LIFE MONITORING PROGRAM: A PROPOSAL FOR PRODUCT END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT Felipe Rudiuk Miglorância (ITA) felipe.miglorancia@embraer.com.br This work develops an aircraft end of life management framework applicable to an executive airplane manufacturer. Usually, end of life operations are outsourced and the original airplane manufacturers do not get directly involved in whateveer decisions and tasks are done in this field. However, after considering the possibility of managing end of life aircraft through the manufacturer s customer support department, a new method emerges for managing reusable systems and making disposal of non reusable systems and carcasses. It tends to elevate end of life operations from an obligation to become a key enhancement in customer satisfaction and revenue. For the development of this system, a process mapping was made for better understanding of operations needed to be done and a strategic approach to these operations was reached, leading to a new maintenance program called Life Monitoring. The deployment of this program was unfolded. Therefore, an important linkage among environmental management, customer support and aircraft salvaging was established in a way that both the company and the customer be benefited. Although the program was elaborated and applied in a simulated case, the results may be transferred to the manufacturing of any real executive aircraft and, less directly, any product Palavras-chaves: Life Monitoring Program, Work structure, Mapping of the aircraft end of life process
1. Introdução 1.1. Problem description and goals The theoretical project of an executive aircraft was developed. Given the concern for effective aircraft end of life management, seen in Figure 1, and the potential of the salvaging business and manufacturer's customer support department to be involved in this matter, the goal in this work is to propose and implement an end of life management system for this executive aircraft project. This is visualized in Figure 2. Figure 1 Life cycle forecast of a given aircraft Figure 2 Three main drivers for end of life solutions 2
1.2. Work structure XVI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL The analysis carried on in this work can be summarized in Figure 3, that is, a process, having an input, throughput (called planning cloud and filter) and output. Input Planning cloud & filter Output Initial definitions End of Life Program launch and deployment 1.2.1. Input Figure 3 Basic sequence used for elaboration of end of life management system The input comprises the initial definitions for the whole planning process. One must first have a life cycle vision for their product, for then be able to define the desired scope to operate on. It is also important to understand the outer-enterprise scenario related to end of life scope and the inner-enterprise potential to interfere with them. This understanding is further aided by the mapping of the to-date processes related to product end of life management. In this regard, a pool of information on inner and outer-company factors were considered. The input process can be seen in Figure 4. Input Understanding of Life Cycle approach Scope definition Outer-enterprise scenario analysis Compliance concerns Salvaging business AFRA / PAMELA Inner-enterprise potential analysis Customer support, EEC Mapping of to-date life cycle management processes Figure 4 Sequence of definitions and analysis carried within the input 1.2.2. Planning cloud & filter (throughput) After the input, there is a handling of great pools of information. During this planning, there is an increasingly judicious approach, making growing use of comparisons and technical evaluations. This sequence is shown in Figure 5. Planning cloud & filter Mapping of potential new processes within EL management Definition of basic End of Life operations Definition of strategic positioning for each of these basic operations Evaluation of strategic positioning Trade-off analysis Figure 5 Sequence carried within the framework managerial planning process The trade-off analysis done in the end of the planning may be considered a type of filter, as is visualized in Figure 6. 3
Evaluation of strategic positioning Trade-off study Filter analogy Initial analysis (input) and planning cloud Is strategic positioning reasonable, feasible? Yes No 1.2.3. Output Figure 6 Filter analogy for trade-off study An end of life management system, or program, could be considered the output for the whole process. This is the very focus of this work. Such a program should contain a timeline, within the aircraft design process, to show its deployment in time.the output stage can be visualized in Figure 7. Output End of Life management program definition Program launch & deployment Timeline Figure 7 Output process of framework unfolded 2. Development 2.1. Mapping of the aircraft end of life process Before any major end of life managerial system is to be structured, a mapping of the procedures applied to aged aircraft, from an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) perspective, ought to be developed. Usually, the end of life tasks are outsourced; in this work, the possibility of the manufacturer getting involved in these operations is considered, and that is also taken into account in 4
