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Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Streamlines Aircraft Repair and Overhaul

Stokely Management Center, College of Business Administration, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-0562
402D Aircraft Maintenance Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Warner Robins, Georgia 31098
Strategic Services, Realization Technologies, San Jose, California 95113
msrini{at}utk.edu
william.best{at}robins.af.mil
sridhar{at}realization.com

At Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, long lead times for repairing and overhauling aircraft were a serious issue because some models were in short supply. In 2005, the center implemented Critical Chain, an operations research method for project management, to reduce lead time for repairing its C-5 transport aircraft. The implementation took eight months, without using any additional resources. The center returned five additional C-5 aircraft to the US Air Force’s operational inventory and generated additional revenue to the Transportation Working Capital Fund estimated at $49.8 million annually. The replacement value for these aircraft is estimated at $2.37 billion. The center is implementing the method for the C-130 and the C-17 cargo aircraft to free up 11 dock spaces. With the additional dock space, the depot can accommodate additional work worth $65 million in 2006. The center expects the additional workload to total $248 million by 2009 (the current C-5 annual operating budget is $295 million). Nonquantifiable benefits include increased responsiveness and casualty avoidance during wartime.

Key Words: facilities–equipment planning; maintenance; replacement; project management