LEADERSHIP MESSAGE “The 2013 Paris Air Show provides the opportunity once again to appreciate and celebrate our industry and its history—a history of meeting challenges and doing hard things.” BOEING FRONTIERS / JUNE 2013 7 Collaboration enables innovation On the eve of another Paris Air Show, no other industry has inspired such innovation Shep Hill President, Boeing International, and senior vice president, Business Development and Strategy Innovation is the foundation of Boeing’s business success. Reflective of Thomas Edison’s admonition, “There’s a way to do it better—find it!” Boeing has always been driven by new ideas, methods and breakthrough technologies focused on increasing performance, improving maintainability and ensuring sustainability. It is fitting therefore that as the world’s aerospace community gathers at Le Bourget for the 2013 Paris Air Show, Boeing will again be featuring the innovative products and services that have made it the world’s leading aerospace company. These products and services will also highlight Boeing’s global collaborations with customers, industrial partners, academic institutions and technology organizations. Boeing is a more global company today than at any point in its nearly 100-year history, and it could not have happened at a better time. Having a global orientation that embraces partnership and mutual benefit is critical to our long-term business success. France is one of the best examples of collaboration and mutual benefit. Boeing has increased its partnership with French suppliers and now works with more than 100 local companies. This issue of Frontiers features a country profile of France and discusses our growing in-country supplier network. (See Page 30.) Also featured in Frontiers this month are several exciting projects in China, Brazil and Turkey. These countries not only represent important markets for Boeing products but are important examples of collaborations resulting in competitive advantage through innovations. (See Page 17.) As we approach our centennial, Boeing remains at the forefront of innovation. Yet Boeing’s success in this rapidly evolving and highly competitive global business environment is never guaranteed. Much depends on our ability to be collaborative and creative with global customers, suppliers and partners in pursuit of technology, growth and productivity. Given our growing global orientation, the future is bright. The 2013 Paris Air Show provides the opportunity once again to appreciate and celebrate our industry and its history—a history of meeting challenges and doing hard things. As the early French aviation entrepreneur Pierre-Georges Latécoère said, “All the calculations show it can’t work. There’s only one thing to do: Make it work.” There is no other industry that has done so much to “make it work” in connecting and protecting the world, advancing scientific discovery and, above all, inspiring innovation. n PHOTO: BOB FERGUSON/BOEING
Frontiers June 2013 Issue
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