Field trip to Lufthansa Technik in Frankfurt

Published: 30.05.2018 by Leonie Möller

On the 25th May 2018, 20 FVA members followed the invitation from Lufthansa Technik and made their way to Frankfurt.

After a warm welcome from our hosts, our exclusive tour of the Lufthansa Technik grounds beyond the “sonic barrier”, the loving nick name of the noise protection wall surrounding the airport, started. Especially impressive were the dimensions that we are not used to in the FVA: From the incredible size of the hangars where five A-340 can be maintenanced next to each other, to the immaculately organized workshop infrastructure that would have sent any workshop manager into ecstasy. Parts of the infrastructure were the road network laid out through the hangar, as well as a multi-level tool crib including a keeper to make sure every tool finds its way back at the end of the day. At the end of the tour we had the opportunity to see an A-380 from the inside - including the cockpit, of course!

After we “digested” all the new impressions from the morning during lunch at the canteen, it was now time to deepen our knowledge about Lean Management in the course of a case study. The two trainees Julian and Steffen presented concisely, how lean management comes to use at Lufthansa Technik and entrusted us with a classic optimization problem: How can we shorten the time needed for an A-check of a plane, so that it can be performed during time it spends on the ground anyways due to the flight schedule? Without further ado we started tinkering: Moving shifts and redistributing tasks, in order to avoid waiting time.

We would like to thank Lena Schlerka, Julian Köppl, Stefan Forster, Cliff Andrae, and Armin Bayer for the insight into Lufthansa Technik and the invitation for a further visit. We are very much looking forward to visit again!

Author: Leonie Möller