Diehl Retrofit – How a New Business Field Grows
Background
Diehl Aviation is a corporation in the civilian aviation sector. Diehl develops and manufactures solutions for aircraft interiors, including lighting, kitchens, and toilets. One division of this company is Retrofit, based in Hamburg. Retrofit’s task is to perform comprehensive overhauls of aircraft interiors, particularly when aircraft are sold from one airline to another.
The Retrofit division represents a promising market for Diehl but also presents several challenges. Retrofit must rely on resources from other parts of the corporation to handle its projects. Additionally, the market mechanisms in Retrofit differ significantly from collaborating with major aircraft manufacturers like Airbus or Boeing. Retrofit receives much less specification from its customers, the collaboration is different, and the lead times are much shorter.
Holger Hafner and his team aimed to overcome these challenges, and we were privileged to assist them.
Goals and Topics
Together, we addressed questions such as:
History
Our project began with an observation phase to understand the routines and patterns that define collaboration at Diehl.
It quickly became apparent that Retrofit had already experienced many success stories, which demonstrated how to tackle the upcoming challenges. However, these successful processes were not yet routines and were often overshadowed by actions that hindered effective collaboration.
We began systematically identifying these success stories and reflecting with the involved parties on why the collaboration was successful in each case. From these insights, we developed structural elements that guided the collaboration.
Among other things, we focused on „focus“ and „improvement.“ Retrofit employees coined the term „difference-makers.“ Employees and leaders systematically identified these difference-makers, which was particularly effective for project-based tasks. In coordination meetings, questions such as the following were addressed:
In this project, we focused less on organizational structure and more on workflow organization. We avoided rigid rules and processes due to the fast-paced and customer-dependent nature of Retrofit’s business. Instead, we concentrated on developing and applying principles to shape collaboration.
A key success factor was the advanced training of an employee. This provided the core team with significant confidence in their collaboration and development even in our absence. Diehl found a way to sustain new ideas until they could evolve into patterns and routines.
Reference
In response to a rapidly changing aviation market, DIEHL Aviation aimed to introduce an agile mindset and agile work methods in the Retrofit (airline market) sector.
ACCENTUS stands out for its successful introduction of agility based on fundamentally changed principles of good work. Only on this new foundation could agile methods grow sustainably and be independently developed. This approach distinguishes ACCENTUS from many other providers. In our collaboration, we addressed the entire corporate context, transforming all levels, from long-term corporate purpose and vision to strategy, annual goal setting, and individual work.
In addition to introducing and training in the principles of good work and agile methods, ACCENTUS has the exceptional competence to directly support employees in their work, improving their experience through the introduction of new agile communication formats. This has positively impacted both corporate success and individual experiences.
Christian Wißmann represents the outstanding work in our company.
Holger Hafner
Senior Vice President CoE Upgrade Solutions, Diehl Aviation
„Imagine a world where business success and job satisfaction are inseparable.“
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