Jun 19, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Parker Aerospace Operational Initiatives Power Excellence for Customers

Parker Aerospace, a business segment of Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH), the global leader in motion and control technologies, today announced operational initiatives to enhance project management, improve operational performance, and push toward delivery of zero-defect products.

Program management supports customer satisfaction, profitability

Managing complex product development and manufacturing projects is a challenging task, so Parker Aerospace has established its Program Management Office (PMO) to ensure projects are completed to the satisfaction of its customers in a way that supports profitability.

The PMO is overseen by a council consisting of leaders from across the organization in all relevant functional areas, and supported by 170 program managers, project managers, and project planning and control analysts.

Parker Aerospace’s PMO has implemented strategic processes and procedures that provide clarity to the metrics that help assess the health of projects and programs, drive decision-making, and identify the need for corrective actions.

“Parker Aerospace counts on its program management team to ensure that our business projects are executed smoothly and efficiently, in support of customers’ requests,” said Barry Draskovich, group vice president of program & contract management at Parker Aerospace.

Project Management Institute (PMI) certification is required for key personnel to increase their competency levels. Prior to establishment of the PMO, only 18 percent of project and program managers held a PMI certification. Today, that number is 100 percent. “Even with the best tools in the world, you’re not going to get the job done without the right people,” said Draskovich.

LISC 6 initiative driving the flow of value to the customer

Despite already having exceptional processes in place, Parker Aerospace was looking to make a leap in operational excellence that would result in even greater customer satisfaction.

Starting with the metric of line items shipped complete – or LISC – where success is measured in the number of perfect products shipped on time, Parker Aerospace added six initiatives to further improve its operational excellence from good to great. The Parker Aerospace program is called LISC 6, and the detailed initiatives include:

1. Sales and operations planning (S&OP) – manages and levels customer demand

2. A plan for every part (PFEP) – inventory optimization

3. Finished goods supermarket and pull – production made to stock rather than to order

4. Supplier management – ensures part flow to Parker value streams when needed

5. Lead-time compression – minimizes production time to maximize inventory turns

6. Six Sigma and zero defect quality – ensures product quality and first-pass yield

“Our customers have extremely high quality, delivery, and cost expectations,” said Guy Martin, group vice president of operations for Parker Aerospace. “LISC 6 touches every aspect of the organization, moving it toward perfect products, delivered 100 percent on time, while satisfying customer cost targets.

“LISC 6 is working extremely well for us. We have 10 value streams now delivering at 100 percent, and 20 over 98 percent. Inventory levels in those value streams have increased their turns by as much as 40 percent and first-pass yield and RPPM performance are improving as we target six-sigma level quality. We will continue our deployment in the coming fiscal year and hope to triple the number of value streams utilizing all of the LISC6 tools.”

ZDP: zeroing out defects

A Parker Aerospace initiative that supports the Six Sigma pillar of its LISC 6 effort is its zero defects program (ZDP). ZDP applies metrics across the value chain, from raw materials through shipping and support. It is designed to continually examine process metrics and detect quality escapes that result in defective products.

“The zero defects program responds to the industry’s requirements of ongoing quality improvement,” said Bill Schmiege, group vice president of integrity at Parker Aerospace. “In fact, many customers are striving to reduce defects in their own organizations and have given us positive feedback on our approach. ZDP is our pathway to Six Sigma quality.”

Parker Aerospace is in hall 5, stand #C210, at the Paris International Air Show, June 19-25, 2017.

About Parker Aerospace. Parker Aerospace is a global leader in the research, design, integration, manufacture, certification, and lifetime service of flight control, hydraulic, fuel and inerting, fluid conveyance, thermal management, lubrication, and pneumatic systems and components for aerospace and other high-technology markets. The company supports the world’s aircraft manufacturers, providing a century of experience and innovation for commercial and military aircraft.

About Parker Hannifin. Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 global leader in motion and control technologies. For 100 years the company has engineered the success of its customers in a wide range of diversified industrial and aerospace markets. Learn more at www.parker.com or @parkerhannifin.