Above and Beyond Since Day One

Boeing Case Study

Challenge

Boeing Wichita (now Spirit AeroSystems), one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturing campuses, generates an enormous volume of trash — referred to internally as Foreign Object Debris (F.O.D.) — a serious safety hazard capable of causing catastrophic damage to an aircraft.

Wheeled trash boxes positioned throughout the plant were constantly overflowing, requiring removal up to six times daily. Workers were pulled away from production to manage waste, repair carts, and replace broken casters, driving up labor costs and threatening the integrity of the manufacturing floor.

"F.O.D. was growing rapidly throughout our manufacturing plant," said Tim, assembly line plant supervisor. "The current clean-up plan couldn't keep up and the waste was overflowing. It threatened to compromise the integrity of our work."

Solution

Boeing turned to KenBay, deploying more than 30 RotoPac™ industrial waste compactors across both its commercial and military divisions. Placed directly at the source of waste generation, the RotoPacs allowed workers to compact debris on the spot — eliminating the need to cart overflowing bins across a busy production floor.

"We turned to the KenBay RotoPac — a small, efficient, and transportable waste compactor," said Dale, workplace services transportation analyst. "By doing so, we eliminated a process that was labor intensive and time consuming, and simply put, this saved us money."

Result

The impact was immediate and measurable. Boeing achieved a 10:1 compaction ratio, reducing trash removal from as many as six times per day to just once. With a footprint of just 4 ft. x 5 ft. — the same as a single metal trash box — one bag of compacted waste replaced ten boxes, reclaiming valuable shop floor space. Overhead costs on plastic lids, steel boxes, and casters dropped by 70%, and production workers were freed to focus on building aircraft rather than managing waste.

Safety improved significantly as well. The elimination of heavy metal carts virtually removed the injury risks associated with manual waste handling, and the RotoPac's intuitive design required minimal training to operate.

"Overall, the KenBay compactor has been a great addition to the management of F.O.D. on the flight line. I have six compactors throughout our buildings and they keep our areas very clean." - Roger, Manager of Transportation Military Division

"The introduction of the RotoPac and its savings in terms of space, labor, and time is just one small example of how our decisions — while not rocket science — contribute to the business in an important way." — Dale, Workplace Services Transportation Analyst

"Our RotoPac may be dwarfed in size by Boeing's large manufacturing machines, but it is gratifying to know that the compactors are doing their part contributing to the high standards of excellence of the world's largest aircraft company. In this case, small, efficient, and portable makes a difference." — Don Meis, President & CEO, KenBay