Project Management of Large-Scale Airplane Assembly Lifts

Southworth Products is an international manufacturing and engineering company with headquarters in Falmouth Maine. Because of their leadership in the industry, many large enterprises return to Southworth for their precision hydraulic lift projects. One of these companies required to 8 different custom engineered lifts, in various quantities, for a total of 86 machines, within the course of several months so that they could begin to assemble airplane wings in order to meet a deadline.

In my role as an inside sales coordinator, it was not typical to lead a project of this size. However, the outside sales representative of the territory was not so responsive to customers that the commercial sales manager trusted them with the responsibility of the contract worth close to a million dollars. This was a rare opportunity to reinforce the relationship with a customer who would potentially have more projects of this size in the future.

Throughout the course of the project, I initiated meetings between our engineering team, estimating team, and the customer points of contact. As production began, I kept a line of communication open between the customer and the production management team. These channels were essential since changes in design, shipment schedules, and production schedules changed regularly. It was important to communicate the process and the reasons for changes to the customer so that Southworth remained a trusted partner and that the customer remained a trusted partner to the front-line teams who did not have the same interactions as me.

I helped to communicate and manage the project through Excel workbooks, Visio diagrams, and a weekly update email that was shared with the customer and the appropriate managers. When unexpected challenges arose, I quickly assessed the situation through follow-up questions and presented the issue to the party in charge of making a reactive decision. The open communication eased the receipt of these pieces of news since the trust that both Southworth and the customer had the best interest of the project in mind.

After several changes in design throughout the project – up through production, shipping issues due to capacity constraints, and pricing changes through economic uncertainty, Southworth was able to deliver all machines as ordered and on time. The customer was very pleased with the results and continued to provide Southworth with business in the future. The Excel workbooks used were used on future projects as a template because of the ease of organization.