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Case studies

Aerospace and defense

Description

Perimeter

The aerospace and defense sector covers the manufacture, operation and maintenance in operational order of aeronautical and defense systems.

Context

This sector is seriously impacted by:

  • high capital outlay on products, a fact that makes their maintenance in operational condition one of the key factors in the economic performance of operators,
  • technically advanced and fast-changing products with long life cycles, and configuration management demands that make controlling the supply chain all the more complex,
  • very long procurement and manufacturing cycles, combined with poor supplier performance and globally insufficient procurability of products and certain manufacturing processes,
  • high sensitivity to economic cycles and currency exchange rates,
  • globalization of markets (offset, transfer of skills, geographic extension of the value chain).

Stakes

In order to protect their positions and achieve sustainable growth, industrial operators in the aerospace sector must:

  • review their engineering processes to improve control of cycles and program costs: manage sub-projects in parallel, while reducing redundancy between them, improve in-house and external cooperation with suppliers, implement lean engineering initiatives, etc.,
  • optimize their upstream supply chain to cut working capital requirements and keep production cycles under control: improve supplier performance, control raw material and component flows, optimize component stocks, cooperate with suppliers to share workload/capacity and operations, etc.,
  • improve their industrial manufacturing performance: industrialize processes in an industry structured around small or medium-sized production series, cut production cycles, improve productivity and quality, etc.
  • continue to increase revenue from services and maintain their profitability: improve the service offer, optimize the MRO chain (tracking of the installed base, spare parts supply chain, industrial strategy for repair and overhaul systems), optimize field services, etc.

How can Argon Consulting assist you ?

We assist our customers in this sector to manage change, from the assessment of the issues they face to the application of all the levers to their operational performance:

  • improvements in program efficiency: control and optimization of engineering resources (R&D supply chain), efficiency of processes, lean engineering,
  • purchasing and optimization of the upstream supply chain (sourcing strategy, control of supplier performance, reduction of component stocks, deployment of VMI and the performance of procurement in general),
  • supply chain planning (planning of demand, capacity and stocks),
  • industrial performance and lean management (shorter and more reliable cycles, cost reductions),
  • product/customer segmentation and adaptation of service offers,
  • logistical performance (efficiency and cost of the incoming and outgoing logistics systems),
  • maintenance in operational order (forecasting and planning of maintenance plans, prioritization of ongoing operations, pool size optimization, etc.),
  • optimization of the distribution of spare parts (sourcing and distribution network, stock policy).

Argon Consulting’s customers include the DCNS, Snecma, Thales, the French General Armament Agency, the French Ministry of Defense, etc.

Team

Fabrice Bonneau –  Managing Director

Before becoming Managing Director of Argon Consulting, Fabrice was in charge of the Manufacturing Distribution Retail sector at Capgemini Consulting, and a member of the management committee. Before that, he was one of the founders of PEA Consulting.  Fabrice has worked on numerous performance improvement (cost cutting, stock reductions, improvement of service) and supply chain change projects. He has successfully accomplished numerous assignments in the aerospace sector, in particular for Airbus (Power 8 project), Safran Turbomeca, Messier Bugatti (transformation of the Supply Chain) and Air France Industrie. Fabrice is a graduate of the Ponts & Chaussées engineering school and a qualified mathematician. Fabrice is also President of the Industrial Engineering department of the Ponts & Chaussées engineering school.

Fabrice Corbière – Associate Director

Fabrice Corbière has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain consulting. He has managed numerous aerospace supply chain transformation projects, in manufacturing and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), from the initial diagnostic to change management support, covering cost reductions, control of working capital requirement and improvement of customer services. In particular, he has worked for several subsidiaries of the Groupe Safran (Turboméca, Safran, Messier Dowty, Snecma Services), Airbus, Air France Industrie and the Ateliers Industriels de l’Armement. Before joining Argon Consulting, Fabrice was an Associate Director with PEA Consulting, then with Cap Gemini Consulting, where he was in charge of the supply chain practice. Fabrice is a graduate of Centrale Paris.

Dominique Hondermarck – Associate Director

Dominique Hondermarck has more than 15 years of experience in consulting. Prior to that, he occupied operational positions for 15 years as Director of Manufacturing and as Design Office Director. He has supervised numerous projects in the aerospace sector (Airbus, Rafale fleet, Thales, etc.) in the following fields: Lean Manufacturing and manufacturing performance, MRO and maintenance practices, while always paying close attention to change support. Dominique is one of the French experts in Lean manufacturing. Before joining Argon Consulting, Dominique was an Associate Director with Cap Gemini Consulting, then with Ineum, where he was in charge of the manufacturing activity. Dominique is a graduate of Centrale Lille and of INSEAD. He is also qualified in manufacturing information technology.

Thierry L. –  Director

Thierry L.has 12 years of experience both in supply chain consulting (PEA Consulting and Capgemini Consulting), but also in operations with Arcelor. He has managed numerous projects in the aerospace sector, and in particular with several subsidiaries of Safran. Thierry has a broad experience of supply chain planning in international environments, from the diagnostic phase, through to the design of the target and implementation support, in the complete range of processes (service offer, forecasting, S&OP, DRP, deployment, MPS, scheduling, stock management, logistics strategy, supplier performance, etc.). Thierry is a graduate of Polytechnique and of Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon.

Arnaud M. – Director

Arnaud M. joined Argon Consulting after more than 11 years with Cap Gemini Consulting. Arnaud has managed numerous change projects in the aerospace and defense sectors (French air force – Rafale fleet, Thales, DNCS), focusing mainly on manufacturing performance (Lean and planning / scheduling) and maintenance (organization, process, CMMS). Arnaud started his career as a manufacturing engineer with Saint-Gobain. Arnaud is a graduate of Polytechnique and of Mines Paris.

Donatien M. – Senior Manager

Donatien M. is specialized in supply chain. He has worked with both manufacturers and distributors on issues of logistics strategy and industrial planning and scheduling and operational improvement programs. He has worked for DCNS and Thales. Donatien is a graduate of Centrale Paris in industrial engineering, production management and logistics.