Critical Chain - TOCICO conference on Critical Chain

Critical Chain 2022 International Conference presentation by Philip Marris

Critical Chain in aeronautical maintenance (MRO)

The world of projects when every minute counts

18-19 January 2022

This is the second international conference organized by the official global TOC community association dedicated to Critical Chain Project Management (TOCICO - Theory Of Constraints International Certification Organization).

Critical Chain has enabled thousands of projects to significantly and sustainably improve productivity.  Typical improvements:  25%-100% increase in productivity; durations -20-70%.  And, simultaneously, due-date hits 95% plus. So join us to learn about this approach now used by hundreds of organizations worldwide that enable your projects:

• To finish on time and in less time

• To finish within budget and at reduced cost

• Without any compromise on quality or on initial specifications.

Critical Chain in aeronautical maintenance (MRO) The world of projects when every minute counts

By Philip Marris

Critical Chain is already widely used worldwide in the maintenance (MRO) of aircraft whether commercial or military and has produced extraordinary results in Turn Around Time reductions and productivity. We explain why this industry was a pioneer and share the lessons learnt by all the actors these past 20 years.

Watch the conference video

Conference summary

Critical Chain is now widely used in aeronautical maintenance (MRO or Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul / Operations). The United States Air Force, the largest fleet of aircraft in the world, is in the process of a global rollout and several airlines have adopted it throughout the world. We start by presenting the list of the over 30 aeronautical MRO cases worldwide from the USA to Australia and from Brazil to France.

We discuss why the fact that it is quite easy to calculate the cost of winning or losing a day in the hangar has meant that this industry is leading the world in the adoption of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). In this business they know that gaining an extra day in their Turn Around Time is worth often of the order of $100K. They know better than anyone that time is money (or mission critical for military aircraft). CCPM and its proven results is therefore the obvious solution. 

We share the lessons learnt by all the actors (not just Marris Consulting) these past 20 years:

• How the starting point is often that there are too many aircraft being worked on simultaneously (not enough focus),
• Why the planning and scheduling competencies must often be reinforced,
• How CCPM brings (as usual) exceptional visibility on the progress of each aircraft. Why the availability of the spare parts is (of course) a necessary condition for success,
• Why using “Work Packages” and 2-tier scheduling facilitates the management of the execution and avoids falling into the trap of micro-management,
• How the identification of “findings” (unplanned extra work due unexpected deteriorations) become even more critical (because everything else is going much more smoothly),
• How, as a result, visits are often cut into 2 stages; a first stage where you do whatever disassembly and tests are required to identify any “findings” and a second stage where you do the work,
• The differences when dealing with recent aircraft versus old aircraft,
• The limits of CCPM in aeronautical MRO (when the visits are too short and simple to require fully fledged project management). Etc.

We also mention several “common sense” solutions that become even more important when travelling at CCPM speeds such as ensuring that the mechanics always have a “full kit” to do their job (the parts, the tools and the documentation).  

A 30-minute dive into Critical Chain in aeronautical maintenance (MRO). The world of projects when every minute counts.