- Improved data access and management.
- Greater visibility of available options.
- Reduced configuration flow time.
Improved Data Access and Management
Traditional discussions of a proposed airplane configuration required Boeing airplane configuration engineers and operators to review various catalogs and documents that defined current options available for specific airplane models. They also needed to review a price catalog for those options and a detailed description of the basic airplane called the configuration specification. All of this printed material was updated routinely but might not have included all new options and basic design improvements since the last publishing of the document revision.
Configurator, however, gives airplane configuration engineers the ability to present operators with this information electronically, including versions as they become available. Using a laptop computer, the engineer can quickly download the latest available option data, including up-to-date prices and weights (figure 1).
Configurator will also automatically validate the configuration according to certain engineering constraints, ensuring that the airplane is complete and that all available options selected by the operator are technically compatible.
Greater Visibility of Available Options
Finding options to meet an operator's business requirement often meant the airplane configuration engineer would have to manually search catalogs or other documents, or consult with another engineer to request further investigation. Configurator makes this information more readily available to the operator, providing the opportunity to make faster, better informed decisions. Configurator does this through a library of available options that can be searched easily and quickly using many different criteria. These criteria include specific part numbers, key words that might appear in the option title, the Air Transport Association chapter where the option might be found, and even part descriptions (figure 2).
For example, an operator may have established a long-term supplier contract for maintenance spares and may wish to select available options offered by that supplier. The airplane configuration engineer can quickly select the supplier's name to find all options in the library that contain parts by that supplier. An operator may also want to discuss seats, including passenger seats, second-observer seats in the flight deck, cabin crew seats, and flight crew seats. Using the keyword search in the option title, Configurator will find all options with the word "seat" in the title.
Reduced Configuration Flow Time
In addition to reducing the time required to configure an airplane, Configurator will also allow Boeing to offer options to operators sooner, giving them greater flexibility in ordering airplanes. Designed to be nimble, Configurator reduces flow time in three other significant areas:
- The airplane configuration engineer can easily record airplane-specific configuration data into the operator's file, called a Customer Specific Option Selection (figure 3), during the configuration discussion. This eliminates the delay that normally occurred before Configurator, when the airplane configuration engineer had to return to Boeing to input configuration data into the change-processing systems.
- The automated configuration validation check will reduce the time required to verify that the airplane is complete and that the configuration is certifiable, by reducing the need for lengthy manual technical configuration audits.
- Using telecommunication capabilities and real-time data entry during the configuration discussion, an operator's encrypted configuration data will be able to be sent back to Boeing quickly for entry into the pricing and offerability process. The result is a much faster turnaround time for a proposal to the operator.
Summary
Configuring an airplane has traditionally been a lengthy, complicated process. At times, configuration data brought to the discussions were not always current, slowing the operator's decision-making process, and visibility of options that met the operator's business requirements was limited to paper documentation that was time-consuming to use. However, with Configurator, Boeing can now give operators maximum visibility of all available options with the most current technical data possible, with the goal of reducing flow time of the overall configuration definition process.
Airplane Design and Production Initiative
A comprehensive business process improvement known as Define and Control Airplane Configuration/Manufacturing Resource Management (DCAC/MRM) is underway at Boeing. This initiative is aimed at lowering the cost and increasing the efficiency of Boeing airplane configuration and production processes. The Configurator software application is an integral part of this process improvement.The initiative also calls for replacing hundreds of custom-built local computing systems with four integrated commercial off-the-shelf systems to give users throughout the company--and around the world--access to one authoritative source of reliable data about Boeing products.
While Boeing airplanes have operated successfully in the commercial airplane market for many years, the processes for designing and producing them have become increasingly complex and time-consuming. The new system and processes of DCAC/MRM, primarily in engineering and manufacturing, center around four key elements for promoting convenience and efficiency:
- A single source of product data, resident in an application called the product data manager, will replace more than 400 old ("legacy") systems and eliminate the rework and errors that result from system complexity.
- A simplified configuration management process based on part numbers and a manufacturing serial number will replace the cumbersome system of "effectivities" that tracked airplane configuration based on drawing numbers.
- Tailored business streams, a common-sense philosophy that can be applied to engineering, will maximize design reusability by taking advantage of commonality among airplanes of the same model, or can be applied to manufacturing, where it takes advantage of stable processes.
- Tailored materials management will match the material-handling technique to the part, eliminating unnecessary complexity.
The new processes and system are primarily internal improvements that will remain largely invisible to operators of Boeing commercial airplanes but are expected to produce certain benefits for them. These include later option selection, shorter decision-to-delivery time, fewer defects and less rework, less variation between units, and better product support.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Steven Hayes
Senior Specialist EngineerCustomer Engineering
Boeing Commercial
Airplane Groupreturn to top | AERO text-only contents | Boeing Home | Commercial
Copyright © The Boeing Company. All rights reserved. - A single source of product data, resident in an application called the product data manager, will replace more than 400 old ("legacy") systems and eliminate the rework and errors that result from system complexity.