drive life on the factory floor. Among these is the new Materials Marketplace, which is streamlining how parts get to the final assembly line. Previously, parts would enter the factory from a number of warehousing and delivery areas and stack up next to the airplanes. Now parts are flowing to airplane mechanics as needed, from a central storehouse at the Renton site. “It’s about being competitive on the 737 program and maximizing our supplychain efficiency, as well as our space,” said Brigitte Woodard, director of Materials Management for the 737 program. Without significantly adding to its space, the Renton site is now producing 42 737s a month on two final assembly lines. With the introduction of a third final assembly line this year, that rate will begin ramping up toward 52 a month. Only 10 years ago, the site was producing 21 airplanes a month. The increased pace has made the final assembly area a busier place, where the presence of extra parts and people can create space and safety issues, said Carla Bowman, senior manager of Materials Management for the 737. At the same time, making parts available as they are needed is important to keeping the production lines running on schedule. “We’re working a lot more collaboratively and communicating more with the supply base and employees to get them what they need when they need it,” Bowman said. “We know we need to deliver, the first time, what the airplane line needs.” Doing that requires more standardized processes, more “kitting”—putting together all the pieces that a production mechanic needs to do his or her task— and more hands-on management of how and when parts come from Renton’s suppliers. Technology also will play a role. For example, as parts enter the Materials Marketplace warehouse, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags alert scanners at the doorway of the parts’ arrival. The RFID tags aren’t universally used at the facility, but “we’re starting very heavily down that path right now,” Bowman said. Similarly, QR codes—sometimes referred to as 34 Boeing Frontiers “two-dimensional” bar codes or Quick Response Codes—are being considered to keep track of parts and production kits. These advanced manufacturing technologies can help track the flow of parts as the Materials Marketplace employees try to perfect the system. It’s a big job. Right now, in an average 24-hour period, the warehouse receives about 2,300 items. If that sounds like a lot, it is, confirms Fred Frank, who leads the receiving team at the Materials Marketplace. “The volume of stuff is just huge,” Frank said. The goal is to calibrate just-in-time delivery from suppliers so that no more than 1.5 days of inventory, in most cases, is moving through the warehouse. It’s a change in strategy from the past, Frank admitted, but he sees the purpose. “Once we start doing more kitting and getting our inventory down to what we need, I think it will be easier for everyone to understand why we’re doing this.”
Frontiers July 2015 Issue
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