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When Gridiron Capital LLC acquired PAS Technologies Inc. from Praxair in 2006, it knew it had to improve customer service. Key to that effort was selecting as its president and CEO Robert Weiner, an expert in Lean Six Sigma and former executive with Pratt & Whitney and GE, among other companies. PAS Technologies adopted Lean Six Sigma processes and has received the Global Six Sigma & Business Improvement Award. Headquartered in north Kansas City, Mo., PAS Technologies provides repair and overhaul for aircraft engine and airframe components, as well as materials management. It operates in eight locations, including in Ireland and Singapore.
AM: What problems did PAS Technologies initially face?
Weiner: We inherited quite a few. Successive operations were distant from one another, and we had excessive inventory, minimal total productive maintenance and few visual controls. The flow lines became bottlenecks and stagnate pools, backlog was one to two months, and on-time delivery averaged 50 to 60 percent. Also, manufacturing costs were difficult to control. Focusing on two critical areas, turnaround time and on-time delivery, we achieved a 180-degree reversal from the company's poor performance in July 2006.