Aviation maintenance using Visual Planning at the French Ministry of Defence

Organisation

The reference relates to a unit of the French Ministry of Defence and the planning of maintenance sites for aircraft, including the Rafale.

Background

Previously, whiteboards and Excel spreadsheets were used. There was a need for better coordination of staff, aircraft, equipment and production capacity across several geographically dispersed sites.

Solution

Visual Planning was installed on the company’s own servers. The application plans maintenance sites and takes into account available aircraft and personnel resources. Prior to implementation, a process-oriented approach was recommended in order to map different production centres and personnel processes in a multi-site environment.

Results

The organisation reports on a quick learning curve and greater transparency regarding capacity utilisation, staff and resources. A substantial improvement in performance is described in qualitative terms, but without any measurement methods or specific key performance indicators.

“A clearer overview of capacity utilisation at production sites, as well as of staff and equipment, has improved the management of the unit.”

Major Janik Le Guen, GESTA Project Manager, French Ministry of Defence / SIMMAD