Improvement and analysis of aircraft maintenance flow process using lean manufacturing, PDCA, PICA, and VSM for sustainable operation system

Abstract

The aircraft maintenance process plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and reliability of air travel. However, this process often encounters inefficiencies and waste, reducing productivity. This study aims to analyze the flow of the aircraft maintenance process and identify areas for improvement using Lean Manufacturing, Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Problem Identification and Corrective Action (PICA), and Value Stream Mapping (VSM) methods within a sustainability system. This study demonstrates how non-value-adding (NVA) and necessary but non-value-adding activities (NNVA) contribute to maintenance process delays, waste generation, and decreased process efficiency. It also underscores the impact of waste on process performance and proposes potential time savings through focused improvements. The result revealed that inventory wastage was the most prevalent issue, accounting for 9 out of 26 activities, followed by waiting for wastage with seven activities and defects with 5 activities. These wasteful activities are primarily concentrated in phases 3, 4, and 5, encompassing inspection, repair, and installation phases. Consequently, there is a pressing need to enhance efficiency in all phases, particularly phases 3, 4, and 5, by targeting non-value-added activities. Implementing these improvements can reduce the total process time from 18,229 minutes to 15,170.2 minutes, offering a detailed roadmap for enhancing the aircraft maintenance process. Thus, this study is an alternative consideration for the aircraft maintenance industry to ensure a continuous improvement process in facing the challenges of global industry innovation as the category of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).