66 ◾ Lean Management System LMS:2012
and the higher capital investment unless there is no paying work for the extra
ships (or trucks). If, on the other hand, there is not enough work to keep an
existing fleet busy, it may make sense to operate at lower speeds. The trade-
off is then entirely between lower fuel costs and longer delivery times plus
higher per-mile labor costs.
Chapter 3 also includes an example of the application of NASCAR pit
crew techniques to reduce turnaround times for commercial aircraft. The
idea here is to get more use out of the airplane because the incremental
profit from even one additional flight per day is pure profit. If paying work
is available for the aircraft, any time it spends elsewhere but in the air con-
stitut ...