Engine production system in the US defense aircraft industry

A study was conducted, under the auspices of the Lean Aerospace Initiative, to determine the causes of increment in the production throughput time of engines in the US defense aircraft industry. Three sites were included. The study was based on data gathered through interviews and review of engine build records at the sites. Besides engine characteristics, specifications and applications, emphasis was put on collecting data related to engine build spans, records of perturbations, factory floor layouts, and part flow paths. Particular attention was paid to the production scheduling systems used at the sites. Supply chain management and worker training and cross-training were also covered. Finally, a comparison was made between the policies implemented at the sites and the enabling practices of the Lean Enterprise Model Results show how one of the studied sites achieves much better performance in terms of reduced build span variability and schedule conformance. Future improvement for the industry is also suggested.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Ramirez-de-Arellano, Luis G. (Luis Guillermo), 1970-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Timothy G. Gutowski.

• Mechanical Engineering

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50530

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/50530