The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) is a research partnership among industry, government, and academia with a mission to enable focused and accelerated transformation of complex enterprises through the collaborative engagement of all stakeholders to develop and institutionalize principles, processes, behaviors, and tools for enterprise excellence. Started in 1993, LAI resides within the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development (CTPID) of the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) in the School of Engineering. Faculty from the departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, ESD, and the MIT Sloan School of Management participate in LAI research. More than 100 graduate students from Aeronautics and Astronautics, ESD, Mechanical Engineering, Sloan School of Management, and other programs have completed master and doctoral theses within the program.
LAI undertakes research in all areas related to improving enterprise processes for acquiring, designing, developing, producing, and supporting aircraft, spacecraft, engines and missiles. Research is conducted in close collaboration with industry and government partners, often with on-site data collection and validation. An array of tools have been developed to help industry and government implement lean principles and practices, including the Lean Enterprise Model, Transition to Lean Roadmaps, Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool, Enterprise Value-Stream Mapping and Analysis, Systems Engineering Cost Estimation, and the Supplier Networks Transformation Toolkit. Major findings from the program were captured in the award-winning book Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative.
Further information about LAI, including research findings, briefings, and publications, may be found on the LAI website.