Lean Six Sigma Principles For Improving Aircraft Maintenance And Repair Essay.

CPT students, please describe in three paragraphs the following:

An overview of your CPT assignment. Use the journalistic who, what, where, when, why approach here.

Highlights of the Proposed Research and application to the Capstone

How will this research contribute to your studies and enrich your CPT experience?

Problem Statement and Justification

The aviation industry is looking for new opportunities to provide quality of service to the customers so that they can achieve long term sustainability in the global market. The communication between the distant places can be improved with the effective utilization of repair and maintenance program for the Aircraft organization. The aircraft companies are facing some challenges in predicting and forecasting the area of concern for improvement and as a result, we looked to incorporate the lean six-sigma process in for enhancing the maintenance and operational plan of the aircraft (Sunjka and Murphy, 2014).

The critical quality issues which exist with the Aircraft industry can be identified with the use of lean six sigma process. The supply chain management program for the aircraft maintenance program can be effectively done with the use of Lean six sigma policy structures and framework. The integration of six sigma policies helps in providing the upgraded maintenance program for improving the quality of the service provided to the customers. It helps in reducing time spent on the maintenance, repair, and overhauling session organized for the aircraft (Stadnicka, and Ratnayake, 2017).

The lean six sigma process is based on two principles which are categorised as value creation of the process and analysis of the customer requirement (Lazur, Jaadeesh, Karthikeyan, Shanmugarja, 2015). The maintenance program cycle time can be reduced by implementing the principles of six sigma whereas as problem driven structured format can achieved by implementing the six sigma process (Maleyeff, 2014). The maintenance and repairing program of the aircraft can be improved with the implementation of amalgamation program of lean and six sigma working process to get improved performance.

Problem Statement:

The loss of bonding with the loyal customers affect the financial condition of the enterprise due to the lack of quality service, not in time delivery and departure of the flight, limitation in the safety measures, spare parts and control system. The step should be taken to upgrade the maintenance and repair system of the aircraft to provide quality of service to the customers.

Justification:

The increasing demand of globalization put extra burden on the aircraft industry to provide quality of service to the passengers for making their flight experience memorable. The major concern of the people is the heavy cost which they have to pay at the time of emergency condition such as medical emergency, and others. The revolution in the aircraft industry had made route of the flight more intense and complicated. The maintenance programs are arranged for the flight to achieve the long term sustainability of the enterprise. The reliability of the safety measures should be upgraded according to the demand and changing weather condition. The innovation in the business processes of the aircraft industry can be carried out with the use of Lean six sigma policy frameworks because it helps in eliminating extra cost incurred on maintenance processes (Siva, Patan, Kumar,  Purusothaman, Pitchai, Jegathish, 2017).

The six sigma policies helps in aligning the maintenance program of aircraft with the organization objectives of achieving sustainability and remain ahead of the competitors by gaining competitive advantage through innovation in the services provided to the customers which helps in increasing customer satisfaction level and trust on the company. It helps in developing strong relationship with the customers and gain in profitability of the aviation industry (Panagopoulus,  Atkin, and Sikora., 2016). The problem domain had been undertaken for reducing the cost and increasing the productivity of the aerospace industry with the utilization of lean programming fundamentals. The maintenance cycle time can be effectively reduced for providing in-time aircraft design for taking flight (Murphy, 2015).

Literature Review - An Analysis of the Related Work

Research Limitation: The proposed project is dependent on the qualitative methodology for collecting data required for the research. It does not make use of quantitative methodology for getting the accuracy in the practical application of proposed six sigma policies.

The qualitative approach of methodology is used for collecting the required data for the research through online and offline sources

The literature review is conducted on increasing the efficiency of the aircraft by deploying MRO principles with the use of Lean Six sigma process. The six sigma policy framework is comprised of five processes which are categorised as:

Definition: Definition of the problem statement for maintaining, upgrading, and repair according to the requirement

Identification: It divides the complete process into two mode which are value driven program and elimination of the waste processes. This concept helps in reducing the time spent of maintenance, repair, and overhauling session organized for the aircraft (Siva, Patan, Kumar, Purusothaman, Pitchai, Jegathish, 2017).

