Trailcon Leasing worked with Boeing to improve the parts and inventory process at the Canadian trailer rental, leasing and maintenance company.

Trailcon President Alan Boughton said the company is always looking for ways to improve operations, and realized there were further business opportunities it could explore to better achieve company goals and growth plans.

“Knowing we wanted to develop processes that were state-of-the-art and enduring, we focused on the ‘fix it before it fails’ aviation approach and searched for companies that had an exceptional focus on parts excellence,” said Boughton.

A Trailcon team of Paul Lahie, Don Andrews, Giovani Cani and Bryan Burningham travelled to Boeing Aerospace in Seattle to learn about that company’s best practices and get a hands-on look at the detailed steps in its processes.

The Trailcon team reported a highlight of the process was learning about the improvement in the passenger-seat installation process. While it originally took three shifts more than 24 hours to complete, Boeing automated the loading process to install the seats in just two hours. These kinds of improvements have allowed Boeing to boost production from 22 planes a month to 42, with plans to increase even further as it continues to identify bottlenecks and streamline processes.

Bryan Burningham, Trailcon’s vice president of Service and Operations said Trailcon will use such lessons to reduce waste and streamline its parts business.

“We want to remain the industry leader in trailer leasing, rentals, and service,” said Burningham. “We have to offer a big thank you to the Boeing staff who spent such quality time with our Trailcon team.”