Boeing Supply Chain Analysis Essay

Read the profile of Boeing and the company’s 787 Dreamliner found in your textbook. This profile serves as an excellent example of how a company used an infrastructure change to improve its supply chain. In making this improvement, which of the five ways of implementing an infrastructure change, identified in section 10.6 of your text, did Boeing employ? Do a little research on your own to identify a company that has used the second main approach (i.e., a structural change) commonly employed by organizations to improve their supply chains. Write a brief profile of the company you’ve selected following the pattern of the Boeing profile you’ve just examined. The profile should be one to two pages

As the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security system, Boeing puts a lot of efforts and innovations in its products and services. These include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training.

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.

By properly utilising the company’s unique strengths, Boeing can secure market shares while remaining its competitive advantages through a robust focus on R&D, strategic collaboration and alliances, wide market presence and global reach, broad range of product lines and financial health.

Southwest Airline is said to be the largest airline firm in the world and yet it charges low-fare costs to its large population of customers. Interestingly, it is noted that the company is one that depends on a large pool of suppliers whom are found necessary for the business to operate desirably. Such suppliers are mentioned to include: maintenance firms, fuel suppliers, food suppliers, and others (Laudon & Laudon, 2011). Thomas (2012) informs that a firm can benefit a lot from an effective supply chain management which can even have various policies for managing suppliers and serving consumers that enable a firm to greatly reduce its operational costs. It is expounded that these policies are those that establish profitable relationships between customers and suppliers within the supply chain. Thus, large firms with a large population of customers and many suppliers, different customer needs are linked to various business channels which produce various products and services through a complex supply chain process which has different modes of operating. This is said to be necessary for the sake of capitalizing both on organization’s profitability and satisfying customers’ needs. This knowledge creates a need to analyze the supply chain management process of Southwest Airlines purposely to: (a) determine how market demands are met by its

Air travel has drastically changed the way of life for many individuals that depend on air travel to take care of business. One of the top leaders in the air travel industry, The Boeing Company realizes in order to stay competitive in their chosen industry, an effective strategic plan should be implemented. There are several approaches that can be utilized, such as focusing on the external and internal objectives that could beneficial. Boeing strives to be the best aerospace-based manufacture in the world.

The Boeing Corporation is second largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world and the largest exporter in the United States (Wikipedia, 2008). The management within this organization incorporates the four functions of management beginning with the planning function. Boeing is a large corporation that is well known all over the world that deals with many responsibilities. Legal, ethical, and social responsibilities are factors that have an impact on management planning. Boeing also deals with factors that influence the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. The company has a proven record that management is able to deal with

to meet its customers’ needs worldwide. Boeing is diversified as it consults operations all over

The business level strategies for Boeing commercial are deliver customer value, lead with innovation and fuel growth through productivity. Boeing Commercial Airplanes, a business unit of The Boeing Company, is committed to being the leader in commercial aviation by offering airplanes and services that deliver superior design, efficiency and value to customers around the world (Boeing.com, n.d).

The largest segment of the nonmilitary aircraft percentage of the aircraft industry is made up of companies that produce transport aircraft. These aircrafts vary between wide body jets and turboprops and are used to transport people and freight across the world. The airline industry plays a pivotal role to the success of aerospace products, while NASA and the Department of Defense being the largest United

Airbus’s main competitor, Boeing Company was founded in 1916, it has been the world 's leading manufacturer of large commercial aircrafts for several decades (Tong & Tong, 2003). However, in 2005 Airbus delivered more planes than Boeing, due to the 911 terrorist attack in 2001, and suffered a strike by workers in the manufacturing site last autumn. Between 2005 and 2004, Airbus deliveries increased by 18% to 378 aircraft, said Chief Executive Gustav Humbert. It was a new record for Airbus, it was a better outcome than the European aircraft maker 's perdition (370 deliveries). On the other hand, Boeing, which has lagged behind Airbus in orders since 2001 and deliveries since 2003, only delivered 290 planes in 2005 (Michaels, 2006).

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.

Seventy percent of the aircraft’s production and designing was outsourced to over fifty Tier 1 suppliers compared with only thirty-five to fifty percent that was traditionally outsourced in the production of other aircrafts (S. Tang and D.Zimmerman, 2009: 77). In late 2008, over twenty-seven thousand Boeing employees went on strike due to the company’s outsourcing policies and what its effects on job security (Doornbos n.d.). The strike lasted for fifty-seven days and it would cost Boeing a total of three months in production time, an estimated $100 million a day in revenue, and approximately $7 million a day in net income (Isidore

The aircraft manufacturing industry consists of completed aircrafts, aircraft engines and engine parts and other aircraft parts and systems. Completed aircraft manufacturing accounts for over 60% of the aircraft manufacturing industry, the largest sector. Aircraft engines and other aircraft parts and systems account for smaller equal parts of the industry. Please refer to figure 4. The aircraft segment includes completed large commercial aircrafts, regional aircrafts, business jets, helicopters and ultra-light aircraft. Completed aircraft manufactures also build completed aircrafts for the defense department and international defense agencies. The aircraft engine segment also includes the manufacturing of single engine parts, as well as completed engines. The other aircraft parts and systems segment includes products like propellers, transmission, landing gear, etc. The aircraft manufacturing industry is a $233 billion industry (Soshkin, 2015). In the past five years the industry as a whole has seen a 7.1% growth and is projected to have a 4.1% growth through the next five years. The product segmentation of the industry is 63% completed aircraft, 19.1% engine and engine parts, and 20.6% other aircraft parts and systems (Soshkin, 2015). The industry is a mature industry. Products are sold two ways, to commercial buyers and to government buyers. Over half of the products sold are sold to commercial buyers, but the most expensive items are sold

improving their strategic position within Taneja’s Saras aircraft supply chain, namely through reducing costs both by considerable changes in organization and management and by establishing their own subcontractors network, onto which they shift a share of the cost increase. This aspect clearly shows that the adoption of an MRP system at Taneja’s Saras aircraft has two implications on the supply chain: It imposes more stress in the supply chain. Subcontractors have to both reduce costs and meet Taneja’s new requirements; it is actually supportive of relations between customers and subcontractors. Through changes in Material requirement planning professional skills and information, subcontractors establish a strengthened relationship with the customer.