Cellular manufacturing applications in MRO operations

Background:
Maintenance repair and overhaul includes all the actions which are required to ensure that the
equipment is performing its desired function. This study was undertaken to understand feasibility to
determine the extent of adoption and benefits of cellular manufacturing techniques to Maintenance,
Repair and Overhaul (MRO) operations. Six companies which were practising MRO operations
participated in the study and were interviewed about aspects related to cellular concepts application
in MRO.

Applications to MRO operations
Company A: An international engineering company manufacturing components for aerospace. The
company had implemented cellular concepts in tyres and wheel overhaul and now it is in process of
implementing cellular manufacturing system to brake system.
Company B: A global engineering company specializing in high performance components for
aerospace. The company re-evaluated its MRO operations to accommodate growth in demand and
implemented cellular manufacturing system in its new facility. A total of 10 cells were set up. The
cell team developed continuous improvement approach and culture that encouraged CI.
Company C: An international airline which operates fleet of long haul aircraft. Line maintenance
techniques were applied by the improvement manager to the hanger maintenance. Cells were
created on shop floor and unnecessary man, material movement was successfully removed by
clustering.
Company D: It designs, manufacture and support electronic control system and fuel pumps for
aerospace applications. MRO facility is divided in two large cells: fuel pump and electronic control
systems. Although there has been a significant improvement in quality and reliability but scheduling
of components is still an issue. . The cell team developed continuous improvement approach and
culture that encouraged CI.
Company E: It is an aircraft MRO and aviation service provider. Companys competitive advantage
lies in its MRO operations. It is in process of deploying cellular manufacturing system approach.
Company F: It is an aerospace fabricator. Demand is erratic and workflow is not steady. Cell based
approach was applied based on previous knowledge in cellular manufacturing.

Findings:
Cellular system was setup based on employees prior experience with other businesses.
MRO operations has variable inputs as compared to consistent input of OEM operations. All
participants faced problem related to these variable inputs condition.
Improvements in turnaround time (TAT) improvement and operational performance was
achieved by most of the business
Work scheduling was observed as a problematic area due to short or lack of notice received
from customers for MRO.


Lesson learnt:
MRO and manufacturing appears to be similar and hence it is assumed that cellular manufacturing
can be applied without much of complexities. However due to the very nature of MRO, it possess
several problems. As the input is variable hence information about input conditions until the work
commences is not known. This makes the implementation of cellular manufacturing system in MRO
more complex. Input variability differentiates MRO from original equipment operations.
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