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LFI Conference Leads ‘Lean’ Thinking Across Aviation Sector - Creating ‘Lean Partnerships’ across the Aviation Industry was the central theme of the recent Lean Flight Initiative (LFI) Conference – ‘Making Lean Real in Aviation’. The event, which was officially opened by Mr. Tony Killeen, Irish Minister of State with responsibility for Energy & the Environment, played host to more than 100 delegates spanning the full spectrum of the Aviation industry. Top Lean expert, Ken Kreafle, a General Manager from Toyota USA, set a powerful tone in his keynote speech for the Conference, inviting delegates to benchmark their own operations against Toyota and the Toyota Production System. Mr. Kreafle remained available for the full duration of the conference to work with delegates. A site visit to near-by Shannon Aerospace Limited offered delegates the opportunity to view Lean in Action in a non-manufacturing operation. This was the third LFI Conference and it underlined the growing interest in, and requirement for, a Lean approach within the industry as a whole. Delegate interaction played a major part in the 2008 Conference as key industry players focussed on how their businesses could realistically and sustainably benefit from the adaptation of Lean Thinking and Techniques right across traditional business functions. Among the distinguished list of speakers were; Professor Andrew Graves, of the University of Bath, Yvonne Ward, of Trinity College Dublin, and Sue Larson, of The Boeing Company. A number of companies, including Air Canada, Shannon Aerospace, KLM, Lufthansa and Northwest Airlines openly shared their practical experiences of their individual Lean journeys, highlighting the difficulties and benefits encountered along the way. Building on the wide range of Lean theories illustrated in the presentations, the Shannon Aerospace facility tour gave delegates a practical demonstration in the application of Lean tools in the company’s day to day operations. LFI Conference Chairman, Mr. Tom Caffrey commented; “Lean is here to stay. Organisations are finding that this system is, on a daily basis, delivering unprecedented levels of sustainable savings and improvements for our customers and for our companies. Lean also brings with it huge benefits for our employees, in terms of their involvement in improving our enterprises. As a tool to help us to sustainably respond to increasingly challenging customer and environmental demands, Lean is gaining more and more traction within the Aviation industry and this is reflected in the growing interest in LFI initiatives and the LFI Annual Conferences. We were particularly delighted to welcome so many Airline representatives to this year’s event”. He continued; “The LFI Executive Team and I have watched with interest as the Conference has moved from an event which worked to spread the ‘Lean Story’, to an event that actively assists aviation businesses to network and to provide support in the implementation of Lean processes within their own companies. The move towards Lean has been phenomenal and we look forward to contributing to the momentum of the Lean movement in aviation and to continuing to support companies working towards a Lean ideal.” The sponsors for the 2008 LFI Conference were Boeing, Rockwell Collins, Argo, Northwest Airlines, Shannon Development / Invest in Shannon, AMT, Lufthansa Technik & Shannon Aerospace. Dromoland Castle, located in the heart of Ireland’s Shannon Region and one of the country’s premier Hotel & Golf Resorts, was the venue for this year’s event. Note to Editor: In 2005, during the prestigious Irish Presidential Trade Mission in Seattle, Washington, Aircraft Management Technologies (AMT), a global leader in aircraft information management solutions, and the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), an aerospace research community, announced a collaborative effort to engage industry, airline and academic partners to establish the Lean Flight Initiative (LFI). The purpose of LFI is to develop and promote Lean principles, practices and tools among aircraft operators and companies involved in facilitating airline operations. |
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