Figure 8. Figure 8 Product disposal process map By Service Center one means the maintenance facilities already built to handle the aircraft for means of customer support operations. During the regular use of the product, and all the more in the case of special repair services, parts and components are going to be replaced, and this takes place in those facilities. The present work proposes an additional use for these centers: to receive aged aircraft and handle parts to be discarted and ones to be reused. This seems a very feasible possibility, however the OEM must implement such additional services while understanding that they are not part of the company s core business. Thus, should at any moment the additional Service Center tasks be hindering the manufacturer s main goals, it is also feasible for the SC to outsource such tasks to Dismantling/Demolishing and Salvaging companies. There are plenty of such well-established players for this market. Actually, it seems even better for the SC to operate in partnerships with those rather than to directly offer the same services. 2.2. Basic end of life operations and forms of interference by an OEM From the entire process mapping made, it was observed that there are basically four operations that the manufacturer can be involved in: Aircraft systems extraction. By systems one means the systems that make up the product, e.g. APU (Auxiliary Power Unit), engines and air-conditioning components; Reusable systems management; Systems disposal; Carcass disposal. By carcass one means, mainly, the aluminum or composite parts that make up the structure of the airplane. Evidently, what one aims to find is a strategic way to address each of these four operations. For such, it is first needed to define extremes of intervention. Then, a strategic form of intervention may be suggested and must be thenafter more carefully evaluated. By strategic one means an intuitive suggestion based on cost-effectiveness, current available technology and feasibility by the company. 2.2.1. Aircraft systems extraction 5
The minimum amount of intervention or interference of an OEM in this matter would be to not extract aged aircraft systems. A maximum way for interference would be to extract all systems and evaluate each of their reusability (to be used by another airplane). For the strategical form of intervention in this process, it is reasonable to suggest, actually, the maximum form of intervention, to wit, extract and evaluate reusability. This is a knowledge and technology already present within the SC. 2.2.2. Reusable systems management In the minimum grade of interference, this process would not occur at all, since, in the previous process, no system was even extracted from the product. For the maximum amount of interferente, the OEM would have a repository. These are adapted or dedicated spaces for the storage and logistics of reusable systems. As for the strategic intervention, it seems reasonable to suggest a flexible repository, where, as in a lean initiative, unused space is used up around the SC. 2.2.3. Systems disposal Like in the previous process, in the minimum interference this process would not occur at all. For the maximum interferente, the OEM would disassemble and make complete disposal of system. The strategic intervention would be to negotiate with parts and component suppliers to also position themselves for recyclability. The best scenario would be for the SC to send components to their own OEM for it to make its disposal. It would evidently be a somewhat heavy burden for the aircraft OEM to make the best disposal of all the system components present within the airplane. 2.2.4. Carcass disposal The minimum interference would be to not make disposal of the carcass. The maximum one would be to disassemble the carcass even to the rivets and track all parts and their material. The strategical intervention, to-date, certainly could not go up to even unriveting the whole airplane structure. However, it is completely feasible to intervene by demolishing the aircraft and sending it to a remelting facility. The minimum, strategic and maximum grades of interference for each operation are summarized in Table 1. Basic End of Life operations Minimum interference Strategic interference Maximum interference Systems extraction Do not extract Extract and evaluate Extract and evaluate Reusable systems management -- Flexible repository Repository Systems disposal -- Relate with suppliers Disassembly and disposal Carcass disposal Do not make disposal Flexible demolishing Unriveting and tracking 2.3. Evaluation of the strategic positioning Table 1 Summary of forms of interference 6
