NOVEMBER 2015 07 real experience that our competitors can’t match. That makes a difference when you need parts quickly for a C-17 or are trying to convert a 737 passenger airplane into a cargo freighter. We know how to do this better than anyone else. We also have all the resources of Boeing at our disposal, which means a worldwide supply chain that is present right in our customers’ backyards. We have technical reachback into the aircraft programs and strong relationships with the aircraft design and engineering teams. And, maybe most important, our employees are the greatest any company could have working for them. The talent and dedication of our people really is a differentiator, and it shows in the quality of our work. Leaders of CAS and GS&S have been discussing ways to work more closely together. What progress have you made? deal: We’ve made a lot of headway working together. Our Aviall parts distribution, repair and refurbishment subsidiary is a great example of how we’re using all the assets at our disposal to serve our customers better than ever. We’re also learning from each other all the time and developing new and better services based on what we find out. For example, our Airplane Health Monitoring service, which was developed to enable airlines to keep a pulse on the status of their fleet, is now being used on some defense platforms. We also have some of our technical data authors and illustrators working together on assignments between our organizations, which will help us be more flexible and responsive to customers. How will employees benefit from CAS and GS&S working more closely together? caret: It will put some new career development opportunities in front of our employees that they may not have considered if they’ve previously only worked in the commercial or the defense parts of our business. deal: I definitely agree. We are looking to grow our share of the services market, and that will benefit employees. A key ingredient to accomplish this is aggressively working our cost and our flow time. To win in the market, we have to question how we do things. What does CAS expect to learn from BDS, and what does GS&S expect to learn from Commercial Airplanes? caret: Our customers may be very different, but a lot of the work we do for them is the same. We are aggressively focusing on ways to be more flexible, to respond to customers more quickly and to identify synergies between CAS and GS&S that will help drive down our costs. Our innovation isn’t always in the technical areas. It extends to new business models, contracting approaches and distribution techniques that make us even more affordable. deal: We’re off to a great start, but we’ve only scratched the surface. What’s in it for our customers? deal: Everything we’re doing is focused on providing Boeing customers with better service, better support and more value at a lower cost. caret: I totally agree. Our customers depend on us. If we can get even better at helping them do their jobs, then it’s a win-win scenario. n PHOTO: PAUL PINNER | BOEING
Frontiers November 2015 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above