Ask an Expert: How to Manage Your Supply Chain Efficiently with Ryan Coyne, U.S. Air Force Chief Logistics Operations

The time has come where we "Ask an Expert" questions that you all have been eager to have answered. We interviewed Ryan Coyne who is the Chief of Logistics Operations for the United States Air Force. To put it simply, he’s no joke. With a $17.5 billion dollar supply chain under his belt, we would say he knows a thing or two about managing supply chain & logistics.

Ryan leads a team of 25 who span supply chain, transportation, planning and QA professionals. If that wasn’t enough, he oversees sustainment solutions for 4500 aircraft and 1.8 million vehicles and equipment assets all over the world.

Without any more hesitation, let’s see what this supply champ has got to say.

http://blog.skylinkintl.com/ask-an-expert-how-to-manage-your-supply-chain-efficiently-with-ryan-coyne-u-s-air-force-chief-logistics-operations/ We interviewed Ryan Coyne who is the Chief of Logistics Operations for the United States Air Force. To put it simply, he's no joke. With a $17.5 billion dollar supply chain under his belt, he knows a thing or two about managing supply chain & logistics. Want more? www.NeverForgetYourWings.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLGoQFgOBKo

The discussion begins at 3:03 with Ryan sharing his responsibilities as the core logistics readiness officer and we quickly learn that he has been involved in supply chain for about 19½ years. That's almost 2 decades of knowing all there is to know about supply chain.

Ryan explains to us that although his team moves parts around the world they deal more with the end user. Due to the fact that he deals with maintenance group providers to even customer complaints, Ryan considers his work on the retail side of things.

Efficiency in your Supply Chain

We asked Ryan how he stays organized with such volume and at 10:02 he explains the organization of his wing and compares the ease of their system to Amazon. Below him is a wing of 25 staffers that work with 3 major commodities, which are aircraft parts, petroleum, and equipment items & parts for vehicles.  

[Tweet "Effective communication is crucial to a successful supply chain"]

His staff of 25 has 3 groups below them of 100-200 folks a piece. Each team has a different role or specialty.

From their $17.5 billion dollar supply chain, $8-9 billion alone comes from aircraft parts. Ryan and his wing goes through about 5½ million customer transactions a month. That's more transactions than most companies receive in a year.

Ryan stresses the importance of taking advantage of demand patterns. Due to the fact that his wing can move inventory back and forth they skip the step of asking retail teams and do it themselves.

At 14:03 Ryan shares with us the importance of communication within his team and how having an enterprise view of their supply chain has worked for them.

Leadership & Motivation

Leadership

Lastly we discussed with Ryan what he believes makes a good leader. At 20:49 Ryan shares that he looked to his coaches back in high school for leadership skills.

"I've never given an order in my entire career and I've been a commander 3 times. You know it's more of a collaboration, a coaching effort, constant huddles, making sure we have a consensus before we move forward." - Ryan Coyne  

Ryan believes that if you aren't leading by coaching and collaborating then you will lose trust and your staff will do things because they have to and not because they want to. 

He then goes on to explain that a leader must give people a chance to learn new skills, treat their staff calmly, with dignity, and look out for them.

At 26:45 Ryan adds that when it comes to motivating the younger generations a good leader must ask a lot of questions leading them to getting the right answer. This way they learn on their own and their time is protected.

In his line of work they don't receive bonuses but as a leader when you give associates back time, that's a bonus worth gold.

3 Incredibly Important Reliability Areas You Need To Know And Improve On

What is reliability? Since 1988 we’ve been playing the reliability game. The gamble of who to trust and what actions to take.

Today, much has changed. Everyone says and does the same boring thing, over promising and under delivering.

It’s common to run into reliability problems. It even gets to the point that some days you just want to run away.

Just ask our supply chain team.

Some days I have to peal them off the ceiling as they explode with frustration. I even have to peal myself off the ceiling some days.

Whether it’s logistics or even aircraft components, reliability is a game of chess. One wrong move and you lose time and money. With the right move you’re efficient. Time and money become your ally.

Many people talk about reliability, but unless you want to pay millions of dollars in consultancy fees, very little guides you in the right direction.

For now, let’s cover the basics…

Aircraft component reliability

The primary goal is to keep your components on wing for as long as possible. We’ll call this the dumbed down version of a much more complex issue.

At this point you’ll want to collect data and information about your aircraft components statistical analysis. This will give you valuable feedback on the data if irregularities developed in operation.

If you’re the type to geek out on this stuff, read this.

The key is to build a foundation for a component reliability program. Which ATA chapters do you have the most trouble with? Can you outsource solutions?

In order for you to answer these questions, having a firm understanding of your fleet and activity of components’ removals is very important.

[Tweet "Start slow and build your reliability program over time."]

