OREANDA-NEWS. A delegation of the Nuclear armament complex, part of the Rosatom State Corporation, visited NPO Saturn. The purpose of the visit was to study the NPO Saturn experience in the field of deploying Lean within the Company and exchange of the best practices with relation to the production system development.

Greeting his guests, Ilya Fedorov, NPO Saturn chief executive officer noted “a production system is based on the same cornerstone principle of earning a profit. The most important factor in setting strategic tasks in a company’s development is to abandon the notion of a natural economy. That is why we have broken down the production process into ideological directions. And now we are pursuing to develop to the maximum those departments that are capable of generating money, i.e. machining shops, casting production and so on. Everything else is to be outsourced and not necessarily to the Russian market.

With the purpose of boosting our production performance, we have embarked on a Lean journey aimed at re-engineering the employees’ way of thinking, the continuous improvement of the production processes and, ultimately, increasing the overall performance. With full authority I would like to declare that a great share of the successful deployment of Lean at NPO Saturn belongs to Snecma, our partner in the SaM146 program.

Through almost four years of Lean deployment at NPO Saturn, a lot was done. And these years have shown and proven to us that it is not only a must to do Lean permanently and not only in the conditions of multi-product manufacturing, but also that the personal involvement of the company’s CEO in the Lean transformation process is absolutely mandatory”.

After wishing the participants of the Lean event a productive session, Ilya Fedorov also highlighted the commonality of interests between the aerospace and nuclear industry workers regarding the development of the country’s scientific potential: “I always say, and I’m hear to say that once again, that only two industrial branches really determine the development of any country, these are the nuclear industry and military and civil aviation industry coupled with gas turbine building. Both of these science-intensive branches strongly influence a country’s technological edge”.

In the course of their one-day visit, the Company’s guests saw the production and R&D facilities of NPO Saturn, got familiarized with the application of such Lean tools as 5S, stop anomaly, visual management and performance management, and saw how Lean is being implemented in the production operations and in the office.

According to Ilya Pautov, NPO Saturn deputy CEO, head of the Company’s Lean directorate, based on the results demonstrated in 2012, NPO Saturn was rated among the four best Lean enterprises within the United Engine Corporation.

“Since we started implementing Lean at NPO Saturn, we have mastered both the methodology of running Lean transformation projects and the appropriate Lean tools as well as how to sustain Lean in the Company’s production units, how to train people, how to certify them into Lean Black Belts and return them into their operations, - shared Ilya Pautov. - Today we have approached the top of the so-called development pyramid in Lean production which is the elaboration and implementation of the philosophy and principles of a production system which the Company will subsequently translate onto its employees to ensure everyone adheres to the same values. The vast majority of the Company’s Lean-related activities in 2013-2014 are dedicated to that”.

NPO Saturn Research and Production Association (OJSC) is an engine-building company specialized in the design and development, production and after-market support of gas turbine engines for military and civil aviation, Navy boats and power-generating plants and gas-pumping units. NPO Saturn is part of United Engine Corporation.

United Engine Corporation Managing Company (OJSC) is a subsidiary of OBORONPROM UIC (OJSC). The UEC structure integrates over 85% of Russia’s leading companies specialized in the design and development, serial production and after-market support of gas turbine machinery, as well as the key enterprises - the industry’s integral players. One of the UEC’s prioritized fields of activity is the implementation of comprehensive programs of development of the companies in the industry by introducing the world-class new technologies.

OBORONPROM United Industrial Corporation (OJSC) is a multi-field machine-building group created in 2002. It is part of Rostec. The main fields of activity - helicopter building (the Russian Helicopters holding), engine building (the UEC holding) and other assets.

Rostekhnologii State Corporation (Rostec) is a Russian corporation established in 2007 in order to facilitate the development, manufacturing and export of high-technology industrial products of military and civil purposes. Today it comprises over 663 companies, which form 8 military-industrial and 5 civil industry holdings. Rostec’s subsidiaries are located in 60 regions of Russia and supply their products to over 70 countries worldwide. In 2012 revenues of the Corporation amounted to RUB 931 billion, net profits were RUB 38.5 billion and total taxation exceeded RUB 109 billion.