Trailbla zers Driving force Carolyn Corvi helped implement changes to build Boeing jetliners more efficiently, including the 737 moving production line by dan raley As Boeing approaches the start of its second century in July 2016, Frontiers visits with some of the men and women who have helped make Boeing a global leader in aerospace. When Boeing hired her in 1974, Carolyn Corvi was a recent college graduate simply bent on finding a good job. She had a history degree and an inquisitive approach. She had a lot to learn about aviation. Over the next three and a half decades, Corvi rose through the ranks of the company by asking nonstop questions and providing groundbreaking solutions, according to Boeing colleagues. She wasn’t hesitant in having an engineer or mechanic explain something at length to her until she had a firm grasp. The Seattle native used this opportunity to make history. Corvi became a pioneering executive for Boeing—the first woman to head an airplane manufacturing program. She and her team introduced a moving assembly line to the 737 that cut production time more than half. She was the driving force behind the “Move to the Lake” project, which housed everyone inside the Renton, Wash., 737 factory responsible for designing, supporting and building the airplane. All along, Corvi took the approach that she needed to be bold and decisive in order to be an effective leader. “I grew up in a family where they said, ‘You can do anything you want, try new things, don’t be afraid,’ ” she said. Her Boeing colleagues early on spotted her ability to quickly move past details that bogged down others and see the big picture, Corvi recalled. They encouraged her to take responsibility, to make tough decisions and, 44 Boeing Frontiers foremost, to ask those questions. Co-workers nicknamed her “Ms. Why” on the factory floor, a label that amused her. But her management style was such that she got things done and her actions inspired other women in the company to follow her into similar high-ranking roles. Elizabeth Lund, 777 vice president and general manager, worked closely with Corvi on three separate occasions. She watched the 737 leader work with the team to accept difficult change. She saw Corvi interact with people around her in a consistent and always respectful manner. “She just taught us the importance of understanding the value stream and production system, and how it all relates,” Lund said. “She did it without ever being heavy-handed. She was a great teacher. She was a powerful leader.” Corvi initially worked in Commercial Airplanes before serving multiple stints in Boeing Computer Services and the Shared Services Group, becoming a supervisor for the first time in 1979. In 1987, Boeing awarded Corvi a fellowship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and pursue a master’s degree in management. She was the first woman to receive this Boeing honor, which at the time was three-plus decades old. While in Boston, Corvi became familiar with the Toyota Lean Production System. She met people on the MIT campus who were researching the book The Machine That Changed the World, which detailed the Japanese car-maker’s approach to manufacturing. A few years later, she and others from Boeing traveled to Japan to experience those same manufacturing principles by joining in and building air conditioners alongside employees in a Hitachi factory. To meet increased 737 delivery rates while putting the Toyota principles to work, Corvi, as vice president of Propulsion Systems, asked employees to apply these methods to the 737 engine build process. The goal was to build an engine in a shift rather than three. “The team, to its credit, said, ‘We’ll give it a try,’ ” she said. “We had workshops and we asked mechanics what to do. They completed the first engine in six and a half hours. It was an amazing experience.” As leader of the 737 program in 2000, she introduced Lean measures
Frontiers October 2015 Issue
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