Boeing 787 Dreamliner- Product Development Analysis

The airlines do not focus on the combination of quality and good service at a fair price; its focus is instead only on providing ultra low cost. It also charges customers for value added features and services. Thus the pricing is value added pricing. When compared to the competitors of Spirit for operating costs per seat mile; it is lower compared to other major airlines. The important points like encouragement to demand stimulation and preference for its low-cost model makes it successful for its low-cost pricing strategy.

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.

This paper of Philip Condit and the Development of the 777; describes the management, and technological changes that Philip Condit made to the development style of the Boeing Company. Before Philip Condit took over the 777 program, Boeing had been making airplanes in the same fashion as it had been doing for 70 years prior. Mr. Condit saw the chance to bring Boeing into the 21st century not only with the new technology of computer aided drafting, but with modern management techniques as well. The 777 program proved to be the perfect testing ground for a companywide change in the way Boeing did its business.

Outsourced almost 87% of production activities involving spare parts while maintaining core competencies like R&D, design, quality control and key trademark

I am the Project Manager developing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The development of this state-of-the-art airplane will include an international team of aerospace companies led by Boeing. The advances in this airplane will reduce the use of fuel by 20%, increase cargo capacity, increase nautical miles in a mid-range airplane, and improve passenger comfort. Boeing

This business level strategy allows Boeing to create distinctive competencies from its rival, Airbus and gain an edge over them. Boeing has been successful in maintaining this business model due to its high R&D which has led to some great innovations in aircraft manufacturing such as the production of Advanced Winglet, Digital Airline, Performance Based Navigation System to name a few. Boeing has also prioritized customer service in their corporate strategies and have implemented GoldCare IT Enterprise Suite as means of 24/7 customer service regarding operations along with AOG solutions as means of after sales service to the customers. As mentioned Boeing Dreamliner 787 has been created keeping in mind the customers’ psychological desires in mind which sets Boeing apart. Boeing has been very successful over the years to create their competitive advantage and maintain its superior performance and they continue to do

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.

Development program are successful project at the core of Boeing’s 767. Indeed, without an efficient, method for planning, scheduling and controlling the thousands of activities required to assemble an aircraft as large and complex as the 767, it would have been virtually impossible for this program ever to take off the ground. According to one of Boeing’s web site of project management , the part giant utilized a containing of variety a sort of tools and methods to proctor and control project performance. Boeing’s 767 were developed at the start of the project to define how the project would be managed. The plan defined the developed activities required to

Selection of outside suppliers at the initial stage was crucial. Three advantages would benefit from authorized supplier involvement in design and production process. Firstly, they could foresee major problems in the design cycle by pulling their expertise and methodologies. Secondly, this model embedded quality into BMW’s production system up and down the supply chain. Thirdly, supplier was able to realize the critical connection between quality and profit through high customer satisfaction.

Essentially the change it made was number three in the listing detailed in section 10.6 of our text – it “changed the configuration of factories, warehouses, or retail locations.” When work usually performed internally, is delegated to another firm, the company is said to outsource the work. Such is the case in the construction of the Boeing 787. The companies involved include Messier-Bughatti of France, Rolls Royce of the UK, Alenia Aeronatuica of Italy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan and Chjengdu Aircraft Group of China. This outsourcing decision means that 85% of the construction of this aircraft is supplied by strategic supply partners of Boeing. Those parts are eventually shipped to the Boeing plant in Washington by road, rail, sea and plane for final assembly of the Dreamliner.

Boeing had a clear project scope and put emphasis on airline needs (directly speaking with major airlines) prior to the design process. An auditing team is developed to further monitor each major step and make sure that each task is carried out properly; Boeing is smart enough to pick experienced managers who thoroughly understand how this industry/company operates as auditors so the review process can be carried out more efficiently and accurately. During the plane design process, there are four head engineers responsible for four technological areas and one chief engineer in charge of the plane program. The former is more concern about the technical aspects of the project while the latter is more concerned about practical aspects such as costs and scheduling; such approach is desirable so that people involved in the project don’t get too caught up in one particular area. Rapid communication between some of the foreign participants and Boeing is emphasized greatly as there is a private telephone network connecting Boeing to each participant. During the final stages of the project, meetings are held frequently so that the teams can receive early notification to catch and solve problems sooner.

There were also some unknown variables that needed to be taken into account. Development and per-copy costs were the costs that the board wanted to minimize. The forecast assumes that development costs would be $8 billion. There was great uncertainty surrounding the manufacturing cost of the 7E7. The element that adds the most uncertainty to the manufacturing costs are in the engineering of the aircraft. While the engineering costs could be high, Boeing was hoping that the lower construction costs of using the composite materials would compensate for the elevated engineering costs.

Boeing’s management plan shows determination to improve through creation of new more members of their airplane family (commercial airplanes). This would also be achieved through integration of military platforms, systems for defense and the war fighter by use of network-centric activities. Boeing plan is also inclusive of creation of improved technology to solve problems across all business units. Boeing plans to e-enable airplanes where automation is the key to this development. Finally, Boeing is determined to arrange for financing solutions to its customers. Through this it will be able to attract more potential customers. Moreover, it can also be able to establish a better relationship with its customers through provision of incentives and sales promotion.

With the company being in the public eye at all times the planners must determine where, when, and how the product will be used before they begin building, testing, and using the new technologies. Since Boeing has become such a large company it has had to continuously evaluating the way it does things to make sure that they are doing the right thing.

This paper analyzes the goals and actions of Boeing by analyzing its critical success factors as well as its strategic roadmap.