Value Creation: The focus should be given on the area of concern such as lack of quality service, not in time delivery and departure of the flight, limitation in the safety measures, spare parts and control system. The priority is organized for sequencing and systematic format for the maintenance and repairing program. The continuity of the process step can be managed on the process priority

Analysing the customers requirement: The requirement of the customers should be satisfied when they actually want their requirement to be satisfied such as at the time of medical emergency (Zucker, 2014).

Perfection: The Lean sig sigma policy works in the direction of achieving perfection in the maintenance and upgrading program of the aircraft.

The MRO is applied on the aircraft according to the requirement plan which helps in providing quality of service to the customers. The analysis of the MRO helps in defining the adequate plan for improving the quality of the aircraft. The requirement of the MRO depends on the following categorise which are specified in the table below

Types of MRO	Description
Heavy maintenance  of the aircraft	The requirement placed by the staff members to replace the mechanical components of the aircraft with the new and upgraded equipment. It helps in improving the performance of the engine.
Overhauling of the Aircraft Engine	The overhauling of the engine helps in improving the processing time of the engine, routine checking of the engine, and repairing of the required component of the engine.
Overhauling of the component Mechanical parts	The overhauling of the component mechanical parts helps in initializing the upgraded version of emergency safety system, hydraulic system, and others
Safety check-up of the aircraft	The safety check up helps in improving the performance of the aircraft in the emergency situation. It helps in providing the quality of service to the customers
Overhauling of the electronic components	The overhauling of the electronic components helps in including the Avionic system in the aircraft
Retro fits	Improvement in the facilities provided to the customers

The effectiveness of the lean six sigma principles deployed on reducing the MRO time for Aircraft. The lean six sigma policy framework is the combination of two processes. The implication of the six sigma process helps in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the MRO program organized for the aircraft improvement and maintenance process. The application of the lean six sigma process helps in improving the quality of service provided to the customers, reducing the maintenance and repairing cost of the aircraft, effective flow of information, improved quality of the output received, perfection in the final output in the aircraft maintenance program, and others. The quality of service can be improved with the initialization of the Maintenance, repairing, and overhauling of the Aircraft unit according to the requirement of the consumers and the staff members.

The value stream mapping should be enabled for enhancing the performance of the aircraft. The value stream mapping is performed for dividing the process into different categories such as value added process, non-value added process, and elimination of waste process. The division of the process helps in reducing the cycle time of the maintenance process. The principle of lean six sigma processes are applied for determining the working process related to the current state mapping system, division of value added process, non-value added process, and elimination of waste process, development of working plans for improving the current state of the aircraft unit, proposal for reducing the cycle time of maintenance program, and others. The Value added mapping tools should be applied to the aircraft maintenance program for identifying the distribution of the value added and non-value added process for improving the flow of production process. The high level visualization of the improvement plan for the aircraft should be drawn with the implication and identification of the value added process and associated tools. 

The prioritization function is the most important function in deploying VSM technology because it helps in setting priorty to the non-added value process which are served during the MRO program of the aircraft. The principles of value state mapping process are highlighted below:

• Categorisation of the value added process, non-value added process, and elimination of the waste process
• Setting priority program with the non-value added process
• Identification of the obscure and flaws in the current working process of the MRO of aircraft
• Mapping of the value process with the requirement of the customers and the staff members
• Development of the future state mapping program
• Refinement of the gaps in the current working process of MRO aircraft
• Development of the action plan for improving the value state mapping process
• Analysis of the work time related with the MRO process
• Improving the quality of service provided to the customers
• Reducing the maintenance and repairing cost of the aircraft
• Effective flow of information
• Improved quality of the output received
• Perfection in the final output in the aircraft maintenance program

The effective value stream mapping can be done by dividing the MRO process into five stages which are classified as below:

Identification of the working process: Telera, suggested that the strategy should be developed for categorising the undertaken process of MRO aircraft into value added process, non-value added process, and elimination of the waste process. From the research, it had been found that in the maintenance program of aircraft the value added activities are only comprised of 5%, non-value activities are comprised of 60%, and 35% of waste process (Tenera, 2014).