A trade-off study was made to evaluate the strategic form of intervention of the OEM upon the four end of life processes, comparing it to the maximum and minimum form, through comparative numbers. 2.3.1. Relative weighing comparing investments and benefits First, a list of necessary investments and benefits was made. A relative weight was attributed to each of the investments and benefits listed. A grading from 1 to 10 was created; 1 would be the extreme case for the investment item or items that would require least amount of effort for implementation, and 10 would be those of utmost amount of investments. The list of benefits is comparable to the investments, and they are seen in Table 2 and Table 3. It must be clarified that these items are not directly measured in terms of monetary value; this is a managerial grading that takes into account reasonable impressions, pool of information and even opinions from the grade giver. Actually, most of these items, if to eventually be translatable into a money sum, would consist of non-recurring costs, as the first four in the above list. This way, the grades better represent an amount of effort scale, indirectly translated to a financial amount. Table 2 Forms of investment and relative weighing Table 3 Forms of benefit and relative weighing 7
2.3.2. Relative weighing comparing models of interference A means of comparison between the three models of interference in the aircraft end of life (minimum, maximum and strategic) was also achieved. Such grading was given from a 0 to 10 scale, unlike the previous (1-10). This is because an item may eventually receive a grade zero if it has a negligible effect on any given item, whereas, in the previous comparison, if an item received a zero weighing would make no sense. The comparison between the maximum, minimum and strategic forms of interference for the investments and benefits are shown in Table 4 and Table 5, respectively. Table 4 Investments with grading comparison 2.3.3. Combination of both weighings Table 5 Benefits with grading comparison The two forms of relative weighing were combined into a single grade representing each model of interference. This was made by, for each model, multiplying the number attributed 8
in the first method (comparison of investments and benefits) by the grading in the second method (comparison between models). Then, the investments and benefits being divided into two categories, each category received a sum of all these numbers multiplied providing a total (6 in all) which are then divided by the number of items in each of the two categories. These were called the averages. Then, at last, for each category and for each of the three models, a numerical relation is obtained by dividing the respective averages, providing a benefit/investment relation. Therefore, three dimensionless numbers result, each describing their respective model (maximum, minimum and strategic). The sheet used for all this procedure is shown in Table 6. 2.4. The Life Monitoring program Table 6 Screenshot of sheet used for trade-off analysis The trade-off study done in the previous section served as a tool to demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategic interference over aircraft end of life for a given aircraft manufacturer. This evaluation, even though intangible and subjective, helps as a guide 9
through important variables related to end of life management. The trade-off done, a way to implement or deploy the strategic interference is proposed. 2.4.1. AFRA accreditation In this context of implementing such an enhancement in end of life management, the Life Monitoring program, there comes a discussion on not only how to implement it, but catalyze and consolidate it. To address this issue, an industry benchmarking was made to evaluate already existing recycling networks where one can find quick partnerships between material recyclers, even for composite materials, aircraft demolition firms, salvagers and manufacturers related to the aircraft business. The networks found consist of the already mentioned AFRA (Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association) and PAMELA (Project for Advanced Management of End of Life Aircraft) programs. A decision had to be made within Embraer between submitting any of those or not. The first question to be answered in this context is actually about the possibility of the OEM being accepted within any of those two. After some research effort, an accreditation with AFRA showed itself a very reasonable strategy to catalyze the functioning of the Life Monitoring program. 2.4.2. Program deployment For means of visualization and general understanding of the Life Monitoring program, a timeline was sketched. It is actually a hybrid timeline, because it contains the life cycle of the aircraft program as a whole and then another timeline is made to represent an eventual purchase of the aircraft. This hybrid timeline is seen in Figure 9, and the explanation for each step is thereafter provided. Figure 9 Hybrid timeline for Life Monitoring program 10
