delivery times for newly manufactured aircraft and maintenance turnaround times for planes in existing fleets have slowed.

The integration of improved processes that utilise AI across manufacturing and R&D, in the development of aircraft, may go a small part of the way to improve delivery times for commercial aircraft.

Boeing reported delivery of 600 commercial aircraft in 2025, up from 348 in 2024.