Analysis and identification of work process time: The effective value state mapping program for applying MRO program to the aircraft can be effectively done with the implication of work process time. The association of the processing time with the undertaken work process helps in identifying the total maintenance cycle time which is utilised for developing the aircraft according to the requirement of the customers. Telera, suggested that the internal operation performed for MRO should be aligned with the final design of the value state mapping process for accelerating the improvement and maintenance processs. Mansfield, focuses on the processing time of MRO session can be reduced up to 70 to 80% for getting an upgraded version of the flight which is ready for providing quality service to the customers  It helps in reducing the cycle time of maintenance program up to 65% to 96% of the upgraded program (Mansfield, 2013).

Process Mapping:  The deployment of VSM tools helps in dividing the processes into value added process, non-value added process, and waste process. Ayeni, suggested that The elimination of the waste process helps in reducing the time required for completing the MRO operation on the aircraft. Some of the waste processes are categorised as defects and incorrect information, overproduction and the processes which are not required, waiting of process completion to undergo for next activity, not utilization of the talent and expertise of the working team members, elimination of product transportation process, maintenance of inventory management, reducing the extra processing work, and underutilization of the workman force (Ayeni, 2015).

Calculation of MRO cycle time: The time required completing the one MRO cycle depends on minimum time required and the maximum time required for completing the process. The difference between the maximum time and minimum time helps in calculating the current state time required for completing the cycle of MRO on aircraft.

Development of the Future state mapping: The analysis of the process mapping on value added process, non-value added process, and waste process helps in identifying the waste process which can effectively remove from the cycle to reduce the MRO processing time.

The following table shows the list of sequence operation which are performed on the aircraft improvement plan to deploy the session of maintenance, repair, and overhauling program.

S.no	Sequence of Maintenance operation	Value Added Process	Non-value added process
1.	Acceptance of the aircraft induction time	No	Yes
2.	Deployment of the testing and inspection program	No	Yes
3	Use of Jacks	Yes	No
4.	Removal of wear and tear component	Yes	No
5.	Quality service component	Yes	No
6.	Installation of the new spare parts in the engine	Yes	No
7.	Painting of the aircraft	No	Yes
8.	Inspection process	No	Yes
9.	Restructuring of the aircraft engine	Yes	No
10.	Fitting of the spare part	No	Yes
11.	Functional checking of the component spare part	Yes	No
12.	Final Air testing of the flight	No	Yes
13.	Final upgrading of the equipment	No	Yes
14.	Final Painting	No	Yes
15.	Delivered to the customers	Yes	No

The maintenance, repairing and overhauling of the aircraft can be effectively done with the use of DMAIC policy framework for applying lean and six sigma principles ((Hill, Thomas, Jones, and Kateb., 2017). The DMAIC policy framework model is highlighted below:

• Define: The problem identification is the basic requirement of applying MRO on aircraft which is depend on customer requirement specification plan
• Measure: This process works on prioritizing the undertaken process on the basis of value added process, non-value added process, and waste process. It helps in setting out the clear goals and concern areas which should be undertaken for improvement of the aircraft model
• Analyse: The analysis of the MRO principle helps in categorising the waste process which should be undertaken for eliminating it from the maintenance cycle program. It reduces the cycle time of the MRO program applied on the aircraft
• Improve: The action plan which should be undertaken for improving the quality of the aircraft should be highlighted so that it helps in analysing the root cause of the improvement and providing the best suitable solution according to the requirement of concern areas of the aircraft ((Ayeni, PBaines, Lightfoot., and Ball., 2015).
• Control: The control policy structure should be defined for the undertaken MRO so that the consistency of the approved program can be maintained for achieving sustainability in the aircraft model.

