Where would the aviation and aerospace industry be without innovation? The current oil crisis represents a challenge the likes of which our industry has never before faced, mandating dramatic changes and a re-engineering of operational processes to achieve greater efficiency. Those that manage or support supply chains must consequently begin the search for innovative strategies to stretch every dollar and conceive innovative business processes. Mr. Heule will address the paramount hurdles currently facing aviation and aerospace supply chains and forecast emerging trends expected to re-define aviation and aerospace supply chain management for some time to come.

Takeaways include:

• Selecting suppliers for development, based on business complexity, risk and opportunity
• Implementing a supplier value improvement process
• Measuring results to demonstrate documented costs savings and efficiency

For Cessna, supplier development is all about knowledge transfer. During this presentation, you will learn how Cessna leverages its own Textron Production System – which is modeled after the Toyota production model – to reduce lead times and assets and gain greater flexibility and customer responsiveness through the elimination of waste and inefficiency. You will learn how Cessna gains supplier participation in value-stream mapping and supplier value improvement workshops; initiatives that have resulted in optimal efficiency, cost reductions and superior productivity. By the end of this session you will learn to:

• Work collaboratively with suppliers to speed delivery, reduce lead times and improve quality
• Develop a process for selecting suppliers for development, based on business complexity, risk and opportunity
• Implement a supplier value improvement process

Measure your results to demonstrate documented costs savings and efficiency

Air Canada will highlight the initiatives and new tools that it’s deploying to calculate return on investment and measure the financial impact of its supply chain, materials management and procurement processes. Takeaways include:

• Evaluating solutions and process changes that improve profitability and performance
• Gaining executive buy in for investing in new tools
• Results analysis and ROI calculation
  

This presentation explores the cost reduction opportunities that exist in a traditional Supply Chain model taken from the perspective of a regional airline. As the main service and component provider to the Maintenance and Repair Operation, there is inherent waste in the process of procuring, shipping, receiving, storing, issuing, and payment for supplies and components. This case study progresses from concept through contract award and implementation of a comprehensive supply consolidation contract. Emphasis is placed on the importance of pre-planning and understanding the needs of your organization, and also setting the current baseline in order to properly track and measure the benefits post implementation. Focus areas include;

• Identify waste, non-value add, and cost reduction opportunities within your operation
• Develop the current baseline
• Construct your RFP, capture and define key price and service features you need in your contract
• Assign criticality weightings to each key feature in your solution
• Develop and build your business case
• Award the contract and develop your implementation plan
• Measure your success (KPIs, metrics)
  

Boeing is minimizing supply chain and materials management costs through the effective use of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to track more than 2,000 mission-critical parts on each of its 787 jetliners; parts which are particularly expensive or require frequent maintenance and replacement. This session will highlight how Boeing is pioneering new RFID applications to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Session takeaways include:

• Understanding the benefits of automated identification
• Boeing RFID Certification Approach
• Considerations for RFID on the 787 Dreamliner
  

This presentation will walk you through the performance metrics deployed to effectively assess performance and - identify gaps - in your value chain.

As our economy continues to face difficult times, corporations must continue to cut costs in many internal functions. Procurement organizations are prime targets to these cost cutting efforts. As these cuts become inevitable, cutting “fat rather than muscle” becomes key to not reducing quality of the procurement service. Procurement must capitalize on efficiencies through improved processes and tools while eliminating duplicity in the organization. Improving the value proposition to the enterprise and reducing time in placing and expediting purchase orders will be the key to a successful procurement organization. This presentation will focus on developing a methodology and strategy in creating a procurement-shared service organization for non-production products and services. Attention to key elements such as detailed transition and implementation plans will be discussed along with pros and cons to a regional versus centralized shared service center. Primary learning points will address:

• The importance of a financial business case detailing both savings and implementation incremental costs
• Communication and change management strategies
• Strategy to maintaining key personnel when consolidating functions
  

IN-DEPTH, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
This professional development session will provide concrete “how-to” instruction and specific guidance for overcoming the paramount hurdles and obstacles impacting aviation and aerospace supply chain professionals. The session will include in-depth case-study analysis and review, peer-to-peer benchmarking and business brainstorming exercises designed to help your company begin
Leveraging Lean Value Streams to Create Operational Excellence and Achieve Bottom Line Results and Cost Savings

Creating lean value streams that flow through the supply chain to the customer is only the first step towards achieving true operational excellence. During this engaging and information-driven workshop session, you will learn how some companies ‘leap-frog’ other companies in their lean journey to achieve superior Operational Excellence and bottom-line results and cost savings. We will clearly define Operational Excellence in practical terms and specifically detail and outline the methodology necessary to attain it. This session will pinpoint the next steps and highlight new concepts, such as self-healing value streams, which ensure value stream flow, significantly reduce cost and lead time, and allow leaders to work on offense. Additionally, we will illustrates the application of these principles in companies that have achieved measured cost-savings through this approach and achieved true Operational Excellence and optimal Business Performance.
Key Learning Points and Takeaways Include:

• Understanding the definition and value of operational excellence
• Enhancing flow to your value stream
• Optimizing supply chain to customer flow
• Creating operational excellence in the supply chain
• Methods to 'leap-frog' the lean journey
• How to achieve bottom line results and quantifiable cost savings

ABOUT YOUR WORKSHOP FACILITATOR: Kevin J. Duggan is Founder of the INSTITUTE FOR OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE and President of DUGGAN ASSOCIATES; a Rhode Island-based consulting firm focused on applying advanced lean principles to complex supply chain and materials management operations. Kevin and his team work globally teaching and guiding many large aerospace companies in their lean transformation towards Operational Excellence. 
In addition to his work with the Institute for Operational Excellence, Kevin is author of Creating Mixed Model Value Streams, a faculty member for the Lean Enterprise Institute and an instructor for the University of Michigan.

During this insightful presentation, you will learn how to not only reduce costs to your supply chain operation, but also how to drive innovation and revenue building opportunities as well. We will additionally identify the critical roles of supplier relationship management as a vital component of this process improvement model.
Key takeaways include:

• Identifying how, where and why your current supply chain management process is “leaking” money
• Implementing viable cost reduction initiatives that can be documented to demonstrate value
• Identify potential opportunities to build revenue
• Understand what supply chain management excellence really means?
• Develop a deeper understanding of supplier relationship management?         
• Holistic perspectives on overarching goals and strategic frameworks to deliver sustainable competitive advantage
  

This discussion group will outline how commercial, military and business aviation maintenance-parts supply network organizations can implement a seven step approach to improve the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of each of their five primary supply processes.

Drawing on a unique study of aerospace manufacturing along with research on other industries’ “lean” successes, this discussion will demonstrate how some companies have managed to defy conventional wisdom. By adopting a lean approach, these firms consistently thrive in today’s challenging business environment, sustaining profitability, growth, and innovation. Learn:

• How leading companies overcome severe circumstances like those affecting this industry; 
• A new approach for measuring companies’ “lean” progress—a critical enabler for creating lasting value;
• How “lean dynamics” capabilities can open the doors to new opportunities even within a seemingly stagnant market.

This roundtable discussion will provide specific solutions to achieve genuine cost savings though:

• Elimination of irrational spending
• Establishment of an organizational frame work for cost reduction
• Aligning quality improvement with program investment to achieve measurable cost reductions
• Finding “hidden areas” to drive down costs
• Rolling cost savings out to suppliers and jointly reaping the benefits