F-16 with Lean management

Text by Lieutenant Colonel (ENGAER) Pedro Salvada

The Air Force recently received a visit from the companies Toyota and Mercatus, with which experiences were exchanged and the most modern management techniques were discussed with regard to the use of Lean Management.

The Air Force has been applying Lean techniques very successfully in aircraft maintenance and in managing the F-16 supply chain. The main results have been a reduction in aircraft downtime in planned and unplanned maintenance, as well as lower costs associated with sustaining the Weapon Systems.

The Lean methodology is based on Toyota's production system, known as TPS (Toyota Production System). The discussion of these management techniques between the Air Force and these companies was fruitful and made it possible to share knowledge and experience.

There was consensus that Lean thinking is applicable to any process, as a management philosophy in the constant pursuit of eliminating waste and continuously adding value.

Toyota Caetano Portugal – Ovar observed concepts such as takt time (production pace – the relationship between a customer's needs and production capacity), which on its production line is measured in minutes or seconds and in aircraft maintenance is measured in days or hours, but is similar in purpose. Some of the concepts in use in Air Force maintenance will be used in the work under way in Toyota's maintenance.

Mercatus, which is at the beginning of its Lean journey, said it will try to apply the logistics management principles it observed, namely the Kanban system. "We all left satisfied and more motivated for the challenge ahead of us with the Lean implementation in our organization," they said.

LEAN THINKING

Since 2007 the Air Force has been applying Lean thinking very successfully in aircraft maintenance, achieving reductions in aircraft downtime of about 50% in most fleets.

This recognition can be found in the following excerpt from the speech by the Air Force Chief of Staff (General CEMFA) at the celebration of the Air Force's 60th Anniversary:

“(…) Always seeking efficiency, we paid particular attention to reform in the areas of maintenance and logistics, with an already clearly visible impact on the use of resources, reduced times in the logistics chain and in maintenance actions, and the associated costs. The success of this process naturally stems from the quality of our people, their capacity to adapt and their voluntary commitment, which made it possible to obtain significant results deserving of the highest praise. Because we are not complacent and because we always want to be better, it is my intention to extend the scope of this transformation process to other areas, always with the involvement and active participation of our people, our strongest link, so that we can achieve even better results, even in the face of adversity, enabling all of us to contribute to an Air Force of excellence. (…)”.

Visit by Toyota and Mercatus to Monte Real Air Base (BA5), on October 18, 2012

BA5, inspection of an aircraft after painting at OGMA

Lean thinking seeks to create a culture based on respect for people and continuous improvement, through the relentless pursuit of eliminating waste and continuously adding value.

The two pillars of the Toyota Production System can be summarized as follows:

1. Respect for people – By respect we mean the way we respect others, how we make an effort to understand one another, take responsibility and do our best to build mutual trust. In terms of teamwork, how we encourage personal and professional growth, share opportunities for development and seek to maximize individual and team performance.
2. Continuous improvement – The challenge of forming a long-term vision, meeting challenges with courage and creativity to realize our dreams. How we continuously improve operations, in the pursuit of innovation and evolution, making every effort to find the facts that allow us to make the right decisions, build consensus and achieve objectives as quickly as possible.

As with the definition of Lean Thinking, its statement is easy to say and even to understand, but very difficult to do, which is why more than 70 % of Lean implementations end up failing.

Maintenance and logistics play a fundamental role in distributing resources and services aimed at keeping the aircraft in optimal airworthiness condition and ensuring an immediate response capability at the lowest cost. Maintenance must be organized so that aircraft spend as little time as possible in non-operational condition. This is, in fact, one of the main challenges in the logistics chain of any weapon system.

The first application of “Lean Techniques” in the Air Force was in the F-16/MLU Modification Program, which made it possible to increase productivity by more than 60 % in one year and, consistently over the last five years, to reduce modification times for F-16 aircraft using the same resources.

The success can be attributed to careful value stream mapping, the creation of a future state aligned with takt time – the production pace, the creation of cells with balanced standard workloads, the correct assignment of priorities, and the consequent alignment of all subprocesses, with the implementation of visual management mechanisms that make it possible to identify problems in the process every day and act quickly to solve them.

Other examples in aircraft maintenance had similar results, notably the following:

• Intermediate maintenance of the Aloutte III helicopter, 40 % reduction in downtime;
• F-16 phase inspections, 50% reduction with a marked decrease in variability;
• C-130 intermediate maintenance, 40% reduction, though with difficulty sustaining it;
• Eight-year inspection of the Epsilon, reduction of about 70% in downtime, and cost reduction of about 60%.

