Factory ramp up at Fokker Elmo China

Fokker is part of GKN Aerospace, the largest supplier in aviation in the world. Fokker Elmo is one of the market leaders in the field of cable harnesses for the aircraft industry with production facilities in the Netherlands, Turkey, India and China.

Customer Fokker Elmo
Location Langfang (CHN)
Segment Operations
Factory ramp up <span>at Fokker Elmo China</span>

In China (Langfang) Fokker started a new production facility in 1997. In mid-2013 600 people worked there. The Managing Director of Fokker Elmo, who also worked in the factory in China, expects strong growth and anticipates that it is necessary to manage this growth.

The complexity of the product is that it is not a matter of a few wires and a plug, but of complete cable harness assemblies that are built into an aircraft. The production process is difficult to automate and is still mainly manual.

Assignment

WeY was given the assignment to manage the factory in China. The main objectives were:

  • Manage the growth of the factory, taking into account a doubling of the number of people within 1 to 2 years.
  • Ensuring that in this phase of growth, performances remain at least stable.

Approach

The focus of the assignment "manage growth" through:

  • Identifying the exact needs in terms of floor space, people and workplace supplies,
  • Plan of action to achieve growth in a controlled way
  • Application of Lean principles in the work processes.

The assignment was carried out by an interim manager of WeY, Rob van Hemert. After the assignment Rob joined Fokker Elmo, as director for the factory in China.

Results

The growth has been realized (currently 1200 people) and the performances have been further improved, such as reduction of customer complaints, increase in delivery reliability and productivity.