The dramatic improvement in the lean six sigma policy framework helps in improving the operational and the maintenance program of the business processes. The competitive advantage can be gained by determining the six sigma policy framework with the use of DMAIC methodology ((Ali, 2016). The equipment inventory can be checked with the utilization of six sigma tools for  the advanced manufacturing material and repairing of the aircraft. The repairing design process can be completed within cost and timeline of the proposed project. The following table helps in determining the application of lean six sigma principles based on DMAIC policy framework for improving the MRO program of the aircraft.

Lean Principles
	Phases	Train and Prepare	Specification of the value creation	Synchronization of the value stream mapping	Creating flow of control	Demand and Perfection
Six sigma Principle	Define	Lean six sigma procedures for ensuring the management program and setting required goal of updating the procedures for maintenance of the aircraft program	Focus should be given on the customers requirement	Focus should be given on the inspection of the aircraft design	Focus should be given on defining the problem domain	MRO principle should be defined for analysing the OTR (Order to receipt) procedures for incorporating the required changes in the program
	Measure	Role and responsibilities should be divided according to the skills and expertise of the employees	Consideration should be given to the process analysis and the gaps which exist in the aircraft design	The activities should be designed for value stream mapping according to the changes required in the aircraft design and its component	Division of work should be revised due to the addition late calls of upgrading the system	Order to receipts are used for analysing the performance of the aircraft under consideration
	Analyse	Monitoring of the routine work of the employees	Analysis of the critical quality issues which exist with the aircraft maintenance program	Pareto analysis should performed for identifying the value added process, non-value added process, and enabling value added process for reducing the maintenance cycle time of the aircraft design upgrading model	Restructuring of the operational framework for providing enhanced control measures of the required configuration in the aircraft component structure	The workload of the maintenance cycle can be reduced by analysing the OTR for setting new targets of improvement
	Improve	Parameters should be designed for removing the issues	Resolving the issues of the team members	Focus should be given on th problem domain for identifying the key issues which are exist with the design	Pilot analysis testing procedures should be used for removing the flaws and the obscure from the design model of the aircraft	Systematic arrangement of delivery system for imposing customer expectation
	Control	Management of the control structure The control board should set quality standard for measuring the performance of the aircraft.	Controlling and monitoring of customers value and requirement plan. The continuous upgrading and maintenance program helps in bringing perfection in the required task which are undertaken for the designing principles of MRO aircraft.	Training and development program should be arranged for aligning the key activities of the upgraded process with the setting f upgrading goal of the aircraft	Control procedures should be designed  by focusing on the required MRO program	Specification of new process for upgrading the aircraft design according to the requirement specification plan of the customers

The operational performance of the aircraft industry can be improved by applying DMAIC approaches associated with the lean and six sigma policies. It helps in analysing the systematic review of lean principles and how they are used in improving the maintenance and operational plan of the aircraft. The research was proposed to analyse the DMAIC policy framework which works on five fundamental concepts which are categorised as value specification, value identification, smooth flow of maintenance program, and perfection in the level of services ((Kolanjiappani, and Maran, 2011). It helps in analysing the complexity and critical evaluation of the maintenance program organised for improving the current state of the aircraft. The DMAIC helps in reducing the cost of the maintenance program by eliminating waste processes equipped in the working model of the aircraft. The reliability of the lean six sigma operation can be measured by the efficiency of the aircraft to provide quality of service to the customers and the capability of the aircraft to handle the fault tolerance in emergency situation ((Johnson, and Dubikovsky, 2015).

