The goal of this effort was to assist CCAD in developing new business practices in two key areas: part movement and control and parts evaluation. In addressing the first of these areas, KBSI was tasked to develop alternative methods to the mass movement of individual parts and the control functions associated with routing an asset’s components through a relatively deterministic number of process steps. KBSI was asked to determine and implement a method for moving and controlling all components of an asset through a set of initial processes as a whole and to restructure the processing of these assets using a variant of the pull structure. With respect to parts evaluation, the second key are of this effort, KBSI focused on changing the structure of how evaluation functions are completed during the initial phases of the overhaul cycle and on separating them from assembly functions. Each technical task of was coordinated with CCAD and with the Production Process Engineering Division (PPED) of CCAD in particular.

Objectives

The primary objectives of this effort were to produce a “uniflow” methodology for complex flowed component end-items that is optimized to produce a significant reduction in turn-around-time (TAT) at two levels: the time-to-full-evaluation (TFE) and overall TAT. Reducing the TFE resulted in decreasing the time for discovery of defects and increasing the lead-time available for requisitioning or routing replacement parts. The secondary goals of this task were to reduce (and eliminate, where possible) the requirement for production control efforts in these front-end processes. The T-700 engine was used as the “flowed-component” end item for the purpose of this uniflow development, but the results were focused on providing a framework for streamlining the front-end processes of any “flowed-component” end item.  Re-designing the front-end processes and moving the evaluation tasks to the beginning for a component-flowed item such as the T-700 reduced this TFE time from 72 days to less than 10 days, much of which was saved directly in overall TAT.

Approach

Achieving the goals of the SUMO project required fundamental changes in the management of material through the front-end processes. These processes were to be separated from the “Repair” and “Assembly” processes and instead treated as they were intended: as a “Parts Acceptance” or “Evaluation” process. These processes helped CCAD determine whether they would invest in the repair of an item or replace it by some other means (e.g., ordering, robbing, etc.). The T-700 engine was used as the “flowed-component” end item for the purpose of this uniflow development.  KBSI pursued the conceptualization, design, development, and piloting of a standardized “one-piece flow” concept to reduce production control requirements and cycletime from induction through full parts evaluation and the initiation of the repair processes.

KBSI’s initial focus was to investigate the current material flow and process structures in the Disassembly, Cleaning, and the non-destructive inspection (NDI) process shops, and a thorough documentation of these flow processes established a baseline for analysis. Development and prototyping of a one-piece flow concept for the T-700 engine front-end material flow processes was KBSI’s next goal. This included the development of an appropriate design for holding the full parts breakouts by engine subassembly, which supported the one-piece movement of the subassembly through Disassembly, Cleaning, NDI shops, and the initial evaluation points. Appropriate recommendations were made about the possible re-designing and usage of these methods for the storage and delivery of assembly kits to the T-700 prime shops.

The prototyping of the one-piece flow concept was followed by the development of a “Pull” strategy and corresponding Kanban structures that provided support to the above concept through the front-end processes. This helped in the creation of a smooth and balanced flow of assets that met current production demands. To illustrate and support such structures, prototype flow diagrams and layouts were developed. The triggering events and actions for each work center in such a setup were then documented. KBSI assisted PPED in implementing the above strategies and provided training in Pull concepts and practices to the concerned shop personnel.

With respect to the development of requirements for establishing a new examination and evaluation (E&E) concept, KBSI extracted the E&E functions from their current prime-shop operations and embedded as part of the front-end processes. The focus on the design of the methods of movement and “containment” were to simplify parts movement, establishing easily learned and identifiable production triggers, and structuring the parts’ presentation to optimize processing at the each shop.

The first step in creating a standardized and consolidated E&E operation for the T-700 engine within CCAD involved analyzing the resource and equipment capacity requirements utilized in the E&E operations in each of the major assemblies of the T-700. From that analysis, a condensed set of requirements was established for the E&E processes. After the requirements were developed, an efficient and effective layout of the E&E functions were developed and implemented through PPED. Changing the E&E processes also affected the prime shops as well. A recommendation for restructuring the prime shops was proposed to accommodate the new E&E operations and kitting strategies necessary to support the production floor.

Results

KBSI defined a standard process for routing disassembled parts, which reduced the amount of material handling problems.  Correct first pass part inspections were increased causing an immediate reduction in the amount of manpower needed for material handling purposes.  With partial implementation of the KBSI suggestions, part inspection time was reduced from 74 days to 64 days, with the intention of fully implementing the KBSI improvements to reduce the inspection time to eight days.  By reaching an 8-day inspection cycle time, CCAD should realize a savings of $56,000 per engine.