 |
 |
 |
 |
Precision Machine Works is no stranger to how the concept of Lean helps meet Boeing's quality, delivery and cost requirements.
The Tacoma, Washington company, which specializes in large complex component machining and manufacturing, repositioned equipment on its manufacturing floor into a series of production cells to create a single-piece flow - a hallmark of a Lean organization. In one case, 26 days of flow time from raw material issue to shipment of the finished part was reduced to 1.5 days.
Outside training of suppliers such as Precision Machine Works in Lean practices is designed to help U.S. aerospace companies compete in a fiercely combative global business environment. And in Boeing's view, a strong supplier base helps contribute to a strong Boeing.
Mark Jenkins, Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Commercial Airplanes' Supply Management and Procurement, said the concepts of Lean have proven time and again to improve many aspects of manufacturing competency. "Boeing is committed to a healthy supplier partner base as we continue to focus on large-scale systems integration," he said. "Our performance on quality, delivery and customer satisfaction depends on the capabilities of our suppliers. Lean continues to be one of the keys to our mutual success."
SM&P Lean Promotions Office Leader Valerie Feliberti agreed, adding that all tiers of the supply base need to use the tools and methods of Lean to achieve continued growth and profitability: "Our suppliers must be capable of responding quickly and efficiently so they can continually meet our lowering cost targets - now, and in the future."
Funding for Lean training is offered by the National Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, the U.S. Department of Labor, and individual states. Boeing has approved the training. So far the training has been successful with Boeing suppliers in Illinois, Missouri, California and Washington.
Rhea Wallace of Washington Manufacturing Services, a nonprofit consulting firm, said suppliers become more competitive by taking non value-added cost and time out of the manufacturing process.
"We emphasize to the companies we work with that the intention is not to make them more efficient so they can lay off workers," Wallace said. "We engage companies with the goal of finding efficient ways to do the same work so that it frees people up to do other things."
This means employees taking additional training, seeking creative ways to improve other pieces of the business, or working to fill new capacity with additional business.
"Our purpose is to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive. But to do this, American workers must become smarter, more valuable to their companies and more valuable in the marketplace, with skills that can transfer to other industries," Wallace said. "The point is, if you do nothing to improve your business and become more competitive, everyone loses."
Precision Machine Works, which also does business with aerospace giants Lockheed and Goodrich, has had such great success with Lean that it established its own internal program.
"After seeing the benefits of cost control, inventory levels and response time improvements, we made a decision that Lean would be our No. 1 strategic goal and part of our culture," said Dave Baublits, Vice President of Operations.
Its initial improvements encouraged the company to concentrate on its office environment through another improvement workshop.
"The appeal of Lean is the idea that once you've got the training and the consultant leaves, you can continue applying what you've learned on your own to improve everything you do," Baublits said. "Many of our employees are Lean specialists and understand the tools that are used in a Lean environment. We now even do our own training."
Years of Lean practice on the production floor have driven down direct labor costs, Baublits said. This was done by moving to a cellular manufacturing environment on the shop floor and from a function to a matrix organizational structure. The new structure increased communication and allowed people to do more than one job easily and efficiently, which helped when the company was forced to reduce employment in the economic downturn.
As Boeing continues enhancing its large-scale systems integration capabilities, Baublits said he sees his company moving from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 supplier on different programs, particularly the 7E7. But he emphasized that while the direct relationship with Boeing likely will change, the emphasis on greater value through efficiency will continue.
"It's the way of the future," he said. "Boeing is changing how it views its relationships with its suppliers to make its manufacturing more efficient so it can be more competitive around the world. We must continue to adapt and improve our performance. That's where Lean is making a difference."
While Precision Machine Works is a veteran at Lean, Pacific Aerospace & Electronics is a virtual newcomer.
The primarily military engineering electronics company became a serious student of Lean principles after it accumulated numerous smaller companies from around the Northwest and moved them to its headquarters in Wenatchee, Washington.
As the economy weakened and the aerospace industry suffered, the compaany gradually restructured its business by selling capabilities that no longer fit and consolidating support functions under one roof. As the company cut its workforce, it became clear that something more was required.
"Our upper management recognized the fact that we were on the edge," said Shaun McGuire, director of Quality and Environmental Compliance. "The continued downward pressure on suppliers to reduce costs necessitated stepping up our involvement in a Lean program."
With its well-organized and clean facility, and its core of cross-trained workers able to adjust to multiple work stations, Pacific Aerospace & Electronics had a strong foundation for Lean. That enabled the company to start some of the activities, such as moving the right tools to the right locations, which eliminated even more clutter on the machine shop floor.
But when one of its products was put into the flow of the new system, the effort ran out of steam.
"Up to that point, we had done a lot of things right," McGuire said. "But we hadn't tied the effort to a customer that embraced Lean, so we had a hard time finding a pace at which to produce the product."
That's when Boeing and Washington Manufacturing Services entered the picture. Focus turned to a different product that covers more than half of Pacific Aerospace & Electronics' capabilities and accounts for about 5 percent of its annual sales. Employees from various areas of the company went through training to learn many of the tools. And they put together an aggressive action plan to get the work completed within the three-month training program.
"Every other week, we had an event that coincided with the training - a setup reduction event, an autonomous maintenance event, and so on," McGuire said. "We pushed hard, and the customer pulled hard."
The result: a 50 percent reduction in flow time and work-in-process inventory.
Spurred on by those results, the company today faces yet another crossroad. It can either apply the Lean process one part at a time until it has a family of parts in the program, or it can apply the process on a family of parts all at once. The challenge with the single-part approach is that the cost and support structures remain siloed, with results taking longer to achieve. The family approach could produce broader results in a shorter period of time, but it would be more disruptive to the business.
"We want to prove to everyone here in our workforce that the concepts of Lean work and that we're stable with it before we move forward," McGuire said. "But we have a sense of urgency about it, too, because we need to keep up the momentum. We will take that next step soon."
