Boeing 787 Supply Chain Process Essay

The Boeing Company designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and launch systems and services worldwide. It operates in five segments: Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Military Aircraft, Network & Space Systems, Global Services & Support, and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment develops, produces, and markets commercial jet aircraft for various passenger and cargo requirements; and provides related support services to the commercial airline industry. This segment also offers aviation services support, aircraft modifications, spare parts, training, maintenance documents, and technical advice to commercial and government customers. The Boeing Military Aircraft segment researches, develops, produces, and modifies manned and unmanned military aircraft, and weapons systems for global strike, vertical lift, and autonomous systems, as well as mobility, surveillance, and engagement. The Network & Space Systems segment researches, develops, produces, and modifies strategic defense and intelligence systems, satellite systems, and space exploration products.

The industry environment was also in Boeings favor at the time. Boeing had a history of dedicated customers. The company had been making commercially successful jet aircraft since it first developed the “707”. Boeing was so successful at manufacturing the jet aircraft, that it was one of two companies left making them. This advantage gave them the ability to be a powerful supplier. The expense of the development process also made it extremely difficult for new companies to even enter the market. Boeing faced only one competitor at this point; Airbus (Pearce, Robinson, 2003).

This assignment investigated the product development process in Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I will go through The product development process adopted for the product, Reasons/features that created excitement in the first place, Major problems encountered that caused the delay in launching the product, Problems faced in operation that led to the grounding of all aircrafts of this model, Problems faced in operation that led to the grounding of all aircrafts of this model and How would I handle the development of this product. On the surface, it seems that the supplier management organization at Boeing didn’t have diddly-squat in terms of engineering capability when they sourced all that work, which caused the whole event. But

Many consider Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner an example of a failed project. Twenty-six billion dollars over budget, almost four years late, and several quality issues surround the innovative new aircraft (Ausick 2014). This paper explores Boeing’s approach of materializing the Dreamliner from a project management perspective by comparing the company’s undertakings with project management principles.

• High capital requirements to establish +huge set up+ large investments + economies of scale/scope: Boeing having advantage over Airbus in large commercial aircraft sector.

Morever, these potential new entrants could be deterred from entering the industry as the development of aircrafts can take very long lead times. It can take about 15 – 20 years to develop a next-generation commercial aircraft and production may stretch out for decades, depending on the no. of units ordered. This may act as a barrier of entry for potential new entrants.

At that point, Boeing was already in the VLA market with their flagship 747-400. The Board has a goal: “to return Boeing to the top Quartile of companies both in profitability and in total return to shareholders… Shareholder value is the single most important measure of our long term success”. It is too risky to develop a competing super jumbo jet to compete with Airbus A3XX or Boeing’s own 747 which is already in the market. Cutting prices on the 747 will also result lower profit of

In a strategy similar to that of Airbus, Boeing absorbed its largest rival, McDonnell Douglas, in 1977. Boeing’s newest entry into the market is the 787 Dreamliner, a revolutionary jetliner manufactured with up to 50 percent composition materials and designed to increase fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The aircraft has suffered several problems since the first model rolled off the line in 2007, most notably with the lithium-ion battery pack. These issues were resolved in 2013 and Boeing expects the 787 to be incredibly successful due to new demand for super-efficient airliners, a result of rising global fuel prices. Boeing is the wworld’s largest aerospace company, and the leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. The company designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. They are a major

Boeing adopted the radical change approach for designing and developing the 787 Dreamliner not only to attempt to create new aircraft through the innovative design and advanced material, but it also drastically changed the production process. With a $10 billion dollar project in mind, the goal was to reduce the financial risks involved as well as the new product development cycle time. Meanwhile, Boeing produced a remarkably complicated supply chain that included greater than fifty partners in over 100 locations all across the globe. In addition to the complicated supply chain, they experimented with various firms in diverse areas to align complementary skill sets. Furthermore, this was the first time the company outsourced the two most crucial parts of the plane, the wings and the fuselage.

Boeing also has a legal responsibility to the military, government, and commercial markets to provide the newest technology available and get the approval from the United States government before they produce any military technologies for the foreign government/powers. When Boeing deals with the military they are required and mandated to keep some equipment specifications classified so that they do not fall into the wrong hands. If this security is breached Boeing would be held responsible and this could be detrimental to our homeland security and military. Boeing also has a social responsibility to provide jobs to their employees and community. “Boeing rightly insists that they cannot be expected to provide jobs for the life in a fast-changing, global market. But what they can—and should—offer employees, is a tool kit of portable skills, a high level of training that allows displaced workers to land new jobs” (McMurdy, 1996 par.8). In some ways Boeing believes by providing the jobs to the community it places them in an advantage where

The Boeing Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers in the world. Rivaled only by European giant Airbus in the aerospace industry, Boeing is a leader in research, design and manufacture of commercial jet airliners, for commercial, industrial and military customers. Despite enjoying immense success in its market and dominating an industry that solely recognizes engineering excellence, it is crucial for Boeing to ensure continued growth through consistent strategy formulation and execution to avoid falling behind in market share to close and coming rivals.

Boeing is the world 's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. A top U.S. exporter, the company supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in 150 countries. (Boeing, 2014). The revenue for Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Defense, Space and Security was a record $86.6 billion; in addition to the record backlog of orders totaling $441 billion. (Boeing, 2014). The Boeing Company realizes that being among other competitive manufacturers of jetliners, defense and security systems, it is important to focus on external as well as internal environmental factors that could increase the company efficiency, productivity and overall operational standards. The management of Boeing understands how essential the social and ethical responsibility and legal of their company. These variables can assist the company with analyzing the performance and available resources of

After the highly successful launch of the Boeing 777 with United Airlines in June 1995, Boeing experienced a drought of novel commercial aircrafts for the next several years. So, later in 1990s, the 747X and Sonic Cruiser projects were cancelled due to insufficient market interest. As a result, in January 2003, the 7E7 project was announced. The leader of the 7E7 project is Michael Bair. Boeing hopes the 7E7 project will help it regain the commercial-aircraft sales that the company had lost over the years to Airbus.

to meet its customers’ needs worldwide. Boeing is diversified as it consults operations all over

Unfortunately, Boeing jets were involved in four fatal air accidents from December 1988 to March 1989, and the company missed its first delivery deadline in two decades when the 747-400 experienced production delays. These internal problems were exacerbated by increased competition from Airbus, which was heavily subsidized by a consortium of European companies and governments. Furthermore, worldwide orders of all aircraft by the airliners declined from 1,662 in 1989 to 439 in 1991. Fortunately, in 1993 NASA selected Boeing as the prime contractor for the International Space Station, which was called the largest international science and technology endeavor ever undertaken. Boeing was also becoming increasingly involved in commercial space projects and in December 1995 ten commercial space satellites were produced and launched from a floating platform at sea.