Ducommun AeroStructures Inc. manufactures components and assemblies for military and commercial aerospace applications, and recently received the Boeing Silver Eagle Award for its lean initiatives.Ducommun Aerospace is a subsidiary of Ducommun Inc. The company’s Monrovia, California, facility manufactures eight graphite composite spoiler assemblies for the C-17 War Fighter, which is assembled by The Boeing Co. The company was the first Boeing supplier to implement four of the Boeing supply chain value stream map initiatives: improvements in pull signal, just-in-time delivery, electronic planning, and tracking and receiving. The paperless delivery that resulted from electronic planning yielded a 66-percent reduction in transactions, and work-in-process inventory was reduced from 16 days to two.

The Boeing Co.’s Long Beach C-17 Program, which is part of Boeing’s Integrated Defense System Business, developed the Silver Eagle and Gold Eagle Awards to honor its suppliers’ continuous improvement and operational excellence programs. Silver Eagle Award candidate projects must have achieved significant, tangible and quantifiable results from lean and/or Six Sigma initiatives. All Silver Eagle winners may compete for the Gold Eagle Award.

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