Lean Aircraft Initiative
Plenary Workshop
Organizational Change
October 16, 1996
Presented by:
Dave Driscoll
Sikorsky
LEAN AIRCRAFT
INITIATIVE
Agenda
◗ Background
◗ Research Methodology
◗ LAC Case Study
– Technical Support Team
– Self-Directed Work Team
◗ Questions/Answer
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Background
◗ Aerospace technical organizations typically organized in
“functional” organizations or “stovepipes” which are
characterized by:
– Organizational overlap
– Redundant activities
– Poor communication
– Multiple “pass-offs”
– Lack of responsiveness to production
◗ Industry has adopted various team structures for new
product development
– Despite clear advantages, most of industry has been slow to
adopt similar organizational structures to sustain existing
products or to support the development of manufacturing
systems
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Research Methodology
◗ Literature research to understand current
theories
◗ Two site visits to establish industry norms or
practices
– Confirm existence of problem
– Determine initiatives underway in other firms
◗ Eight day site visit and case study at division
of a major US Aerospace Company
– 21 individual interviews
– 2 focus group interviews with 13 people
– Attendance at a representative meeting for each type of
team
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Technical Support Team
◗ Philosophy was to support production
with team of multi-functional technical
personnel
◗ Goal was to create self-sufficient
businesses within the business
◗ Approach driven by division executive
and customer SPO
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Organizational Overview
IPT Organization - Phase II (March 1995)
PROGRAM
OFFICE
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
A&I IPT
HOME ROOMS
PROD. OPS
IPT
AIR VEHICLE
IPT
SUPPORT SYST
IPT
TRAINING IPT
PEPI IPT
ENGINEERING FUNCTIONS
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Organizational Overview
PRODUCTION
OPERATIONS
IPT
WING IPT
FUSE LAGE &
MJR, JOIN IPT
SYSTEMS INSTL
IPT
FINAL & RAMP
IPT
PRODUCTION
INT. IPT
PROD. ENGR
MFG. ENGR
IND. ENGR.
LIAISON ENGR. (MRB)
PLANNING
TOOLING
AUTOMATION
QUALITY
ASSURANCE IPT
PRODUCTION
CONTROL IPT
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Organizational Overview
Product Group IPT Organization
PRODUCT GROUP
IPT
CELL TEAM
(MFG. DEPT.)
TASK TEAM
TASK TEAM
Director or Senior
Manager level
CELL TEAM
(MFG. DEPT.)
TASK TEAM
Senior Manager or
Manager level
TASK TEAM
‘Worker’
level
SHOP WORKERS AND / OR SELF DIRECTED WORK TEAMS / SUPPORT GROUPS
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Organizational Overview
PHASE III (PLANNED)
PROGRAM
OFFICE
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM
INTEGRATION
HOME ROOMS
AIR VEHICLE
IPT
SUPPORT
SYSTEMS IPT
TRAINING
IPT
ADVANCED
DESIGN
(ATAD & PEPI)
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Observations
◗ Strengths
• Very strong champion
• People at every level like change and feel that
it has improved focus and improved program
performance
• Little concern over “career impact”
• Significant improvement in communication
• Moving toward total enterprise concurrency
• People at every level are more involved
• Automation Team Linked to IPT to develop
technology with users
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Observations
◗ Weaknesses
• Early resistance
• Lack of incentive systems
• Additional training would help
• Co-location very slow
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Conclusions
◗ Best People MUST be selected to lead
teams
◗ Training is essential
◗ Powerful “champion” is essential
◗ Changes on sound theoretical foundation
◗ Pace of transformation seems right
◗ Cultural transformation beginning
◗ Performance improvements reflect change
in structure
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Self-Directed Work Team
◗ Paint Shop History
– Previous experience with SDT not effective
– Team developed by accident but also by
necessity
• High rework cost
• Customer unhappy with quality of product
• High manager turnover
• “Circus Like” atmosphere
• Paint shop on verge of being closed
• Cyclical nature of process worked against
improvement
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Evolution of SDWT
◗ New director recognized need to get workers
involved
◗ Painters understood their jeopardy
◗ Process began with series of daily meetings - Initial
participation was low
– Director became champion of the employees
– Tremendous effort expended to satisfy needs of painters
• Demonstrate Commitment
◗ Initially, little encouragement or support from first
line supervision
◗ Participation grew as management credibility
increased
– Elimination of TLO
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Evolution of SDWT
◗ People had to learn to work together and trust each
other
– “Head Bashing” meetings
– “Very Painful,” “Weird Experiences”
– Started to jell team
◗ Team improved painting process
◗ November 1995 commendation for:
–
–
–
–
30% decrease in hours
Reduction in defects from 420 to 50
Significant reduction in rework and repair
Total savings of about $500,000 for aircraft
◗ Team established work assignments - Best people in
most critical roles
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Self-Directed Work Team
◗ Critical Success Factors
– High level management champion
– Strong desire from both management
and labor to make it work
• Mutual Benefit
– Demonstrated managerial credibility
• “Walk the Talk”
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Impediments
◗ Resistance from management and
workers not committed to change
– Failure to adapt to changing roles
◗ Lack of training
– Failure to understand changing roles
◗ Inability to develop trust within the
organization
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Conclusions
◗ Organizational structure and capability is a
source of uniqueness that can lead to
competitive advantage
◗ The lean enterprise should cultivate
interdisciplinary capability
◗ Organizations that will excel are those that
discover how to tap people’s commitment and
capacity to learn
◗ Technology and organizations must be
developed that collaborate with peoples skills
◗ Structure of jobs will include a dual
responsibility - performing current function and
learning new disciplines
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