Lean management – an organizational philosophy transforms aerospace

Abstract

Toyota’s manufacturing philosophy of the 1980’s caused a stir in the manufacturing world because of the amazing results it produced on three key areas- quality, cost & delivery. Toyota Productions System (TPS) also got formalized as Lean manufacturing, an innovative thought process aimed at removal of waste in all its forms. Sustained efforts were made by the researchers world over to decipher this competitive success traced to the Toyota Production System. Early contributors to the field were Schonberger, 1982; Shingo, 1989; Mehra and Inman, 1992, Adler, 1993, Womack and Jones, 1994, Liker, 1998, Sobek et al 1998, Spear and Bowen, 1999 etc. A path-breaking book written by Womack et al (1990) “The Machine that Changed the World”, created manufacturing revolution and changed the way most of the industries looked at the production process. The term “Lean Production” coined by Krafcik (1988) was explained by Womack et al and was further developed by Karlsson (1992). Lean Manufacturing originated in the Automobile Sector but was soon adopted almost 15 years later after a lot of research work went into the field. Murman et al., 2002; Nightingale & Mize 2002, James Moore & Gibbons (1997) were the few researchers who contributed to the Lean Production Implementation in Aerospace in many other sectors. However, Lean Manufacturing made entry to Aerospace Sector. Researchers from many countries continue to work on the Lean Production principles; however case studies on adoption & implementation of Lean Production have been few. Implementation cases in Aerospace have been still fewer. The main aim of this study is to examine implementation cases in Aerospace Manufacturing Companies across the world. Case studies on some of the global majors in Aerospace Industries are taken up here bringing out key learnings from the implementation experience which have got applicability in Indian Aerospace industries as well. Areas requiring continuation of further research are also suggested.