“Our call to action for a more competitive future ... is to think even bigger about our opportunities.” February 2015 07 because our existing competitors are getting better, and new, lower-cost competitors are on the rise. On top of that, our customers’ expectations for the value we provide them have never been higher. They want more capability, more efficiency, more quality and reliability—all for less money, because that’s what their customers, or governments, are demanding of them. To sustain and grow our industry leadership in this more-for-less world, and continue delivering for our customers and our company in 2015 and beyond, means there can be no letting up on either the strategies that have enabled our success or the big goals we have set for our innovation and business performance. We must continue to meet our commitments to customers on our production programs, deliver our development programs on time and on cost with the performance we promised, and drive higher safety, quality and productivity across the enterprise and throughout our supply chain. Remember, at the most fundamental level, productivity is what funds our innovation; innovation fuels our growth; and growth leads to employment for our people, opportunities for our suppliers, returns to our shareholders, and continued investment in our communities. Fortunately, we have the right people, programs and enterprise initiatives in place to help us accomplish our goals, including Lean+/Capturing the Value of Quality, Partnering for Success, and the Boeing Product Development System for productivity, quality and reliability improvements; Go for Zero to reduce and eliminate workplace injuries; and (at Defense, Space & Security) marketbased affordability to address defense and space market pressures. These foundational efforts have produced steady, year-over-year, incremental performance gains. Our call to action for a more competitive future, however, is to think even bigger about our opportunities— to also set seemingly unattainable goals that will require step-function improvements to be achieved and that will take the very best of Boeing to find the solutions. This challenge may seem daunting, but it is no less so than those we have overcome in the past. Since the beginning, when our founder Bill Boeing flew in a barnstormer’s floatplane over Lake Washington in 1914 and remarked, “I think we can build a better one,” we never have shied away from big goals that others thought were impossible. As stewards of this incredible legacy, we constantly need to be asking as much of ourselves as all those before us asked of themselves. We are poised for another tremendous year—and a strong second century. I know what amazing work this team is capable of accomplishing, and I believe we can get it done together. n photo: Bob Ferguson | Boeing
Frontiers February 2015 Issue
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