Feeder line work fuels lean machine
by Paul V. Arnold
Denise Schrader-Keppeler is a perfect
example of the hourly employee’s role in Boeing’s lean system.
A mechanic (the company’s term for
production worker) on the fuel cell feeder line at its plant in
Renton, Wash., Schrader-Keppeler does all she can to ease the job of
737 final assembly mechanics.
Prior to implementing lean, Schrader-Keppeler
says, final assembly mechanics received bags of parts to install. Fuel
cell assembly workers had as many as 950 parts to piece into the
aircraft. It wasn’t uncommon for parts bags to contain duplicate or
missing parts, which meant mechanics visited the stores area several
times during a shift.
To install one complete fuel cell, it
took two people on first shift, one person on second shift and two
first-shifters the next day.
The feeder line concept changes all
that. The line feeds the final assembly crew with subassemblies,
partially complete components that can be installed almost immediately
instead of tinkered with inside the aircraft. Work on each feeder line
is balanced to increase efficiency and reduce work in progress.
Besides making, inspecting and pre-cleaning
subassemblies (and assuring their completeness), feeder line mechanics
design ways to increase the amount of subassemblies and decrease the
total number of items installed by final assemblers.
Thanks to the work and ideas of fuel
cell feeder line mechanics like Schrader-Keppeler, the 950-part final
assembly chore is now 150. And, she’s bent on lowering that number.
That’s helped reduce final assembly time. Instead of 40 man-hours
for the fuel cell job, it now takes 12 (two first-shifters working six
hours).
"Boeing is doing so much more to
make things better by getting mechanics everything they need to do
their job," she says. "I know how tough it can be on
assembly when things don’t run smoothly. When I was out there, I’d
constantly run out of nut plates. I made two or three trips to the
store each day. That doesn’t happen anymore."
This article appeared in the
February/March 2002 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright 2002.
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