Company Snapshot

As one of the three divisions of the LISI Group, LISI AEROSPACE specializes in designing and manufacturing fastening solutions and assembly components for the aerospace industry. The company develops and produces a comprehensive range of high-value fastening systems, hydraulic fittings, and structural components used by major global aerospace leaders such as Airbus, Boeing, Safran, and Dassault Aviation.

Predictability and Reliability: A Strategic Imperative

APQP Implementation at LISI AEROSPACE

Aerospace is a high-stakes industry where quality, traceability, and predictability are non-negotiable. To meet these demanding standards, LISI AEROSPACE implemented the APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) methodology—an approach to product development that puts quality and process rigor at the forefront. It is built on three key pillars:

  • Step-by-step planning with milestone-based progress reviews ("Phases & Gates")
  • Cross-functional project teams
  • A committed organization, supported by early risk detection, clear escalation paths, and consistent executive oversight

Key Benefits of APQP

APQP offers major advantages for industrial organizations:

  • Higher operational performance, with fewer rejects and rework
  • Improved time-to-market thanks to reduced industrialization lead times
  • Standardized activities for greater efficiency and predictability
  • A common language between production sites and customers, reducing misunderstandings
  • Clear guidance for less experienced teams through standardized best practices
"In aerospace, we don't like surprises—predictability is essential. The Phases & Gates approach gives us structure and reliability."

Stéphane Lauzevis, APQP Division Manager

The Need for a Tool That Supports the Method

To ensure APQP's success and consistent application, LISI AEROSPACE needed a single collaborative solution capable of steering projects using a Phases & Gates framework.

Previously, project managers relied on fragmented tools and processes:

  • Heavy use of Excel sheets for monitoring milestones, risks, and budgets
  • Paper signatures and manual document scans
  • Lack of centralized visibility into project status
  • Difficulty consolidating data across sites and functions
  • Significant variation in execution quality from one team to another

This made project management time-consuming, slowed reaction time when risks emerged, and complicated data exploitation.

ProjectAdvantage (formerly Sciforma): A Major Step Toward Standardization

To address these challenges, LISI AEROSPACE adopted Planview ProjectAdvantage in 2019 with the following goals:

  • Building a unified project management framework
  • Digitizing the Phases & Gates process to improve traceability and collaboration
  • Guiding project teams in correct APQP implementation
  • Delivering real-time visibility into progress, risks, and resources

Planview ProjectAdvantage: A Wide Array of Practical Applications

  • Gantt charts for project planning
  • Cost and budget management
  • Comprehensive risk management (identification, description, ownership, scoring, action plans)
  • Timesheets completed by users
"ProjectAdvantage has helped us manage planning and monitoring far more efficiently. We know exactly what's happening, what isn't working, and can easily consolidate risks and budgets."

Stéphane Lauzevis, APQP Division Manager

A Carefully Crafted Deployment Strategy

During the roll-out of ProjectAdvantage, LISI AEROSPACE made several strategic decisions:

  • Use the software in its standard version first, to fully understand internal needs before customizing
  • Build deep internal expertise to retain control over deployment, training, and configuration
  • Prioritize the project managers' user experience

That last point was especially critical. As the initial UX was considered unintuitive, LISI AEROSPACE chose to implement ProjectAdvantage's Visual Collaboration module to streamline navigation.

Robin Gangloff, APQP Quality Engineer and ProjectAdvantage Lead, invested heavily in making the interface more ergonomic and reducing the number of clicks needed to access critical data. Key improvements include:

  • A more modern, intuitive design with clear iconography
  • Creation of a dedicated Gate Center integrated within the Phases & Gates tab
  • Addition of an Events tab
  • A milestone-approval workflow enabled via user-rights management
  • Personalized homepages tailored to each user profile
"These optimizations were a game changer. Users began to see the real value of ProjectAdvantage and became more engaged. Now they're even coming up with new ideas for improvements!"

Stéphane Lauzevis, APQP Division Manager

Promising Early Results

  • Increased user adoption
  • Stronger team engagement in the platform's evolution
  • Active project managers on ProjectAdvantage up by 24%
  • Improved user experience through simpler navigation and optimized interfaces

By combining the rigor of APQP with the capabilities of ProjectAdvantage, LISI AEROSPACE has significantly enhanced predictability, cross-functional collaboration, and operational reliability—key strengths for meeting the increasingly demanding expectations of the industry.