Improving Aircraft Engine Disassembly Project Example

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An aircraft engine servicing business’ turnaround time for engine repair and overhaul was taking much longer than customers expected. Customers expected the turnaround to be 45 days, but instead it averaged 62, varying between 50 and 73 days. This poor reliability meant customers had to have more spare engines available in order to keep their aircraft flying, thereby adding to their costs. Similarly, our business had to carry additional inventory, including spare engines, to accommodate the unpredictability of the process and still meet contractual obligations to customers – and to prevent cycle times from being any worse.

A Six Sigma team tackled the problem through a DMAIC Six Sigma project and delivered a significant reduction in turnaround time for customers, as well as achieving cost reductions for their own business. In a relatively short time period, the engine disassembly turnaround time has been reduced by 55 percent, and overall engine repair and overhaul turnaround time reduced 37 percent. The primary motivation for this project had been to address our customers’ dissatisfaction with the longerthan-expected turnaround time. However, the increased reliability of the engine disassembly process also provided a direct financial benefit to our business. The reduction in part inventory and WIP and an increase in labor productivity produced nearly $6 million in savings – a tremendous impact to our business and the bottom line.