HAMBLE-LE-RICE, United Kingdom - GE Aviation, Hamble has been recognized, alongside the Boeing C-17 MSK Supplier Kitting Team, with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III program's Silver Eagle Award for their combined efforts to streamline the ordering, processing and logistics involved in the company's supply of wing and flap components that equip the C-17 multi-role military airlifter.
Boeing's Silver Eagle Award honors teams whose exemplary performance has a positive impact on the C-17 Globemaster III program goals and which creates sustained customer satisfaction. GE Aviation, Hamble was recognized for initiating this supplier kitting project to reduce non-value activities and develop new means of processing and preparation of kitting for the wing components. The components are produced at GE's Hamble facility in the United Kingdom and are delivered to Boeing facilities in Long Beach, California and Macon, Georgia.
"This success was based on a true team effort involving GE Aviation and Boeing, which was built on excellent collaboration, hard work and open communications," said Steve Walters, general manager of GE Aviation's mechanical systems business. "The result of this joint initiative is increased customer satisfaction for both internal and external stakeholders, helping to forge stronger relationships which are pivotal for supplier quality and delivery excellence."
The components supplied by GE Aviation, Hamble are wing trailing edge panels, forward flap hinge fairings and aft flap hinge fairings – which are manufactured primarily in composite materials. These elements range from hanger brackets and plates to large wing trailing edge panels sized at 11 X 4-ft. By streamlining its kitting process for the components, GE Aviation, Hamble reduced the original 84 deliverable part numbers per C-17 aircraft shipset to 47 deliverable kits.
As a result, the supply of C-17 components from Hamble – which is the headquarters for GE Aviation's aerostructures business – now involves fewer transactions, less paperwork, less part sorting and handling, along with a reduction of overall process cycle times. At Boeing's C-17 production sites, the new kitting makes for easier reception of the components and less processing, while also improving the grouping of parts in sequence for aircraft production.
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components, aerostructures, nacelles and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.