Original Date: 05/08/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

The Engineering/Manufacturing Tracking System (E/MTS) provides McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA)-St. Louis a capability to develop unique, multidivisional schedules for each activity between release of an engineering drawing through loading the part onto the jig fixture. The E/MTS replaces the old process of using a simple algorithm that differentiates only machine part span times from sheet metal span times with a more sophisticated approach that considers multiple constraints such as part type and size, material selection and complexity diversification. The new approach leads to a consistent process for development of the item release schedule by applying a new practice of Forward Scheduling instead of the Back Dating for estimates of part scheduling. The new practice requires that manufacturing personnel participate in the engineering design process which follows and implements Integrated Product and Process Development.

The E/MTS provides an accurate date on the work order, accurate WIP, estimates for prioritizing assembly planning, and work schedules for detail planning. This capability enhances the development of a precedence chart that depicts the overall flow of the product assembly, and for which the production line's detailed requirements and constraints are established. The E/MTS is integrated with other applications such as the Large Order Assembly Planning System (LOAPS), Common Bill of Material, Engineering Automated Release and Record System, and Fabrication Tracking and Management System. This integration provides a mutual set of information common to all the application software. The data is also updated by the production centers that use the E/MTS to track the actual schedule. This update provides vital information on part production status and actual information that is used for a baseline for future estimates.

Benefits of this system are being realized by the F/A-18 E/F, T-45 and AV-8 production lines and the C-17 pod redesign line. Use of the E/MTS has improved the process of estimating man-hour/cycle of manufacturing activities, improved fabrication cycle estimates, provided consistent estimated fabrication cycle span for all changes, and assisted in timely make-or-buy decisions.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.