Brain off, autopilot on?! One of the common prejudices pilots are facing these days. However, aviation is much more than that! It's hard to believe, but the parallels to operational excellence, common LEAN management tools and especially the culture of continuous improvement are glaring!
This article is intended to deal in a general way with the question: why it is worth to look outside the box into aviation? Many of my acquaintances cannot make out any parallels at first. Meanwhile these are obvious to me, whose knowledge comes from both worlds, that of industry and that of aviation.
It is of course absolutely clear that one cannot blindly transfer methods, designations and processes 1:1. Instead, it is rather about describing the path and translating it to other companies in a targeted and holistic manner. Classic example: safety, which is, of course, a key driver of processes in aviation. Certainly, occupational safety is also a driver for many industrial companies. This is exactly where the art of “translating” from one industry to another is identified. One would quickly get caught up in this example and say that transferring the safety culture of aviation to an industry that is not potentially so dangerous would be a pure exaggeration. I do not disagree. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the correct translation of the word “safety” from aviation to industry lies more in the term “quality”. Classically, quality of products, quality of processes, but also quality in the selection of the right employees for (flight) personnel, quality in maintenance, quality in IT, quality in (production) planning and control and, ultimately, quality in the continuous improvement process. That’s what sets aviation apart!
Although aviation is just over 100 years old, the foundation that makes it possible to work in such an environment has only been scientifically and methodologically researched in the past 30 years. This was preceded by terrible accidents, in the aftermath of which the investigations showed with an overwhelming majority of approx. 80% that the problems were mostly not of a technical nature, but were due to the communication and the strongly hierarchical employee culture.
This has triggered a cultural change, especially in the western world, which is characterized by flat hierarchies, an open feedback culture and ultimately led to a culture of continuous improvement.
Because of this cultural change, but of course also because of the steadily increasing numbers in daily flights and technical innovations, many new methods, processes and standards have been implemented. All of this has made aviation one of the safest means of transportation in the world. All methods are primarily driven by a high degree of standardization, which is noticeable down to standardized call-outs.
One can see that the parallels are vast. We at Hirscher Consulting have set ourselves the goal of using our knowledge to serve your company, your employees and your top executives.
You can find specific application examples on the subject of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) and Communication & Leadership (CRM - crew resource management) in our blog at www.hirscherconsulting.com.
Contact us today and tell us about your challenges without any obligation.
yours sincerely,
Moritz Hirscher
