During October 2000, testing of the "Iron Bird", a mechanical/hydraulic full-scale test rig of the 728, commenced. According to the company, this rig was intended to help the company to reduce the development and certification processes by between 150 and 200 hours; it was also envisaged the rebuilding of the iron bird to represent the larger 928 to similarly support its development. Similarly, Fairchild Dornier heavily invested computer simulations of the production and assembly procedures at Oberpfaffenhofen, which were intended to yield major savings in terms of both cost and manpower and costs; this effort was reportedly responsible for reducing the man-hours involved in the 728's manufacture by 60%. Advanced manufacturing equipment was also procured for similar reasons.