What Airbus Learned from the Dream liner

As the plane maker finalizes its super light A350, it’s paying close attention to Boeing’s mistakes

In this world of business competition, the growth of a firm or organization depends on the stability in strategies and timing factors as the way we see from Airbus and Boeing. Airbus attempting to learn from its competitor’s mistake and keeping a close eye on the problems Boeing is having will position them in a good position for future career.

      Through learning the mistakes of their rivals, Airbus can’t afford to get this plane wrong. It has already taken a $6 billion profit hit from problems with its most recent plane, the double-decker A380. And the A350, which has won 371 orders from airlines, helps Airbus counter its most urgent financial problem, the euro’s rise against the dollar. While it built past planes largely in Europe, Airbus expects to outsource production of substantial chunks of the A350 to places as far-flung as China and Russia.

A SERIES OF MISSTEPS

Focusing on designing,

 To avoid production glitches, Airbus is giving contractors an unprecedented role in designing the A350. For months, engineers from aerospace companies such as Honeywell International and Thales Group have been working alongside Airbus staff, poring over the design and suggesting changes to simplify manufacturing by taking the advantage of the Being’s mistake.

To give suppliers more time to identify potential production kinks, Airbus doesn’t plan to start A350 assembly until early 2011, more than two years after a scheduled “freeze” of the plane’s design details. Boeing, by contrast, started assembling the 787 about 18 months after completing the design. Taking advantage of the extra time, Honeywell is setting up a testing center in Mexico.

Network supply

Airbus is also simplifying its sprawling supply network. In the past, it awarded contracts to some 250 key contractors on each aircraft. But Klaus Richter, a new procurement chief recruited last. The suppliers, in turn, are expected to assemble their own teams of subcontractors. The challenge will be making sure that those outfits, which account for as much as one-third of production costs, have the technical know how and manufacturing capacity to deliver what Airbus needs. Taking an advantage of being behind Boeing, Airbus are pursuing absolute advantage in terms of economy which will lead them into a good position.

By 20700796, Entry 6.