MRO teams supplied…

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The Bourton Group, a management consultancy specialising in operational performance improvement, see Aerospace as a sector facing Wide-ranging change and efficiency programmes, major reorganisations and significant cost pressures on a daily basis.

They helped develop a Lean Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul MRO facility for VC10 maintenance at DARA. DARA had won a contract to carry out deep level maintenance, repair and overhaul of the RAF’s fleet of VC10 large bodied jets, previously performed at Brize Norton. From shop floor and planning to logistics and technical support needed to be transformed. The prime contractor was BAE Systems.

The underlying control of processes, the organisation of the workplace and the culture of the workforce were redefined. Working in collaboration with the leadership team and ensuring team members were involved in the developing details, teamwork became paramount.

The VC10 Facility has subsequently become a benchmark for other mro organisations. The results achieved by MRO teams included:

1. 33% reduction in booked hours for Major services.

2. Lead time reduced by 20% over first three major aircraft, with the capability to reduce lead time according to customer demand.

3. Value of material returns on Major servicing reduced from £5m to less than £500k.

4. Project set up time for new aircraft reduced by 50%

5. Smooth introduction of the Minor maintenance programme with all targets for the first aircraft through the facility met to the delight of the customer and end users

6. Consistent achievement of customers target lead time for Minor services from the very first aircraft through the facility

7. Absenteeism almost halved (from 10% to 6%) due to improved ways of working and increased participation.

8. Quality standards maintained throughout the transformation programme as a result of sustained ownership.

Permanent aerospace personnel or temporary contract personnel.

It was essentially a self-directed teamworking programme to give their people more control over their work and their working environment, more job satisfaction through improved two-way trust and recognition and more opportunities to develop their skills at work. Attract, retain and motivate high performers in order to make productivity and competitiveness gains, via quicker turn round times, lower costs, and greater flexibility in response to customer requirements. The type of teamworking required in an organisation is based on the MRO team's location (co-located or dispersed) and whether they are permanent aerospace personnel or temporary contract personnel. In reality, not all MRO teams are just Self-Directed teams or customer supplier network teams, many teams and individuals may find themselves working in more than one teamworking style at any one time.

The implementation took place over a 12-month period, during which 300 Self-Directed MRO Teams were launched in all MRO areas. The mechanism used was called the "Diffusion Strategy". It involved up to 15 MRO teams and their managers, typically 120-200 people who share a common product, process or customer and hence, objective.

MRO teams were trained directly by their line managers. This helped reinforce the principles of Self-Direction, release of discretionary effort, transfer of ownership, plus strong leadership and personal example-setting from the management.

MRO Team members became accountable for different aspects within the team. The weekly meeting was a far more structured and sensible affair. Teamworking successes featured regularly in the in-house newsletters.