The analysis of the literature review helps in implementing the principles of a lean six sigma policies in the development of the maintenance, repair and overhauling program for the effective design of the aircraft. The address should be given to the Line and base maintenance work for effective design of MRO principles for aircraft.

• The line maintenance program focuses on identifying the aircraft components which are facing problems of wear and tear and wants to be upgraded according to the requirement specification of the customers.
• The base maintenance program is arranged for analysing the functionality and serviceability of the designed aircraft. The performance can be ensured by analysing the effectiveness during the operational arrangement of the flight.

Overview of Lean Six sigma principles:

The accumulative framework of lean philosophy and six sigma policy framework helps in eliminating the waste processes by removing the defects, over-production of the process, transportation management, inventory management, and organizational change management. The six sigma policy framework is based on following processes:

Process	Description
Separation of the waste	The tools and technologies are required for separating the waste processes from the maintenance program of the aircraft
Setting priority	The priority program is organized for setting value creation to the processes which should emphasised for enhancing the working capability of the system.
Shine and transparency	The transparency should be built up in the clear definition of role and expertise.
Standard protocols	Standard protocols should be used for providing the perfection and quality of service to the aircraft design.
Sustainability	The maintenance, repair, and overhauling procedures are laid down for achieving the sustainability of the aircraft industry by satisfying the customer requirement (Kumar, Luthra, Haleem, and Garg, 2015).

The MRO program arranged for aircraft upgrading with the implication of lean six sigma working principles focuses on dividing the process activities into three categories which are classified as

• Value added activities: The value added activities helps in increasing the product value for increasing the satisfaction level of the customers. It has been found that only 5% of the upgraded processing elements of the aircraft system are come under the category of value added activities.
• Non-Value added activities: The upgrading of these activities does not have any impact on the customer satisfaction level because they are driven for managing the mechanical requirement of the aircraft for proposing safe flight journey of the customers. It focuses on upgrading the spare part of the aircraft, processing speed of the processor, and others. 65% of the upgraded processing elements of the aircraft system are come under the category of non-value added activities (Kang and Apte, 2007).
• Enabling value added activities: The emphasis on these activities helps in designing continuity service management framework for the undertaken policies. 35% of the upgraded processing elements of the aircraft system are come under the category of enabling value added activities (Johnson, and Dubikovsky, 2015). The analysis of these activities helps in bringing operational efficiency of the upgraded version of the aircraft service program.

Level 0: Pre-Implementation Phase of LSSS Principles:

The pre-implementation phase opens a new opportunity to motivate the employees for outlining the problem domain of the proposed aircraft design. The training and development program for the staff is arranged to expertise their skills in the lean six sigma framework.

Level 1: Analysis of the Problem Domain

The problem domain of the aircraft is analysed to generate need of maintenance, repair, and overhauling program on it (Stephen, and Blokland, 2016). The configuration of the aircraft is taken under consideration to know the area of concern for aligning the service technical plan to ensure the good quality of the proposed aircraft. The non-value added analysis should be performed on the aircraft to predict the area which requires upgrading and maintenance program. The non-value added process which are selected for analysis are receipt of the engine, process of assessment, engine strip, module strip, inspection process, call off new requirement, receipt of spare part, rebuilding of the module, generation of module test, rebuilding of the engine, checking of the aircraft flight stages, final inspection of the process, final testing of the flight, dispatching of the flight, and others (Choudhary, 2015).

Level 2: Designing of the concern areas:

The analysis of the non-value added activities gives rise to the operational phase for improvement. The induction phase focuses on requirement generated by the customer and the technical requirement which arises through the inspection process will be entered into the ERP system (Khaled, 2013). The engineering team apply their full effort to resolve the problems which are listed in the ERP system such as cleaning of the strip, checking the performance of the aircraft engine, repairing process, upgrading of the spare part, solution to the customer requirement, and others (Ayeni, Baines,  Lightfoot., and Ball., 2015). The ERP system upgraded according to the specification included in the aircraft design after the MRO session. The supply chain management of the repairing elements should be supplied within the time frame to accelerate the performance of the MRO session. The testing of the final module should be carried to for measuring the final assessment of the program.

