CHAPTER 2

Getting to Know SMA

Tuesday, October 27, 10:18 a.m. . . .

“By redesigning the process and applying the world-class ingenuity of our mechanics, who went way beyond configuration options and essentially rebuilt this equipment after it arrived from the vendor’s factory, we’ve been able to dramatically reduce setup time and eliminate a lot of the inventory that used to accumulate at this point. This floor is largely empty now. It used to be covered with extra materials that we needed for the different setups. It’s all vastly simpler now.”

Barton listened and nodded. The gangly manufacturing vice president enthused about changes SMA had made to get from “batch-and-queue” to a moving line for assembling the company’s aircraft. The man possessed ...

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