Comac speeds up on the road to Lean Production – Interview with Stefano Gotti
News at Comac’s production department: as of June 2016, Stefano Gotti is the new manager for Planning and Scheduling Operations. We chatted with Stefano to let him explain his new role and, most of all, to know more about lean production, one of the matters Stefano deals with.
News at Comac’s production department: as of June 2016, Stefano Gotti is the new manager for Planning and Scheduling Operations. We chatted with Stefano to let him explain his new role and, most of all, to know more about lean production, one of the matters Stefano deals with.
Hi Stefano, congratulations to you! Can you please explain what is your job all about?
“In simple words, I have to ensure that the effective dates for planning, supplying of materials, production and commissioning of a machine, in the framework of a job, match in the best way the timing requested by the customer”.
What is the link between this job and the lean thinking philosophy Comac has been adopting for some time?
“Lean thinking is based on management and elimination of waste, and time is one of the most important factors.
How is lean production implemented, in practical terms, at Comac?
“The warehouse applies the Just-In-Time philosophy, that’s to say we only buy parts we need, when they are needed. Another pillar of lean production is lean manufacturing – We make the pieces to be manufactured readily available to whoever must manufacture them, in order to spare time and energies. Finally, we are going towards the standardization of many of the components, in order not to have to manufacture them all from scratch each time”.
How does that standardization combine with the possibility to customize the plants, which is one of Comac’s strengths?
“Customization is of course a possibility peculiar to many components, but standard ones allow to strongly reduce times”.
Let’s talk about you. How long have you been following up the Lean Production?
“I have been working for Comac for four years now and this was the subect I started with since my very beginning. In 2014, I also visited the Toyota plants in Japan, where the LP was born. Japanese pay much attention to the rules, and maybe they can come up with personal ideas, but in the end they tend to follow the traced path. Italians are instead more creative, and maybe they look for a shortcut!”.
What are the future projects for Comac and for the Lean Production?
“We aim at making production lines leaner and leaner. In our new logistics department, for instance, stations have already been designed according to these principles, we only need to make them operational. It’s a long road, implementation of this path might require up to 10 years, but Comac is on the right way”.