Level 3: Designing of the Critical to quality issues:

The CTQ session is organized for evaluating the quality risks which are associated with the proposed aircraft design. It helps in eliminating the risks and quality factors which are associated with the perfection in the aircraft design to provide superior quality of service to the customers. It is the last call for the assessment of the defects in the aircraft design which requires improvement (Karunakaran, 2015). The following diagram shows the cause-effect session for analysing the last call for the aircraft design defects for improvement.

The inspection of the service modules and the technical area helps in generating order to receipt (OTR) for the last call of improvement. The analysis of the OTR helps in scrapping out the defects in the aircraft design (Hill, Thomas, Jones, and Kateb., 2017). The analysis can be effectively done for generating a control plan in order to eliminate the undergone process of assessment. The internal operation performed for MRO should be aligned with the final design and OTR request plan for speeding up the process of improvement (Tenera, 2014). The perfect final design can be obtained with the inclusion of the LSSS services to design an MRO program for removing the defects in the aircraft and upgrading the design according to the customer requirement. The processing time of MRO session can be reduced up to 70 to 80% for getting an upgraded version of the flight which is ready for providing quality of service to the customers (Ghaleb, Shareif, Sebaie, 2014). The following flowchart shows the efficiency of the lean six sigma policy in reducing maintenance, repairing, and overhauling time:

Suggestion for Future scope of the project:

The waterfall methodology should be used for applying the six sigma principles on the maintenance and repairing of the aircraft because it helps in examining the clear requirement for improvement to provide quality services to the customers. It is recommended that the practical application of the proposed project of applying six sigma principles on the MRO program of the aircraft helps in reducing the maintenance time with providing perfection in the outcome design of the aircraft.  

The implementation of the six sigma principles for maintenance, repair, and overhauling of the aircraft helps in reducing the formal time period of maintenance program with maintaining perfection in the aircraft quality to satisfy the customer requirement. During the analysis of the literature review, we come across with difference in the viewpoint with the designing of the MRO program using Lean Six Sigma policy structure. During the course plan, we are able to analyse that the application of the six sigma principles helps in modifying the aircraft design and defects according to the requirement. The maintenance cycle time can be effectively reduced for providing in-time aircraft design for taking flight. The internal requirement placed by the technical staff of the aircraft industry and the external requirement placed by the customers can be effectively resolved through the MRO session by making use of lean six sigma principle for improving the design specification. The lean methodology primarily focuses on analysing the value added process, non-value added process and enabling process for reducing the time spent in the maintenance and repairing program of the aircraft. The designing of the literature review is suitable for my project because it helps in analysing the application of the accumulative framework of lean philosophy and six sigma working principles for upgrading of the wheels, mechanical equipment, landing gears overhauling program, interchanging and updating the brakes and braking architecture, innovation in the carriage flap tracking system, overhauling of the spare parts, and others which helps in increasing the sale of the aircraft. The supply chain management of the repairing elements should be supplied within the time frame to accelerate the performance of the MRO session. The implementation of the lean six sigma policy structure helps in eliminating the waste process for carrying out effective program maintenance, repair, and overhauling procedures laid down for upgrading the aircraft design and component parts. It helps in reducing the cycle time of maintenance program up to 65% to 96% of the upgraded program. The configuration of the aircraft is taken under consideration to know the area of concern for aligning the service technical plan to ensure the good quality of the proposed aircraft. The accumulative framework of lean philosophy and six sigma policy framework helps in eliminating the waste processes by removing the defects, over-production of the process, transportation management, inventory management, and organizational change management. The priority program is organized for setting value creation to the processes which should emphasised for enhancing the working capability of the system.

References

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