Comments on: Take to the Skies With Piper Aircraft: A Factory Tour https://6sigma.com/take-to-the-skies-with-piper-aircraft-a-factory-tour/ Six Sigma Certification and Training Fri, 28 Feb 2025 06:05:48 +0000 hourly 1 By: Brion Hurley https://6sigma.com/take-to-the-skies-with-piper-aircraft-a-factory-tour/#comment-25933 Sat, 04 Feb 2017 22:56:54 +0000 https://opexlearning.com/resources/?p=22008#comment-25933 I think the cable routing boards are a good use of mistake proofing to reduce wire routing errors. There is also single piece flow for each aircraft, which is a good thing.

For those that watched the video, what other improvements do you think could be made at this facility? Jacques already mentioned 5S…

]]> By: Jacques Pineault https://6sigma.com/take-to-the-skies-with-piper-aircraft-a-factory-tour/#comment-25932 Tue, 31 Jan 2017 17:30:02 +0000 https://opexlearning.com/resources/?p=22008#comment-25932 Thank you for the invitation to visit the Piper factory. As I have studied aircraft manufacturing technology in college, it is always a pleasure to see how they make the Piper Aircrafts today.
However, I have to say that I am not impressed with the facility organisation. This plant does not look much different than when you look at aircraft manufacturing videos on World War 2 airplanes (with a much smaller production output at Piper). And a commenter on the YouTube channel where this video is available, Sassy Hershey, commented that the plant has not changed much since his last visit in 1963.
I would really like to see a plant like this one with more 5S, with a better organized production flow and many more of the good principles of lean manufacturing. I find that the appearance of the factory is way too much artisanal and production would benefit greatly from a factory redesign program which would increase product manufacturing and reduce production costs.

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