Tuesday, April 29, 2008...Welcome to Quest's Lean Production Techniques assembly line.
Each work cell along the production line works together like a group of instruments. We've got the guitars, the bass, the percussion and each one plays a different part in time with the others. Together, the music is complete. Behind the scenes we've been adjusting the dance that is our production flow. Admittedly, it's more of a tango than a two step,but it all falls under the core of our philosophy...continuous improvement. We've been analyzing each movement to find the critical paths and addressing any bottle necks by devising solutions together with the teams actually doing the work. Around here everyone is a part of the process because everyone is part of our progress.
Meeting our near-term goal means that a brand new KODIAK will roll off the production line and into service every two weeks. That score has been written and it's only a matter of time before it's played. Today there are nine aircraft on the floor -- all in various stages of production.
Of that group, number eight is something a little bit special. It's the first assembly that will move to a new second fuselage fixture and help take us closer to a ten day TAKT time...that's ten days to generate one unit of output from any given work station along the line...including the finished product.
Stay tuned...