Aircraft production depends not only on the assembly of large units. At the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which produces MS-21 and Su-30SM, employees have tackled problems that arise around the main process: wearing tools, processing defects, damage to warehouse infrastructure, and failing instruments. The Telegram channel "Zametki Aviastroiteley" reported on four implemented initiatives.

Roman Nikulin, a grinder in the tool shop, solved the problem of rapid wear of centers used to secure parts on the grinding machine. He embedded high-strength alloy plates into them, expecting to increase the service life of the tooling. 

Another problem — the risk of defects during engraving of electrical connectors — was solved by assembler Marina Govorina and engraver Ivan Sitnikov. A stand with photos of correctly made connections and problematic areas appeared in the airborne electrical network assembly shop. Now workers have visual samples against which they can check the processing results.

Mechanic Oleg Gorokhov took on the warehouse's unloading dock: he installed a dock bumper that softens the contact of a truck with the building. This should reduce the risk of damage to the facade and the vehicle's body.

Oleg Kuklin, an engineer in the chief metrologist's department, restores failed Disk-250 instruments: instead of failed trimming resistors, he installs new ones with characteristics corresponding to the original. This allows instruments to be repaired without complete replacement.

The four solutions are part of a larger effort involving employee suggestions. According to the plant's report, 141 improvement initiatives were registered at IAZ in July, and 160 in August. In total, 301 suggestions were collected over two months, of which 270 related to kaizen and 31 to rationalization.

Each of the described initiatives solves a separate problem. But it is precisely from such changes that the daily work on production losses is formed: extending tool life, preventing defects, avoiding building damage, or restoring an instrument.