Thompson Aero Seating is a leading supplier of business and first-class aircraft seating, trusted by all the leading airlines. With a growing market share and expanding product portfolio, Thompson’s seats are installed on all major aircraft types, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing B787 Dreamliner.
Under the ownership of AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), a major global aerospace company, Thompson is one of Northern Ireland’s fastest-growing businesses. Employing around 650 staff across four sites in Portadown and Banbridge, the company offers comprehensive design, engineering, manufacturing, dynamic testing, and R&D capabilities.
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The Challenge
As a young business in 2015, Thompson Aero Seating faced significant performance challenges in quality, delivery, and cost. With increasing demand for their products, a growing order book and changes to the product mix, the company struggled to meet the increasing customer demands. Lacking a robust production system and many foundational processes, it became clear that they needed external expertise to accelerate their improvement journey.
Recognising the gap in in-house skills, Thompson saw partnering with Sharing in Growth (SiG) as a critical step to drive the necessary changes and build a solid foundation for future success.
THE SiG SOLUTION
The engagement between Thompson Aero Seating and Sharing in Growth began in October 2017 with an initial diagnostic phase, followed by a lean workshop in January 2018, with full programme approval secured in April 2018. Thompson Aero Seating’s business transformation journey was supported with a facilitated strategy workshop to define their short, medium, and long-term business objectives. Focus then moved to building their vision, mission, values, and behaviours that would underpin the business for years to come.
Hands-on transformation interventions within their final assembly lines saw the implementation of structured principles and processes that included: visual planning boards, resource allocation at process levels, Team Leader standard work, Andon systems, kitting control boards, design reviews / engineering support sessions, implementation of temporary hospital bays to maintain flow, and a three-line flow system, achieving a record output of 350 seats in a single week.
Attention then moved to one of the supporting processes with the launch of the “Doors” Lighthouse initiative, which created a showcase area and reduced production arrears, restoring standard work-in-progress levels.
In February 2020, following a leadership change Thompson sought assistance from Sharing in Growth again, focusing on their Factory 4 NPI area with a target to implement APQP standards in 18 months. A second leadership change and new CEO saw Sharing in Growth’s support shift to a more consultative approach working with the Heads of departments with structure and governance.
THE SiG RESULTS
Thompson Aero Seating has made considerable progress in developing the culture alongside new processes, systems and standards that has put them in a strong position to move their business forward, now having the basics in place. They have recovered from pre-pandemic customer challenges to a position of increased product output, satisfied customers, Increased revenues and an extraordinarily strong orderbook.
After over 5 years of Sharing in Growth support, Thompson has met or exceeded their beneficiary commitments by growing their number of employees, securing over £1 billion of contract value, efficiency improvements have driven an increase in value-added per person, with the programme delivering a return on investment of 5:1.
The longstanding partnership between Thompson Aero Seating and Sharing in Growth has driven productivity improvements, supported business recovery, and enhanced people development through a continuous improvement approach.
RESULTS DRIVEN. RESULTS PROVEN.
We are the complete business transformation experts. Our passionate team of growth and productivity specialists work with you to develop, inspire and improve every aspect of your organisation. The Sharing in Growth challenge and purpose is to accelerate your business growth and ultimately your bottom line.
To learn more about how SiG can help your business thrive, contact our team today. We are committed to providing the knowledge, tools, and support you need to unlock your business’ potential and drive sustainable growth. Follow us on LinkedIn for further updates from Sharing in Growth.
