Technology 10
Boeing to Develop New Mid-Size Plane Designs
Boeing Co. has seen a market for its first passenger jet since the 787 Dreamliner. The American airplane-making company is considering designs for mid-range planes which will carry travellers from New York to London and Sydney to Shanghai.
Their new aircraft is the middle child in its product offerings between the biggest single-aisle 737 and smallest widebody 787. This is a largely untouched market where Airbus Group SE is just starting to regard with potential.
Boeing has predicted sales of these mid-sized jets between 4,000 and 5,000 as airlines will set new routes for these planes. While the U.S. plane manufacturer is excited about outing plans to action, it does need to focus on a reasonable price point by closely monitoring production costs.
Mike Delaney, general manager of airplane development at Boeing felt confident in the success launch of these planes, saying that the planes would be ready for the commercial market by the next decade. Research conducted across 36 airline clients has boosted Delaney’s confidence in the product success, after years searching for something to replace the 757 which has fallen out of production.
The head of product development Mike Sinnett has started to get a feel for the numbers that airline companies will be willing to pay for the performance benefits they would expect for airplanes with a capacity between 200 and 270 people, and a range of flight around 5,000 nautical miles.
While Boeing is taking things slow and steady, the business end does seem like a challenge. Industry specialists have estimated demand at an orthodox figure of just 1,500 planes. If Boeing is to develop a design from scratch the costs they would incur would be in the ballpark of $10 billion. Also, this time let’s hope that Boeing has learnt from its mistakes that held up the Dreamliner’s 2011 debut by more than three years.
3 Things Successful Innovative Manufacturers are Doing
Reduction in cost and making manufacturing processes more efficient is the one of the top growth strategies of most manufacturing CEOs. This can be seen as change sweeping across the operating model like rearranging the plant layout, strengthening their footprint, adopting advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing to robotics.
Innovation in the business model is possibly the biggest challenge that manufacturing CEOs are facing. The fact remains that conventional operating models are undergoing a complete overhaul with agility being at the forefront to capture new market segments and sales channels.
Here are a few areas that sees innovative manufacturers targeting for maximum impact.
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Race with technology
While most companies plan capital investments over a five-year period, technology continues to evolve at the speed of light. Therefore, the traditional modes of investment and payback, as well as managerial speed needs to be adjusted to sync with the rapid technology evolution. Consumer electronics companies, for example, account for flexibility in adopting new technologies in their product development models.
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Keeping up with innovation
Innovation is the buzzword for manufacturers today. All too often, it is confined to a lab or small, focused team. Balancing profits from existing line of products versus getting employees to learn new technologies can be a tough situation for manufacturers. Today, innovative companies need to take in the various pros and cons of new technologies and focus on “continuous improvement” techniques.
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Look long term
While no one can really predict how technology will evolve in the next 10 years, top manufacturers are trying to draw a parallel between their innovation investments and long-term business goals. Manufacturers are choosing investments that will lower operating costs, reduced risk and speed up operational performance for their clients. They are trying to relay their ideas to their employees, suppliers, customers, and shareholders for a 360◦ integration of their innovation investments.
