Problem statement
A team of personnel in a cargo handling facility had developed a software application that streamlined the delivery, logging and dispatch of goods for air freight. Their local pilot implementation showed great promise, however they did not have comprehensive and persuasive data analysis to secure senior corporate support for its implementation within the corporation.
Objective
The objective of this engagement was to quantify the extent to which the implementation of an internally developed software application package would improve cargo processing at an airport cargo handling depot.
Lean Ireland consulting/training work
The objectives, data analysis processes, and results were discussed, agreed and shared in stages with the on-site project sponsor and a small team. The Lean Ireland consultant started by process mapping the “before” and planned “after” processes and, using the depot’s data bank, qualified the extent to which cargo processing times had been reduced at various stages of the process. Measurement and graphing techniques used included control charts, data distributions, and process capability analysis. The data was summarised and presented and discussed in an open Q&A session, and in report format.
5 days onsite consulting with the Lean Ireland consultant and 12 hours offline data analysis, report drafting, review and approval over a 3 week period.
Detailed results of the client work
- The Lean Ireland report was used by depot management to further promote the software application package in the broader air cargo handling sector.
- Depot personnel had a better understanding of the relevant metrics, e.g. queuing time for truck and van drivers, throughput time at the depot, cases per hour etc., and how to measure performance and represent it graphically.