“That’s the thing about a more-for-less world: To succeed within it requires more, not less, innovation and development, and application and replication of technology.” Frontiers October 2014 09 How many research and technology centers do we have internationally, and are we getting the results we expected from this strategy? While the vast majority of our research and technology work is done in the United States, we have six international Boeing Research & Technology centers—Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, India and Russia—and they are helping us bring in new ideas and innovative processes into our programs. Our global customers expect us to have this type of presence in their countries. And working with the best technical talent and collaborating with top researchers in other parts of the world has proved to be a prudent strategy for us and a major differentiator in the marketplace. There’s simply no turning back from the need for global, diverse thinking when it comes to innovation and meeting market expectations. Are customer expectations really that different today than a decade or two ago? Absolutely, because the world is different. If you go back just to 2001, the average price of a barrel of oil was $23. It’s been consistently above $100 since then. Today, the Dubai and Beijing airports are in the top five largest in the world. In 2001, they weren’t in the top 30. That says a lot about the growth of air travel in those regions, but it also highlights the increased global competition among our airline customers. If you think about it, our customers’ expectations are no different than our PHOTO and GRAPHICS: (From top) Boeing’s Phantom Eye demonstrator. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING Illustrations of a 777-9X, CST-100 spacecraft and KC-46A tanker test aircraft. BOEING own as consumers. We expect the new phone or TV we buy to cost less and do more than the one we’re replacing. Likewise, our customers want more value-creating innovation faster and at lower cost and risk. We talk about it as a “more for less” world as if that’s new, when the fact is, aerospace is just late to the party. What are the implications for our engineering teams? Does it mean less investment in technology and reduced requirements or a slower pace of innovation? That’s the thing about a more-for-less world: To succeed within it requires more, not less, innovation and development, and application and replication of technology. This isn’t about whether or not we innovate. It’s about delivering the innovation our customers want in ways that are more relevant to their needs and timelines versus ours. We seem to be investing more in manufacturing innovation. Is that a trend that will continue? Yes, it is a trend and a deliberate decision on our part. It’s similar and related to our moving more engineering and manufacturing work back inside the company after having stretched a little too far with outsourcing on the 787. It’s not enough to just focus on design and integration. Innovation in manufacturing and production is a big part of what will sustain our industry leadership. It also has the potential to contribute significantly to workplace safety. What are the keys to or inhibitors of our engineering success in the future? First, we have to recognize and accept the realities of our markets and the increased expectations of our customers. Our competitors get it. We can pretend that’s not the case and keep doing things the same way, but we do so at our own peril. Second, we have to think differently about the way we do our jobs and the emphasis and value we place on all forms of innovation. In a more-for-less world, process innovation that makes us or our customers more efficient, and streams of significant incremental advances that get to our customers sooner, are the real game changers. Finally, nothing is more important to ensuring our success than our focus on engineering excellence. We’ve done a lot of work here over the past few years, and while we have a ways to go, we can see it making a difference. We need everyone on the team to be accountable—for the quality of work they do, for being contributing team members to the program or function they support, and for actively partnering on their own career development. n
Frontiers October 2014 Issue
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