Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company
Marietta, GA

Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company (LMASC), an operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, located outside Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia, is home for the F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter and the C-130J Hercules, an advanced version of the world's most respected airlifter for military and humanitarian missions.

It has gained prominence for its production and support of cargo aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules, C-141 StarLifter, and C-5 Galaxy, and for maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft such as the P-3 Orion. Lockheed Martin also modifies and supports the S-3B Viking and ES-3A shadow carrier-based surveillance aircraft, and commercial aircraft such as the L-1011 TriStar widebody airliner and the JetStar business jet.

The company, with expertise in advanced aircraft design and production, modification and support, stealth technology, systems integration, and advanced tactics is part of the corporation's Aeronautics Sector, which today is the direct descendant of the original aircraft companies begun by Glenn Martin in 1911 and Allan and Malcolm Loughhead (later changed to Lockheed) in 1913.

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Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company (LMASC) is currently investigating the use of new tools in the planning, tooling, Numerical Control (NC) programming and Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) program areas as part of the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Sector Product Definition Initiative. These tools make maximum use of new technologies and processes being made available through Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing tools within the Dassault CATIA system.

Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems in Fort Worth, Texas has been working on the Virtual Product Development Initiative since 1995 with the intent to revolutionize the mechanical design and manufacturing engineering process. This initiative is focused on the Joint Strike Fighter program only. Through technology transfer of information within the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Sector, it was discovered that CATIA has the capabilities to revolutionize the manufacturing engineering process on legacy programs, such as the F-22 fighter program. This technology is focused on a new suite of CATIA tools based on assisted/generative NC and CMM programming, expert system parametric tool design, multi-media work instructions produced as a byproduct of the design system, etc.

Through use of this technology, CATIA NC users in the industry have been able to reduce NC programming hours by 20% to 75% and have been able to standardize on machining practices, such as methods, standard tools, etc. CMM programming estimates show the same potential for savings. The LMASC NC department has committed to this technology on the F-22 production program and has initiated a pilot program to migrate all F-22 NC programming to this new suite of tools. Other manufacturing engineering organizations will be brought on line as the pilot program evolves.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company (LMASC) is in the process of completing the Focused Factory program throughout fabrication. The Focused Factory program was initiated in 1991 as a method to implement lean production in fabrication at LMASC. The Focused Factory program divided the fabrication shops into mini factories, each dealing with a class of parts (e.g., small extrusions, large extrusions, tubing, etc.), and each with full authority and responsibility over their parts throughout the entire value stream. The Focused Factory concept consists of several base components, including process reengineering, management and support team refocus, Just In Time (JIT) scheduling utilizing finite capacity scheduling techniques, and JIT delivery of material, parts, supplies, etc. The goals of Focused Factory are to reduce Work In Process, reduce inventory throughout the entire value stream, reduce throughput times, loan level shops, reduce manpower, and eliminate waste.

One key component of the Focused Factories is the finite capacity scheduling system developed in house at LMASC. This system has been able to dramatically reduce throughput times (up to 90%), reduce production manpower (up to 25%), and reduce production overtime (up to 90%), in the areas where it has been implemented. It is also the driver for JIT raw material programs, which have been implemented in the Extrusion and Tubing Focused Factories. It ensures that the right things are at the right place at the right time in the right quantities.

The scheduling system is currently being upgraded to a Commercial Off The Shelf system, which will incorporate more detailed scheduling algorithms to further refine the fabrication shops. Also, the scheduling system will be expanded to all fabrication lines of business in order to complete the transition to Focused Factories and to complete the transition to JIT raw material programs.