Wed, Jul 30, 2003
A very cheery Bing
Lantis (bottom, right) held court in Oshkosh (WI) on Tuesday
and reported that Lancair production was increasing steadily... as
were sales.
Now, more than six months since restarting production, the
Lancair Company reports that its ramp up continues to pick up
steam. “We’re at one Columbia every four days right now
and will pick that up to one aircraft every three days by
mid-fourth quarter,” said Lancair Vice President Ron
Wright.
According to Wright, the entire process has been smoother than
he ever could have dreamed and much of the credit goes to their
component suppliers.
“It’s not as easy as you might think to restart a
production line of our scale or complexity,” Wright said.
“There are a lot of outside entities supplying components for
our aircraft and they’ve responded wonderfully to the demands
we’ve placed on them. We’re very pleased with the
support and enthusiasm we’ve seen from our
suppliers.”
Another component of
Lancair’s successful production ramp up is new composite shop
director Joe Hafenrichter who recently joined The Lancair Company
after a stint on Boeing’s Joint Strike Fighter program.
Hafenrichter brings key experience in composites and lean
manufacturing to what Wright terms the “heart” of the
production process.
“The composite shop is the key to controlling the pace of
aircraft production” continued Wright. “Joe is managing
every aspect of our composites manufacturing, from integrating our
outside suppliers into our overall supply chain to making sure our
own, in-house composites shop operates optimally.” The
Lancair Company also recently completed a study of their composites
manufacturing staffing and processes and is making modifications
that will facilitate rapid growth in the future.
“We’ve been making significant capital investments
in the organization that will enable us to continue to produce
aircraft rapidly, cost-efficiently and to a very high level of
quality,” said Lancair President Bing Lantis. “Our
production ramp up is on or a little ahead of schedule in all
areas. We’re right where we want to be.”
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