When Kellie Levack’s phone rang at 2 a.m., it was a Boeing flight-test crew needing quick answers. A 787-9 had landed in Kona, Hawaii, to continue remote flight testing after flying from a test site in Australia and the local customs agent wasn’t sure how to handle the paperwork. “The flight-test director got to me and I explained where the agent should sign the document and that we retain the copies,” recalled Levack, a trade control specialist with Boeing’s Global Trade Controls in Seattle. A similar phone call to Levack, this time at noon on a Saturday, ensured a Boeing flight crew, waiting in their airplane on an airport tarmac in Chile, didn’t take off until they could get a customs agent on the airplane to stamp the paper needed to legally depart that country. Before they depart on international flight tests, Boeing flight-test directors are handed a very important blue folder. It contains the documents they need to legally depart for and arrive at each of their stops. Every takeoff on an international leg is an export and every landing on those flights is an import. If everything doesn’t go to plan, or there is a last-minute change in the test schedule, there is one more thing in the blue folder—phone numbers to reach the Global Trade Control specialists who can help whenever needed. Boeing’s businesses rely on Levack and her teammates to help move everything from aircraft to parts to marketing materials in and out of all the countries where Boeing operates, and in full compliance with global trade regulations. Levack, in turn, relies on her partners in Supply Chain Logistics, Boeing Test & Evaluation, Supply Chain Security, Corporate Finance and other parts of the company. Most of the time the import and export compliance work is done well in advance, thanks in part to Global Trade Controls employees embedded within the company’s businesses and programs. This allows the group’s experts to advise their partners on the most effective export and import strategies as well as make required preparations for moving parts and products. It also can lead to potential new business. “Our focus is keeping trade compliance a competitive differentiator for Boeing, helping our global business grow,” explained Kathryn Greaney, vice president, Global Trade Controls. “We not only want to do an excellent job in meeting trade requirements, but we PHOTO: In the flight deck of a 787-8 test aircraft, Paul Newton, left, a Boeing Test & Evaluation pilot, and Kellie Levack, a Global Trade Controls specialist, review the plane’s export and import documentation. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING “Our focus is keeping trade compliance a competitive differentiator for Boeing, helping our global business grow.” — Kathryn Greaney, vice president, Global Trade Controls, Office of Internal Governance Frontiers May 2014 43
Frontiers May 2014 Issue
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