How Long is the Learning Curve for Boeing?
We should be getting to a major milestone soon. He 787 will be airborne for the first time very soon. It’s coming up
The 787 as seen on 070807
on two years since Sunday, July 8th, 2007 or 7-8-7; the date that the new 787 Dreamliner rolled out in Everett Washington to much fanfare and a slick video production. Uunfortunately the cabin was bare inside. I just happened to see it first hand months later in November, on a plant tour of the Everet Faciltiy. Airplane number 1 was dusty and dirty and in various states of unassembly.
It’s true they missed initial launch date by a long shot but in their defense, Boeing had two important innovations to roll out. First, the product; this is the largest production composite structure ever made. The carbon fiber fuselage and wings makes the entire aircraft much lighter and 20% more fuel-efficient. It was a big task from an engineering and production standpoint. They are clearly charting new ground.
The second major innovation is the method of manufacture. Boeing decided to create an extended supply chain for finished major components of the airplane. It outsourced the manufacture of these components bringing them together in Everett Washington. Boeing is now primarily the designer and assembler of the finished product, leaving the parts manufacturing and subassemblies to others for the first time in aviation history.
Many issues with the manufacturing strategy cropped up over the last couple of years. Yes, there was a machinists stike early on but production delays were largely attributed to confusion and miscommunication from the supply chain. Information about the parts and information about the process did not always correlate. The status of readiness of parts wasn’t available or was often in the wrong format. The expense incurred of solving the problems is immense. Just consider the costs of lost revenue of waiting for two years for the most popular airplane in history. The presales figures have been very impressive having orders for over 850 new 787 jetliners.
The readiness of the supply chain and syndicate that Boeing set up are what many consider the root of the delay. If information was in the same format and standards were applied, much of the confusion could have been avoided. It’s clear that the information about the process and product were indistinguishable to Boeings problems.
The learning curve may be long, but Boeing is coming to the end of it, successfully.
Here are some promotional videos and multimedia about the 787 from www.newairplane.com
