Within Boeing Commercial Aircraft, the big news story of recent years has been the 787 Dreamliner which, with another 369 orders in 2007 and 800 since 2004, is the fastest-selling new airplane in history. Although not yet launched and going through some of the usual supply chain challenges for innovation in the sector, this new airplane is not just another me-too product that is slightly bigger, smaller or faster than what has gone before. In a sector where batch production is more common than mass production and individual hand finishing is the norm, the 787 has been designed to take advantage of the latest composite materials to both enable the adoption of more mass-production techniques and also save weight – an increasingly important issue. Alongside the 787, Boeing has just passed key milestones including the seven-thousandth order for the 737 and the one-thousandth order for each of the 767 and 777.

On the defence side of the business, Boeing is winning the majority of new contracts. Although military orders for aircraft are generally declining, new programmes that have been developed to provide
support activities to customers are going down well. These include new border security systems, support for NASA’s Ares 1 programme to build the next generation of tracking satellites and new maintenance programmes.

Underpinning growth in both parts of the business has been the pivotal role of a new CEO and several major initiatives focused on gaining extra efficiency and effectiveness from the organisation. These have included Lean+ which is accelerating the application of lean principles; Development Process Excellence which is increasing speed and yield of research and development activities; Global Sourcing which is leveraging the purchasing power of the entire company across the worldwide supply chain; and, most recently, for the first time a true company-wide research and development strategy. In this, the most technologically sophisticated of companies delivering high impact product innovation, internally focused process innovation is arguably the primary driver of overall profitability.

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