Dreamliner Case Study

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

My decision is to continue on the same course that Boeing Australia Limited (BAL) is on. I feel, after reading this case study that BAL has been on the correct path with regard to building their systems architecture. There is a need for a more sophisticated procurement process and the issue of a procurement application may be easily found. The key is the process by which BAL has implemented all other IT applications, they have been very successful. They are thorough and have processes in place to rationalize whether a new by-in application or an in-house developed program would be best. My thought is that at least one, if not more; of the current systems have an appropriate off the shelf

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 being the market leader for almost a decade as a manufacturer of large commercial aircraft and had also reached economies of scale, the need to sustain its market share it presumed that “customers might demand for new”. Any potential growth was only through taking super leap and making VLCT jumbo aircraft which needed

Boeing adopts a very thorough, well planned out process to manage the project. The stages are defined clearly and tasks involved in each stage are carried out sequentially. The first stage of their approach is the project definition phase during which Boeing identified holes in the market not met by existing planes, assessed future airline needs, considered alternative plane configurations, explored feasibility of possible technologies and performed preliminary estimation of costs. During the market assessment, analysts gathered information regarding future needs of airlines by speaking directly to

I agree with you that Boeing had an unsuccessful launch and that the problem started before they ever started building the Dreamliner. There are so many different manufacturers involved that they are not able to make sure they are receiving a quality product. There needs to be a more standardized process and all the manufacturers need to follow it so that the products are all being built the same.

The following analysis discusses the suppliers, buyers, industry competition, threats to entry, and substitutes that exist within the large commercial aircraft industry. Additionally, the analysis identifies the pressure that each of these groups applies on the industry and estimates the impact this pressure has on potential industry profits. Each group is identified using a high, medium, or low-pressure classification. A high-pressure classification indicates the group reduces industry profit potential and vice versa.

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.

THE BOEING COMPANY: STRATEGIC AUDIT I. CURRENT SITUATION A. Current Performance Boeing performance has been outstanding for the past few years. Their Return on investment rose from three percent to 6 percent from 1998 to 1999, but it did drop to five percent in 2000. In 1996 Airbus claimed 42% of the market share, while Boeing had 64%. Boeing is looking at falling below the 50% mark. Boeing's profits have been doing quite well. They have risen drastically in the past few years, which can be seen in the profitability ratios. Boeing is doing fine when it comes to profitability, even though they have dropped slightly since 1999.

In 1997, Boeing lost $1.6 billion against their earnings due to problems with the supply of critical components. They had to halt the production of the 737 and the 747. In 2006, suppliers for Boeing’s 787 fell behind schedule which resulted in a delay of production.

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.

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.

6.2 The Boeing model adopted was to spread the design and development to suppliers on a global scale with costs met by suppliers (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013). A strategy such as this should have been tightly controlled from the outset. Without this control, difficulties in assembly and ill-fitting parts requiring redesign added to the delays experienced by the project (Denning, 2013), with hundreds of Boeing engineers sent to various companies to solve technical problems (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009).

The defense market, Boeing aligns itself in is more complex than their commercial airline market. Boeing’s main competitor in this market is Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Company. Even though all these companies may compete, each with each other they often create joint ventures because the defense industry requires a diverse product mix that one company may not be able to fulfill. One example of these ventures is when Boeing and Lockheed Martin come to together to own/operate Hellfire Systems, LLC which allows for both companies to sell AGM-114 Hellfire Missiles. This missile is used in the United States Army, Navy and Air Force so this is a very profitable venture for both Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

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