Case Study

Long-term Manufacturing Program Improvements for a Leading Aerospace and Defense Supplier

"Facilitated performance improvement ‘kaizen’ resulting in long-term improvements for a ten year manufacturing parts program and improved team morale"

Situation

  • A multi-billion dollar aerospace and defense manufacturer suffered from decreasing margins and quality issues on a long-term manufacturing program
  • The manufacturing processes were performed on a shared manufacturing cell and were not prioritized due to the production volume
  • The program was extended for low-rate production and spare production for an additional ten years which could result in significant profitability impacts

Bespoke Solutions

  • Members of SLKone led a one-week kaizen improvement project to identify high-impact improvements to the program
  • Identified quick-wins and long-term improvements for the program, including benefits for other programs produced on the cell equipment
  • A prioritization and program management approach was developed and leveraged to track progress

Leading With Results

  • Improvements implemented in half of target timelines: Improvements identified were implemented within three months of the event, half the time of initial goal timeline
  • Cost reductions of over $5M for the life of the program: Production and flow improvements for the production cell resulted in over $5M in cost reductions for the duration of the program
  • On-time-delivery improved by 20%: Scheduling and production process modifications contributed to an on-time-delivery improvement of over 20%
Case studies and expertise may represent projects and engagements performed by SLKone team members prior to their employment at SLKone