Research Paper on "Boeing 787 Dream Liner Nightmare"

Research Paper 15 pages (4350 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Production delays results in delivery delays

The plan for 2007

The plan for 2008

The plan for 2009

The plan for 2010

The plan for 2011

Is this project feasible?

Critical factors contributing to the delays in the 787

Why did these delays occur?

Has the 787 program met its stated objectives?

Can the 787 program meet its objectives?

Is the program feasible?

Boeing has been a leader in the aerospace industry for years, however not all of its projects have seen the same level of success. Boeing's latest development is the Boeing 797 Dreamliner. Boeing's hope was that the Dreamliner would allow it to reclaim industry dominance by revolutionizing air travel. Unfortunately, the Dreamliner project has been plagued with significant problems that have caused delays and, in many ways, turned the Dreamliner into a nightmare for Boeing. Many of these delays are attributable to supply chain issues, and those issues have created production delays as significant as three years. The goal of this research is to look at the feasibility of Boeing continuing the Dreamliner project. Generally, a feasibility analysis is conducted prior to a company beginning a project. However, given the substantial problems that Boeing has encountered in transitioning the Dreamliner into reliable mainstream production, it seems appropriate to conduct another feasibility analysis at this point to determine whether it is feasible for Boeing to continue this project or whether it would be a better business decision for Boeing to significantly change the project.

Chapter 1

Problem Definition: Feasibility Study

Background

Boeing has a long history of being a world leader in the aerospace industry. "Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems" (Boeing, 2011). Boeing produces a tremendous variety of products including "commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems advanced information and communications systems, and performance-based logistics and trainings" (Boeing, 2011). Not content to rest on historical successes, Boeing continues to meet emerging customer needs by expanding its product line. Boeing has a broad range of capabilities including creating new, more efficient members of its commercial airplane family; integrating military platforms, defense systems and the war fighter through network-enabled solutions; creating advanced technology solutions; and arranging innovative customer-financing options (Boeing, 2011).

The concept of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner began as an ideal commercial airplane -- an airliner that optimized the aeronautical ambitions of Boeing and airlines across the globe. Boeing 787 Dreamliner a family of new, super-efficient airplanes that will bring big jet comfort and economics to the mid-size market. The Boeing 787 will incorporate advanced materials, systems and engines to provide unprecedented performance levels, including a 20-percent improvement in fuel performance on a per passenger basis. This efficiency will mean improved environmental performance. One of the most touted attributes of the Dreamliner is that the airplane is constructed primarily of composite materials or super durable plastics, making it the most fuel-efficient airliner. Boeing manufactures -- in fact, the 787 is reported to consume about 20% less fuel than the Boeing 767, which is similar in size (Norris et al., 2005). The promise of reducing the costs to run an airline through better fuel economy is a change that airplane leasing companies and commercial airlines will enthusiastically support (Norris et al., 2005).

Problem Statement

What are the critical factors that have contributed to the significant delays in Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program? Why have there been such significant delays in Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program? Has the program met its stated objectives? If not, will the program be able to meet its stated objectives? Should the program be continued, modified, or terminated?

Research Objective

The object of this project is to determine the causes in the delays in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner program, if those causes can be eliminated, and the continued feasibility of the project. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner program was meant to fulfill the dreams of aviation enthusiasts and airline management personnel. However, there have been significant difficulties in bringing the product to the market. The goal of this research is to determine the cause of the delays in the Dreamliner program? Furthermore, given the significant delays experienced in the program, a secondary objective is to determine whether the program should be continued, modified, or terminated.

Supply chain problems appear to be at the root of the Dreamliner's problems. Boeing has experienced problems with first-tier suppliers whose learning curves were not as steep as originally projected. For example, Alenia's horizontal stabilizer and the fastener installation issue led to a tremendous amount of travelled work which inevitably resulted in a three-year delay in the entry into service (EIS) of the revolutionary airplane from May 2008 to August or September of 2011. Worse yet, aerospace analysts contend that sizable compensations to customers, coupled with deferred unit cost which has not come down as quick as the airframes wished and an aggressive pricing strategy adopted in the early stage of the program, could very well put the Boeing 787 program in a low-margin, if not forward-loss position. That process, aimed at saving money, has not been as smooth as hoped. Instead, Boeing has been plagued by delays that have forced it to pay airlines millions of dollars in penalties.

Research Problem

Boeing 787 is now the most delayed -- and, according to analysts, the most expensive -- jet in the company's history. Boeing announced a massive $2.5 billion write-off associated with the first-flight delays that now stretch to 28 months, they expressed confidence in its latest revised schedule. The research will attempt to provide insight into one of the problems contributing to the significant delays in the project: supply-side production delays.

The 787 Dreamliner, the latest development from Boeing, was meant to revolutionize air travel and allow Boeing to reclaim its leading position in the Aviation industry. However, supply chain issues have plagued the design and development process, resulting in delays of up to 3 years. My task is to research and identify the root cause of the production delay for the Boeing 787. The study will include a breakdown of data across the various articles and surveys. My study will address these supply chain weaknesses to ensure that Boeing does not experience any further delays in the production of the 787; and second to assess the long-term viability of the current supply chain strategy.

Scope

This research will only focus on supply-side issues contributing to the Boeing 787 delay. The study will focus on a review of the available literature and breakdown data from various articles and surveys, which already provide significant insight into the supply-side problems for the Dreamliner project. The belief is that Data collected from all articles will provide the information to identify the root cause of delay Boeing 787 such as:

1) Incorrect fastener installation and the Boeing machinist strike (Boeing, 2008, Dreamliner).

2) Late discovery of a structural issue that had to do with the side-of-body

(wing-to-body) joint caused a delay until December 2009.

3) International collaboration on manufacturing, a considerable amount of materials were being shipped back and forth internationally.

4) Global supply chain together without thinking through some of the consequences.

5) Some of the technology was not as mature as it should have been.

6) the airliner underwent a number of styling changes as a result of these tests; changes from the earlier proposals included alterations to the nose, fin, and cockpit windows.

Knowing the root cause of the delay, the research will hope to uncover the probability of success of the Dreamliner program.

Chapter 2

Literature Review

Fortunately there is a significant amount of research available on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. From both business and aerospace perspectives, the history of the Dreamliner has been very informative, because the Dreamliner highlights the importance of the role of supply chain management in the business process. The typical feasibility analysis examines the business' history and future to see whether a new project is a feasible idea. However, for this feasibility analysis, the literature review will not focus solely on the business' history and future, but also on the specific history and future of the Dreamliner project. Therefore, this chapter will serve two functions. First, the chapter provides a brief overview of Boeing's history, both as a business and as an innovator in the aerospace industry. Second, the chapter presents a summary of the information and concepts derived from published articles and text findings concerning the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner was not Boeing's first major airline innovation, nor was it the first project that suffered significant problems in production. Boeing launched the Yellowstone Project in the late 1990s with the plan of replacing all of its airplane designs (Norris et al., 2005). One of the first new designs in the replacement program was the Sonic Cruiser, an airplane that would have achieved flying speeds up to 15% higher (approximately mach 0.98) but would burn fuel at about the rate of the existing 767 (Norris et… READ MORE

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