Lufthansa Technik provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for aircraft, engines and components. Its network of maintenance agencies supports airline customers across multiple locations.
Project7 designed and piloted a Project & Performance Management Operating System to address turnaround delays and poor schedule adherence. The programme combined operating-system standards with the training, assessment and internal deployment capability needed to sustain improvements and roll out a consistent approach across the European agency network.
Lufthansa Technic had increased it’s European footprint through the purchase of additional strategic agencies. These agencies had differing levels of performance and challenges such as the cost per man hour. Lufthansa Technic wanted to drive improved, standardised way of working enable best practice to be replicated across the network quickly and tackle the performance gaps some agencies currently had. In addition to the above significant cost reduction targets had been cascaded to each Agency and our client wanted rigour and transparency of this to provide confidence and the ability to react quickly should any areas struggle to meet these challenges.
- Targets and performance was traditionally managed by the management levels of the business, without full accountability and any early warning system existing at an Technician level.
- Problem solving was adhoc with no systematic triggers to drive its structured application to business performance as well as technical issues.
- Although a mature internal improvement community existed, the level of capability and experience to design, deploy and coach in a full operating system did not exist.
Project & Performance Management Operating System Rollout
- Collaborative KPI and Target definition and cascaded from front line technicians to site Balanced Scorecard
- Visual Performance Management at every level, vertically and horizontally throughout the organisation
- Performance dialogues at every meeting based on the Visual Performance Management status and short interval control mechanisms
- Robust Process Confirmation by all leaders and managers to reduce variation and coach improvement
- Practical Problem Solving trained and delivered at all levels for repeat issues
- Leadership Development through Sensei Coaching practices [Kata TRGOW]
Creating the Conditions for Organisational Sustainment
Following the successful deployment of the Project and Performance Management Operating System, the challenge was to maintain performance standards following the direct Project 7 Consultancy support and create improvement benchmarks that encouraged continuous improvement in a standardised way across the entire Organisation.
We designed Lufthansa’s Organisational Maturity Assessment, improvement roadmap and Lufthansa concept documents for the Operating System. The assessment aimed to guide the same thinking way coached by Project 7 and addressed the physical deployment of the system, mindset, capability, and behaviours of the people. Project 7 successfully piloted the assessment and used the framework to coach the operating system with a Train the Trainer programme and our 4 Step Knowledge Transfer methodology. This systematic deployment ensured we built robust internal capability across the Process Specialist community and guaranteed long term sustainability.
The Organisational Maturity Assessment was defined and packaged to mitigate subjectivity when the teams deployed the assessment and establish an objective standard against which other Lufthansa’s Agencies could benchmark themselves. The increase of internal maturity and capability provided confidence to the Organisation that Project 7 could reduce its support and limit its involvement to conducting periodic evaluations and offer external calibration to the internal teams and Agency Network.
An integrated operating-system capability programme
Project7 designed and piloted Lufthansa Technik’s operating system, developed the benchmark assessment approach and trained assessors and deployment teams. Academies and workplace coaching helped people apply the system, supported by practical modules, A3 guides and videos.
Working with a specialist digital learning partner, we developed the content for a supporting e-learning package. Short animated modules and a web-based learning app provided general awareness of the Project & Performance Management approach, reinforced the standards taught through the academies and gave new starters a consistent introduction.
The digital content formed part of a connected capability programme: shared standards, coached application, deployment training and assessment. Its purpose was to make the operating system easier to understand and sustain across the organisation.
As a result of the deployment of Project and Performance Management and support from Project 7 the Pilot Agency which was once the lowest performing of the Lufthansa Technic Agencies became the best performing both in terms of quality, delivery and cost metrics.
- Throughput was reduced from an average of 46 days delay to an average of 5 days delay during a 17 day period with Project7 engagement.
- 89% improvement in Turn Around Time [TAT]
- Lead the European wide operating system deployment, with creation of a documented “How to” concept guide for use and further deployment.
- We directly trained 25 internal assessors to facilitate the assessment with 100’s of people coached in the Operating System through the execution of the Assessments by our teams.
- Baseline maturity increased from below Bronze standard to Silver in several areas, with firm plans established to achieve Gold standard.