F-16 aircraft in phase inspection

BA5/Dock 4, assembly of flight surfaces in cell 1

Somewhere along this Lean journey, it began to be understood that applying this form of management, known among us as “Lean Techniques”, included more than techniques and tools; it includes values, habits and beliefs that promote cultural change. So the name matters little; what matters is the contribution to operational excellence and the permanent commitment to continuous improvement.

From this perspective, in 2010 a project was developed to apply the Lean Management methodology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the F-16 material supply and repair chain, with the objectives of ensuring delivery of the right material at the right time, seeking a financial benefit of 1.5 million euros in one year, streamlining the material supply process and cutting in half the time between the material requisition and its fulfillment.

Figure 1 – Traditional Logistics vs Lean Logistics

LEAN LOGISTICS

The great challenge was to move from a Traditional Logistics concept to Lean Logistics, changing the paradigm. Figure 1 summarizes the main differences between these two systems.

Initially, we found excess inventory with low stock turnover, a material procurement process based on history and imprecise forecasts, information gaps and very slow transportation. The value stream mapping carried out created the right environment for people to learn to see waste in the organization and improvement opportunities, distinguishing between value-adding tasks versus waste.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

To overcome resistance to change at this stage, training combined with practice is crucial, because the mindset associated with Lean thinking is only internalized through the process of experimentation. In fact, Lean can only be learned by doing.

The best solutions found are those that result from the involvement and contribution of the participants in the processes themselves.

In the F-16 supply chain, starting from the vision of what the ideal value stream would be, it was possible to build the future state according to the principles of Lean thinking and the corresponding plan for its implementation.

The desired future state implied a direct “supplier – air base” relationship with the elimination of intermediate steps, namely through the Air Force's central warehouse, with delegation and decentralization of tasks, elimination of redundancies and intermediate bench stocks, reorganization of the main warehouse by frequency of need, and creation of kanbans with material for the Top 20 unplanned failures in docks dedicated by type of maintenance.

The change or transition from the previous state to the future one was achieved through several rapid improvement events, also known as kaizen (from the Japanese language, meaning change for the better).

These week-long events involved supply specialists, customers, maintenance technicians, engineers, managers and procurement teams, as well as people from outside the process. During this process, outside help was crucial (“Lean Sensei”).

RAPID IMPROVEMENT EVENTS

Rapid improvement events are one of the Lean solutions that make it possible to create, in a short time, a mechanism that enables radical changes in a company's current activities and processes. For example, one of the rapid improvement weeks was dedicated to implementing 10 material kanbans in F-16 maintenance, reproducing the same kanbans in the main warehouse with minimum replenishment levels established.

The word kanban is of Japanese origin and means card or signal; it triggers a need to replenish material. The task of creating the kanbans was duly discussed and planned by all the military personnel from the various maintenance areas. The main Lean tools used have been 6S (5S+1), which relate to workplace organization, visual management, one-piece flow processes and standard work, among others.

Final phase of the F-16/MLU modification. Preparation for test flight

SIGNIFICANT CHANGE

The main results are presented in the summary table; the change achieved was significant: material began to be procured only according to real demand, and processes became simpler, with reduced inventory and costs and faster delivery of material.

In 2011 the same methodology was applied to F-16 sortie generation, optimizing the entire process related to daily F-16 sorties, contributing to greater operational availability combined with satisfaction of the personnel involved.

Lean techniques and tools have to be supported by the organizational culture; otherwise they will not work. Leadership has the ability to change the culture, but it is people who define the culture. People are the organization's most important resource, and culture is what sustains Lean thinking.

Although this form of management (completely different from traditional management) began in the automotive industry, today it is used in the most diverse areas, for example in aeronautics, civil construction, banking, public administration and, more recently, healthcare.

Current budgets require decisions beyond the scope of Lean; efficiency gains may not be enough to satisfy the financial side, where budget availability comes to determine the needs and the logistics changes that allow us to keep flying safely and within airworthiness standards.

Operational excellence is achievable through continuous improvement. Lean Management can make it possible to maximize the use of available resources and make high levels of readiness possible.

Image captured on 19-11-2002 by the Portuguese Air Force C-212/300, showing the bow and stern of the Prestige separating as the ship sank