BAE Systems - Samlesbury - The Shingo Prize

Samlesbury SitePROFILE SHEETBAE Systems divides its business into fivebusiness groups: Electronics, Intelligence& Support, Land & Armaments,Programmes & Support, InternationalBusinesses, and HQ & Other Businesses.The Programmes & Support businessgroup includes Military Air Solutions(MAS). MAS is responsible for the design,development and production of BAE'smajor military aircraft programmes.Samlesbury is BAE Systems’ Military AirSolutions (MAS) primary manufacturingsite. It has a strong tradition of design,engineering and manufacturing excellencein the aerospace industry. The site is hometo some of the most advanced aerospacemanufacturing and assembly technologiesin the world.AchievementsSafety - 43% reduction in incidence ratesince 2004Quality – 88% reduction in customercomplaints since 2006Cost – 76% reduction in cost of scrapsince 2005Delivery – 89% reduction in jig stops since2005People – 93% reduction in Working TimeDirective breaches since 2005PeopleBAE Samlesbury employs over 4500people at its 351 acre aerospace facility onthe outskirts of Blackburn, Lancashire,England.To enable us to support the men andwomen of the armed forces, BAE Systemshas embarked on a major investmentprogramme which will provide additionalmanufacturing facilities and officeaccommodation at the Samlesbury site.The new investment, which is supportedby the North West Development Agency,will serve to sustain current jobs andpotentially create a significant number ofnew jobs. This will help secure the futureof aerospace in Lancashire bysafeguarding the skills, technology andknowledge the region possesses.ProcessBAE Systems, Samlesbury embarked on aLean journey in 2004 with a view to takinga more systematic and standardisedapproach to business improvement.Due to the complexity of the activities atSamlesbury Site, our initial focus was toestablish a truly aligned performancereporting framework around the categoriesof Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery &People (SQCDP). In order to establish‘what good looks like’ in terms ofperformance – a Blue Sky Vision (BSV)was created to give a consistent clearmessage to all employees, one that hasLean principles ingrained into it. This wasa critical step in engaging ‘hearts andminds’ of our people in the LeanTransformation journey.As a Site, we were now in a position toalign ourselves to achieving the BSV andour Policy Deployment approachincrementally guides us all towards thisgoal. We recognised the importance ofdeveloping our own enterprise-wideinternal skill-base in Lean and so the LeanLearning Academy (LLA) was launched tohelp enable the journey.By bringing all the elements ofimprovement under one ‘umbrella’, webelieve this has given us a bedrock forbuilding a culture of continuousimprovement.Page 1 of 2

Samlesbury SiteProductAt Samlesbury, BAE Systems providesmanufacturing and support capabilities to anumber of internationally importantaircraft programmes including Typhoon,the most advanced swing-role aircraft inthe world and F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter -JSF), the largest contract of its kind in theworld.Samlesbury Site’s expertise andcapabilities enable it to define, evaluateand develop the products, systems andconcepts to meet the demands of ourcustomers in both today's environment andto meet tomorrow's challenges.These include Military and civil aircraftdesign and manufacture, Airframestructures, Composite assemblies,Electrical assemblies, Advancedmachining and fabrication, Advancedtooling manufacture.PlantSamlesbury Site Leadership team isheaded by Nigel Blenkinsop, Director ofManufacturing MAS.The main Programmes and Functionslocated in Samlesbury Site include F-35(JSF) Operations, Typhoon Operations,Manufacturing Shared Services (MachineShop Operations, Advanced Forming &Fabrications Operations, Airbus/CarbonFibre Operations), Quality, Finance,Production Planning, ManufacturingTransformation,Commercial,Manufacturing & Materials Engineering,SHE, Human Resources and ProductionSystem Design.is supplied to Warton Site for FinalAssembly.CorporateBAE Systems plc (BAE) is a Britishdefence and aerospace companyheadquartered in Farnborough, England.BAE is the world's third largest defencecontractor and the largest in Europe. It wasformed on 30 November 1999 by the£7.7 billion merger of two Britishcompanies, Marconi Electronic Systems(MES), the defence electronics and navalshipbuilding subsidiary of the GeneralElectric Company plc (GEC), and aircraft,munitions and naval systems manufacturerBritish Aerospace (BAe). BAE Systemsdefines its "home markets" to be Australia,Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, theUK and the US. BAE Systems is thepredominant supplier to the UK Ministryof Defence (MOD).BAE Systems, Samlesbury can be foundonline at:http://www.baesystems.com/Sites/SamlesburySite/index.htmFor more information please contact:Nigel BlenkinsopMAS Manufacturing DirectorSamlesbury AerodromeBalderstoneBlackburnBB2 7LFPhone: +44(0)1254 766158Email: nigel.blenkinsop@baesystems.comThe BAE Warton Site, Preston, is theheadquarters for MAS and thereforeundertakes Programme and Functionalactivity that links the two BAE Sitestogether. For example, Typhoon Front-Fuse is assembled at Samlesbury Site andPage 2 of 2