Leonardo has been included in the WCM Association, an organisation bringing together the most important and deserving companies, at the global level, that implement in-house production processes inspired by WCM. World Class Manufacturing is a structured and integrated production method aimed at continuously improving all production performances to guarantee product quality and satisfy customer expectations.
This milestone was achieved through development of the Leonardo Production System (LPS), which is based on WCM methodology and embraces all the processes typical of Leonardo’s operations. The LPS programme was established in the spring of 2019 with the aim of optimising the efficiency and productivity of Leonardo's industrial sites through a continuous improvement approach to process and programme management, thus ensuring ever-increasing quality and safety.
Development of the LPS programme required rethinking the production process and optimising not only these same processes but the entire product life cycle: handling, stocks, controls, maintenance, supply chain management, through to the design and modelling of operational processes.
A number of figures clearly demonstrate the impact of the LPS programme. Since 2019, when Leonardo’s Pomigliano and Nola facilities were chosen as pilot sites, the programme has been implemented in 16 production sites, with the involvement of more than 2,000 people and the development of over 1,900 improvement projects, registering a +30% increase in productivity.
These figures show that a roadmap of the highest order has been followed, and a further component has now been added centred on the digitisation of processes. By launching the LPS 4.0 programme, Leonardo is upgrading its Production System with a version that pays increasing attention to the digital computerisation of production, with a direct impact on process transformation costs and sustainability.
