Lockheed Martin MFC Orlando Fire Control Factory Reconfiguration Video
Defense contractor does double-time reconfiguration of factory floor (time-lapse video).
The Department of Defense (DoD) is one tough customer, and when they call for "double time," their suppliers -- like 2007 IW Best Plants winner Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) in Orlando -- must get with the program, and fast.
Recently, the DoD came to MFC Orlando with an urgent need to double production of the Target Acquisition and Designation System for the US Army’s Apache attack helicopter. Fortunately for both the customer and supplier, as well as the end-user, the Fire Control Factory (FCF) was designed for just such a challenge.
The innovative factory layout at the FCF employs lean manufacturing concepts of cellular layout, kanban, visual controls, line balance and flow. It has an open architecture and no-walls cellular design, and features an in-floor electrical grid to support quick-disconnect utilities and the movement of easily reconfigurable workstations.
With this kind of flexibility, the manufacturing team was armed to combat the looming production deadline. The team took one day to plan the move, and that night seven team members stayed late to put their plan into action. In just two hours and 15 minutes they were able to reconfigure the cells required to double the production rate. The next morning when the operators came to work, the TADS area was set up for double production, and the program was able to meet all of its schedule requirements.
It can be extremely difficult, time consuming and costly to rearrange a traditional facility and restructure resources to allow for this kind of change. At MFC Orlando, the combination of lean thinking, a flexible facility and cross-trained employees allowed this difficult task to be done quickly and efficiently.
Read Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control at
Orlando: IW Best Plants Profile 2007.
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