The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2002–2011
Hawker Beechcraft balanced its aircraft line like a factory and saved $30M
Aircraft moved on schedule even when work lagged; balancing the 800XP line like a factory cut out-of-station work and saved $30M+.
Hawker Beechcraft
The solution
In 2002 Hawker Beechcraft's Hawker 800XP assembly line was paced by the clock: an aircraft moved to the next workstation on schedule even if work at the previous station was unfinished. Work-in-progress ran high and most work was completed out of station.
Management wanted a quantitative answer to how many workstations the line needed and how to assign tasks. The team proposed an approach based on assembly-line balancing principles, customized to a complex product in a real aircraft setting.
Hawker Beechcraft implemented the recommended solution on the 800XP line in 2003 and later used the approach to balance two other lines, saving over $30 million.
Why it worked
- Clock pacing without balance just pushes work in progress downstream
- Task assignment and station count were solved together
- Customizing textbook balancing to aircraft made it usable
- The same model scaled to two more product lines
What can be applied
Pacing without balance just moves incomplete work downstream: quantify tasks, pick station count and assignments together — factory discipline lifts an aircraft line too.
Aftermath
The approach spread to two additional Hawker Beechcraft lines, and the project was published as an Interfaces case documenting the $30 million-plus savings.
Sources
- Hawker Beechcraft Uses a New Solution Approach to Balance Assembly Lines
- Hawker Beechcraft Uses a New Solution Approach to Balance Assembly Lines (abstract)
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