Supplier reliability

It’s amazing how many people overlook supplier reliability.

I understand price is important, but it’s not the first or last decision. Your primary objective should be to work with people who can deliver and create the most value to you. 

When you look into your supplier reliability program answer these questions to help build your foundation:

• Who answers you back the quickest?
• Which company has an account manager that responds to you any day of the week, at any time?
• Who helps you resolve issues?
• Who provides solutions in addition to just selling you something?
• Where is the greatest value for every dollar you spend?
• Who solves problems without creating more problems?
• Who do you trust?
• How do their parts look when they’re delivered? Are they in good condition and packaged properly?

Answering these simple questions will guide you to building your supplier reliability program. You’ll avoid the people that over promise and under deliver.

Logistics reliability

If turn-around-times (TAT) keep you up at night then logistics is its angry step brother.

We live in a small world where we can get anything, anywhere in a short period of time and yet complications are still extremely common.

You may have experience with high import taxes, customs delays, airlines losing your packages, shipments being bumped and re-scheduled to a later date, damage parts, and the list goes on and on.

I have found the best logistics reliability program works with someone who is easy to talk to and helps you resolve problems. It’s really that simple.

I have worked with so many freight forwarders and 95% of them give me a massive headache. I feel one coming on now. We found 3 solid partners, one for routine freight, one for small parcel and one for AOG shipments and they are the only people we’ll use.

Build your logistics reliability program around your specific needs and the ease of communication should be very important to you.

Building a reliability program around aircraft maintenance and components, suppliers and logistics will help make your hectic aviation life easier.

Start slow and start now.

Do you have reliability issues? We would love to help you. Fill out the form below and we’ll tackle this together.

The Cost Myth Debunked: Cheap Aircraft Parts Vs. Total Value Creation

Have you ever bought a cheap aircraft part and regretted it? Of course you have. Cheap prices are attractive. They look good, smell like savings and sound like a “deal."

The lower you drive individual costs the better off you’ll be, right?

Not quite...

Cheap Aircraft Parts vs. Total Value Creation

Our supply chain team felt the pain of this just recently. They were huddling to bring in a new component to replenish a specific pooling product line. We’ve had trouble in the past with this supplier but since they met our QA standards we figured we would give them another try.

We sent the $3,000 PO to the supplier. They replied and said the unit is SV not OH, despite the email string saying otherwise. We told him that’s not we agreed upon and he replied:

“I’ll have to pass on this one…” Wait, what! He’ll have to pass?

We replied and demanded him to honor his quote and he stated “This is aviation bro, it happens.”

Yes, the term “bro” was used. I can’t make this stuff up. Can you believe it, this is aviation? Not Skylink’s type of aviation (Never Forget Your Wings).

This was our fault. We decided to procure based on price instead of total value. We’re still searching for this item and will have to absorb a NE unit at 4x the cost. We would have made other decisions from the beginning if we didn’t rely on this “cheap” price. Our mistake and we now pay.

Driving down cost is a smart decision but anything less than fair market value get’s you into sticky situations.

What you can expect from “cheap” aircraft parts

The definition of cheap is "costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive; low-cost in comparison to market."

Now, I’m sure you knew this but with low and cheap pricing you bargain with opportunity costs. You’re giving up something else in return for cheap pricing.

From experience, these are common things you gamble with:

• Reliability

• Quality

• Service

If cheap pricing is the way you want to go then you may see a higher occurrence of vendor problems. This means more cancellations, delays and poor customer service.

Sometimes it’s worth the gamble, but most often it’s not.

What total value is and isn't

The definition of value is "relative worth, merit, or importance."

Total value isn’t you spending 2x the market price on a particular aircraft part or using a specific supply chain partner. Total value is the return you get in addition to the price you pay for a specific product.  This is calculated in many different ways but a great example is when your aircraft is undergoing a maintenance check.

When your aircraft is undergoing a maintenance check, you need to get parts to the MRO at a designated time otherwise you’ll be penalized, or worse, the aircraft will be delayed. Let’s say with every delay you’re charged $500. You could buy a cheap component for $2,500 or a fair market component for $3,500.

You risk cancellation and delays with the cheap component.

You’ll then have to resolve the problem and expedite shipping, spending more of your precious time. When it’s all over with the “cheap” aircraft parts cost will add up well over $3,500 when you consider your time and expedited shipping and even late delivery penalization costs.

Most of the time, it’s not worth the headache alone. When you go with total value upfront, you save yourself the headache after.

Remember, this doesn’t mean I recommend you buy expensive inflated components. What this means is look at everything, not just the “cheap” cost itself.

Look at reliability and service as the core benchmark to determine appropriate actions.

Have you been caught in a “cheap” price predicament? Are you looking for total value with fair pricing? Fill out the form below and let us prove to you that were not “cheap” we’re valuable.