Industria de Turbopropulsores, S. A. (ITP) is to invest nearly 88 million euros over the period 2011-2015 to carry out its Industrial Plan in the Zamudio and Ajalvir plants. Up to 2013, 53 million euros have been approved. During this period turbine manufacturing and assembly capacities will be increased by three times using the same industrial surface.

As envisioned in the ITP Group Strategic Plan 2011-2015, an Industrial Plan has been drawn up aimed at responding to two key targets: boosting capacity by optimising investment and achieving a major reduction in product cost.

Individual plans for each production centre have been designed to cater for particular conditions. The target that ITP must aim for is encapsulated in the principles of the Lean Manufacturing philosophy. It basically involves achieving production processes with:

- Reduced lead times.

- Parts made right first time (RFT).

- 100% service level (On Time Delivery).

The specifications of the Zamudio centre are drawn up in response to a functional production plan, giving a flexible response to multiple product types but at the same time making its lead times excessive. This production centre was capable of making a lot of different products, which played a big part in achieving the competitive position that it now enjoys.

Rising demand levels, mainly focussed on components for low pressure turbines (LPT), have meant that we can now create a series of product lines dedicated to this area, and the Industrial Plan has been designed to achieve this as efficiently as possible. The aim is to capacitate Zamudio so that production is faster, occupies less space than planned and has fewer products in process. During the period 2011-2015 turbine manufacturing and assembly capacities will be increased by three times using the same industrial surface.

New installations

The planned investment total covers the purchase of 36 new installations and the transfer of 47 sets of equipment. The results of implementation obtained to date have shown major changes to lines where the process has been completed, like the Tail Bearing House line, with a cut in lead times of more than 70%. At the end of the Industrial Plan 2011-2015, the estimated reduction of the Work in progress will reach the total amount of 25 million euros. 

The next steps are to complete construction of the lines that have been designed and then to optimise the operations carried out in them by doing a detailed analysis of production inefficiencies to wipe them out.

The methodology of the Industrial Plan for Engines at Ajalvir started with an in depth analysis of manual operations. We then proceeded to identify and suppress movements, manipulations and downtimes, fixing a standard optimum method for all processes. Finally, we were able to design a production line with a constant, efficient flow.

The area chosen to put the Industrial Plan into action was the wheel assembly area, just prior to final assembly of the LPT turbine. February 2013, saw the completion of work to implement the wheel assembly line designed according to these principles, with successful results in terms of improvements to production and lead times. The next step will be to transfer the process to other assembly areas.