Case study · Aviation · Engine maintenance (MRO)
Digital shop floor management in engine maintenance
How two sites of an international maintenance provider steer their work transparently across countries and time zones – with a digital communication cascade from the team up to management.
At a glance
Project profile
- Client: International aviation maintenance provider
- Sites: two repair stations in North America and Europe
- Industry: Aviation, engine maintenance (MRO)
- Duration: 24 months for full implementation at two sites
- Topic: Implementation of digital shop floor management
- Tool: ValueStreamer
The client
Engine maintenance where the aircraft is
The business unit maintains and repairs aircraft engines directly at the customer’s site or at a nearby repair station – so that engines stay on wing longer and costly shop visits are avoided. The teams work in an international network of repair stations across continents and time zones.
Project goal: transparency in production as an enabler for shorter TAT (turnaround time)
The challenge
Good plans – but reality in the hangar changes by the hour
In on-site engine maintenance, every hour counts: an engine on the ground means an aircraft on the ground. Missions are hard to predict; spare parts, tools, specialists and test benches have to come together at short notice – across sites, countries and time zones.
The availability of spare parts and special tools in particular poses challenges for the sites.
It is not the planning that decides, but how quickly deviations are detected and resolved. Physical boards and on-site stand-ups are no longer enough when teams work together across several sites.
The starting point: an outdated communication cascade, unclear responsibilities (project management, production and customer service), and a lack of transparency on event status, on-time delivery and turnaround time.
Digital shop floor management (DSFM) connects sites in one cascade.
The approach
Shop floor management is the method. The software is the tool.
We didn’t simply roll out a tool. We introduced the method, set up the team and process boards together with the teams and coached the managers in their daily work – working in the system and on the system.
The tool
ValueStreamer: shop floor management on the data highway
For the digital cascade at both sites, we use ValueStreamer – a software solution for digital shop floor management developed by Dr Andreas Romberg and the team at ValueStreamer GmbH. It is built entirely on shop floor management methodology and covers not only production but all of a company’s processes – connected across sites and countries.
This creates a constantly up-to-date picture of the situation, without travel and without paper boards. Teams and leadership can act more precisely and more quickly.
The software provider from Germany delivers a clear methodological concept that is reflected in the software and can be adapted within limits.
The big advantage is the speed of implementation and the relatively simple configuration of the system. This gets your horsepower onto the road quickly.
TEAMTHINK is a Premium Delivery Partner of ValueStreamer: we introduce the method, set up the team and process boards together with the teams and support them with dSFM coaching.
ValueStreamer dashboard
Dashboards and process boards
All relevant steering KPIs at a glance, aggregated automatically. Orders and projects on process boards with clear colour codes – deviations become visible immediately.
Team boards and capacity
Kanban boards for each team’s work packages, weekly planning over 10 weeks. Capacity per person becomes visible and is planned according to the 80% rule.
Method in the tool
Top 3 topics, go & see, process confirmation, Pareto analysis of disruptions, PDCA with Ishikawa and A3, and transparent escalation across the whole cascade.
More about the tool: ValueStreamer – digital shop floor management
Approach
Four steps to the digital cascade
Step 1
Embedding the method
Defining the communication cascade, introducing the collaboration logic based on the Performance U, visualisation, building linked communication and short daily meetings of around 15 minutes.
Step 2
Setting up boards digitally
Team and process boards, dashboards with the steering KPIs and clear escalation paths – across sites and available on any device.
Step 3
Rolling planning
Following the rule of 10: 10 months, 10 weeks, 10 days, 1-week takt. Capacities become visible and are planned at 80% – creating a buffer for the unexpected.
Step 4
Coaching leaders
dSFM coaching for managers: top 3 topics, go & see, process confirmation and structured problem solving with PDCA and A3.
Multi-project management in ValueStreamer (source: ValueStreamer GmbH)
From strategy to the hangar
One cascade for strategy, planning and day-to-day business
Strategy
Goals are broken down into annual and quarterly goals and compared with implementation in regular reviews.
Planning
Rolling planning combines long-term reliability with short-term steerability. “The more precisely you plan, the harder chance hits you.”
Operational steering
In the daily shop floor meeting, deviations become visible and are resolved directly or escalated via the cascade – with KPIs following SQCDP logic.
Result
An up-to-date picture of the situation – at both sites, at any time
With the digital cascade, production management, customer service, project management and leadership at both sites can see at any time where things are stuck – and act more precisely and more quickly. Coordination with the supply chain works better. Turnaround time and utilisation are improving. The sites are able to schedule more events in the system.
Do your teams work across several sites?
In a free strategy call, we will clarify where you stand and which next step makes sense.
More on the blog (in German): Digital shop floor management · Strategy deployment and rolling planning