Business jets provide executives with tremendous efficiency and convenience, but they are not inexpensive. A company launched in 2007, Nextant Aerospace, is making business jets an affordable option for more companies through remanufacturing.

The Cleveland-based firm purchases previously owned Beechjet 400A/XPs and other planes, strips them down to their skeletons, and rebuilds them with modern electronics and controls, improved ergonomics, low noise levels, and high-end cabin furnishings. The result is a product that costs an estimated 32 percent less to fly than the original aircraft, and flies further and faster, as well.

The company’s principals had backgrounds in selling fractional ownership shares of previously owned planes, but no experience in manufacturing. That was just one of the challenges as they planned their entry into the remanufacturing business. Another was space planning: How to have up to 80 employees at a time working on half a dozen jets simultaneously in the relatively small space of an airplane hangar. Finally, with so many parts being removed from, and installed in, each plane, efficient parts-storage and tool-inventory practices would be needed.

The company owners brought on staff with manufacturing experience, and consulted extensively with the experts at the Northeast Ohio-based MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network. MAGNET consultants provided expert advice in determining floor space requirements, creating an efficient production flow, and helping to optimize parts-storage and tool inventories, so no time is wasted.

The company also had 28 of its employees participate in a 3-day MAGNET workshop called Lean 101 Simulation, ensuring that lean would be part of the company culture from the start. Less than a decade in business, and Nextant is growing quickly, and producing planes for a variety of domestic and international clients.