Development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Introduction
In 2003, Boeing launched a project to build a new airframe that had the original designation of 7E7 Dreamliner. In January 2005, the aircraft was redesigned the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing’s intent was to utilize new technology and procurement processes to build two versions of the aircraft. The 787-8 was designed to carry 210 to 250 passengers on routes of 7,650 to 8,200 nautical miles and the stretch version (787-9) was designed to transport 250 to 290 passengers on typically longer routes of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles. The advanced technology would allow Boeing to produce aircraft that were more fuel efficient, would produce fewer emissions and had a significantly better cash
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This resulted in information “silos” between Boeing and the contractors that did not lend themselves to a good flow of data. To combat these challenges, Boeing embarked on a strategy to purchase some of the vendors. The acquisition costs for the company were obviously not accounted for at the beginning of the project and although those costs may have been operationalized over the fixed expenses, Boeing still suffered and large losses in capital as a result.
The result of the large cost over-runs due to change orders and the unforeseen expenses of vendor and supplier acquisitions to compensate for low quality and to regain intellectual properties resulted in a general variance in the cost constraint of the entire program. Either of these two factors could have sunk a less well capitalized organization, but Boeing’s sheer size precluded this even though both factors came to fruition.
Fault Tree Two- Program Delay
Variances in the time constraints of projects are also common, but Boeing experienced several challenges because of the use of a carbon fiber composite material that was used in 70% of the aircraft. This change in material was revolutionary, but offered risks that were not fully conceptualized until the engineering phase of the project began. The fault tree below describes the primary risk, the secondary risks and the root causes for each.
The engineers and business development divisions at Boeing decided to utilize carbon fiber material for the
This whole case was a public administrator’s nightmare for several reasons. As Rubin stresses, the mere fact that a clear budget process wasn’t planned out and executed within the confines of the allocated funds for the project. The only time Boeing addressed the plan in respect to the budget, was when they won the bid for the job and were awarded it. After that, it was more ‘trial and error’.
The Boeing Capital segment offers financing services and manages financing exposure for a portfolio of equipment under operating and finance leases, notes and other receivables, assets held for sale or re-lease, and investments. The company was
Airbus was planning to introduce the A380 in direct competition to Boeing 747 to compete in the large aircraft sector. The rivalry between Airbus and Boeing was already intense. Boeing’s market share reduced from 70% in 1974 to 45% in 1990 while Airbus’s market share had increased from 1% to 34% during the same time (Exhibit 5). Encouraged by this increase in market share, Airbus was contemplating the introduction of A380. Development of new product line is extremely expensive in the Aircraft sector. Following is a quantitative analysis of the project to calculate the risks involved in introducing a new line of Aircrafts.
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.
Nissan Motor Company was one of the first Japanese Automobile companies to build facilities in North America. The company was reborn from crisis. They were rescued from bankruptcy in 1999 by Renault, and this sense of crisis still persists in the organization to this day. After the 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 Nissan Motor Company, just like they did in 1999 when they faced financial difficulties, focused on identifying and analyzing the risks by establishing a dedicated risk management function that was responsible for these activities.
Boeing pursues Product Differentiation strategy in order to create competitive advantage over Airbus. Boeing differentiates its products by increasing number of seating capacity, engine capacity, innovating new winglet designs and by manufacturing wide range of products in respect to the change in market
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.
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
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
The main problem at this case is how the Airbus industry is going to continue with its financing if the government subsidies, from which it survived, were being negotiated away because they were considered and unfairly competence. Also it is important for the company knows what kind of things has to do in order to be competitive in pricing and how this new paths are going to impact in the market and in its competitors.
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.
The Boeing Company's defense business has been growing steadily over the past few years. Revenues from the integrated defense system grew from $27,361 million in 2003 to $30,791 million in 2005. The defense business accounts for over 55% of the company's revenues. Continued strong performance of this division of the Boeing Company would counter any downturn in the commercial aircraft industry (DATAMONITOR).
In the middle of 1990’s, Boeing began its plan of acquisitions and in 1996 it paid $3.2 billion for the aerospace and defense holdings of Rockwell International which was responsible for the Space shuttle and International Space Station programs, as well as activities in launch systems, rocket engines, missiles, satellites and military airplanes. Furthermore, in 1997 Boeing completed a $14 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas which was the world’s number three maker of commercial aircraft. The acquisition