2.4.2.1. PD (Preliminary Design) stage The beginning of the LM program begins naturally with its definition, made in this current phase, called PD (Preliminary Design) stage. The program definition made for LM during the PD stage aims to foresee important issues to occur during the following stages. 2.4.2.2. IDP (Initial Definitions Phase) During the IDP (Initial Definitions Phase), the LM program will operate with system suppliers so that when the candidate suppliers are contacted, they are aware of the need for recycling their system at end of life, and so they must show willing to participate in the task. 2.4.2.3. JDP (Joint Definitions Phase) One must emphasize the importance of having the system supplier s recycling conditions well laid out before the JDP, not during it. The JDP should help actually to confirm the supplier s commitment to recyclability. 2.4.2.4. EIS (Entry Into Service) and Maturity After the JDP, as the SLJ program entries into service in the EIS (Entry Into Service) stage and matures (Maturity), the LM program will also mature, which can be unfolded into a threefold: Strengthening of relationships with AFRA; Releasing of information to the media and continual improvement and benchmarking job on the program; Maturation of materials tracking manual for the SLJ and the unriveting operations manual for advanced disassembly. 2.4.2.5. Product Purchase, Use and End of Life A case of an eventual specific SLJ purchase was considered, which marks the beginning of another cycle, the customer life cycle, although the program life cycle did not end, and actually overlaps with this second timeline for SLJs sold by Embraer. During the use of an airplane, at a certain point the product is financially worth more with its systems and parts extracted and sold as spare than as an assembled product. This approximate moment will be informed to the customer and the option to leave his aircraft to LM for systems extraction. Of course, non reusable systems will also increasingly be extracted and managed. Each one will have disassembly and disposal conditions already laid out with their suppliers, so that the disassembly and disposal operations will be made easier. Aged carcasses may be stored for a while for eventual reusable parts. However, they will inevitably be demolished or dealt with in any form. The SCs will probably not execute this job themselves but will outsource and manage the task. Their main role in this relation is to make interface with the customer and therefore his life easier. 11
The carcass disposal is an environmental task done for compliance and customer satisfaction; he and the general media will like to be assured that the purchased aircraft has a planned end of life. 3. Conclusions The ultimate conclusion of this work is that it is worth building and implementing an effective end of life management system for an executive aircraft project, namely, Life Monitoring. There are yet a few more items worthy of mention. While aiming primarily to provide an end of life management system for the executive aircraft project, the procedure here developed may well suit the development of analogous products end of life managerial systems for other aircraft and even other types of goods. It is evident that a proportionality of usefulness is involved in this. For example, OEMs related to more simple products and services - the opposite of aircraft manufacturing and customer support - should adapt this content to their specific challenges. Also, even within the aircraft OEMs there are limitations to using this framework. While the greatest benefits from this system may be found when applied to the executive segment - customer relationship and satisfaction, OEM attractiveness, improvement and innovation -, the military segment would be a field where the general purpose of an end of life managerial system would have to be adapted, for customer demands and needs are different, as well as a variety of factors such as seller-customer relations and budget priorities. Concerning the establishment of partnerships, these are considered a profitable endeavor; for this project, an accreditation with AFRA has shown to be an interesting strategy. Even in this case, care must be taken for such to not come out too expensive for the company and, even more, for it not to deviate it from its core business. As long as an OEM establishe its core as "integration", an integration with AFRA and the end of life industry comes in hand, while an over-emphasis on such may damage even the purpose for which it was created. The costs arisen by this partnership may be a reasonable indicator for effectiveness; it should fit in a regular environmental management and customer support budget, or rise it to only acceptable terms to the company. Referências http://lcinitiative.unep.fr, CD ROM on Life Cycle Management, Life Cycle Management: a Business Guide to Sustainability JONES, Max Kingsley. Airbus s recycling master plan Pamela, Flight International Magazine, 05/26/2008 Faraday Advance, Materials Knowledge Transfer Network and EPSRC. The Aircraft at End of Life Sector: a Preliminary Study. Searched on Aug/2009. JIN, K. & ZHANG H. C., A decision support model based on a reference point method for end-of-life electronic product management. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 31 2007, p. 1251-1259, 2007. OESTLIN, J., SUNDIN E. & BJOERKMAN, M., Product life-cycle implications for remanufacturing strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production 17, p. 999-1009, 2009. Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Aerospace Industry Update, presented at Doing the Wright Stuff: 100 Years of the Aviation and the Environment, Berkeley, CA, 10 March, 2003. www.afraassociation.org, Aug/2009. 12
http://www.airbus.com, Aug/2009. http://www.embraerexecutivejets.com.br/, Aug/2009. Maintenance Tracking and Planning Service, Embraer Executive Jets folder. http://www.aircraftdemolition.com/, Aug/2009. http://www.aels.nl/, Aug/2009. 13