Boeing 777 Digital Design Process Earns Technology Award

SEATTLE, June 14, 1995 -- The 777 Division of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group has won the top spot in the Manufacturing category of the 1995 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards program. The division was recognized for its innovative application of computing technology to the 777 jetliner -- the first airplane to be 100-percent digitally designed and preassembled on computer.

Boeing was one of more than 260 nominees for the awards, which honor the world's most creative and innovative uses of information technology that benefit society. Awards are given in 10 categories including: Media, Arts and Entertainment; Medicine; Science; Education and Academia; Environment, Energy and Agriculture; Transportation; Business and Related Services; Finance, Insurance and Real Estate; Government and Nonprofit Organizations; and Manufacturing.

"The Boeing Company is proud of its newest airplane, the 777," said Larry Olson, director of Computing for the 777 Division, and one of three Boeing executives representing Computing, Manufacturing and Engineering on hand last week in Washington, D.C., to receive the award. "It was the expertise and working-together teaming of our employees, and the accuracy of our computing tools that made this airplane a reality."

Boeing was jointly nominated for the award by Ernst & Young LLP and Intel Corp., whose senior executives are members of The Chairman's Committee comprising executives from 100 of the leading information technology companies in the United States. These industry leaders nominate information technology applications that are, in their view, the year's best examples of technological innovation. Winners were chosen by judges renowned as experts in their fields and were selected from 50 outstanding finalists, five in each category.

By earning top honors in its category, the Boeing Computing and Design Application earns a place in history in the Smithsonian Institution's permanent research collection. Information on the application also will be available at The Information Age: People, Information & Technology, a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of American History, which has been viewed by more than four and a half million visitors.

"This a tremendous honor for Boeing and for all of the people who participated in the development of the 777," said Lyle Eveland, 777 Division director of Manufacturing Operations. "For the past five years, we have been so focused on creating this aircraft, we have not fully appreciated the huge leaps forward we have made in applying computing technology to our engineering and manufacturing processes. It is truly gratifying for Boeing to be recognized among the world's leading visionaries and technology implementers."

In creating the 777, Boeing used fundamentally new approaches to designing and building an airplane. The 777 program established design/build teams to develop each element of the airplane's airframe or system. Under this approach, all of the different specialties involved in airplane development -- designers, manufacturing representatives, tooling, engineers, finance, suppliers, customers and others -- worked jointly to create the airplane's parts and systems. Based at the same location, team members worked concurrently, sharing their knowledge rather than applying their skills sequentially.

Helping communication among the program's 238 design/build teams were sophisticated computers linked by the largest mainframe installation of its kind in the world. Using three-dimensional, digital software, designers could see parts as solid images and then simulate the assembly of those parts on the screen, easily correcting misalignments and other fit or interference problems.

As a result of these innovative processes, the 777 program has exceeded its goal of reducing change, error and rework by 50 percent. Parts and systems have fit together better than anticipated and at the highest level of quality. The first 777 was just .023 of an inch -- about the width of a playing card -- away from perfect alignment while most airplanes line up to within a half inch.

"Digital preassembly helped us significantly improve our engineering and manufacturing processes, and the overall quality of our product," said Charlie Kyle, Boeing chief project engineer, Airplane Integration. "We've been able to use this technology to lower our costs and decrease the time it traditionally would have taken to introduce this airplane into the marketplace. The 777 is a marvelous achievement of teamwork and technology."

The Computerworld Smithsonian award is the third time the 777 program has received prestigious industrial honors. In 1993, the 777 flight deck received the Industrial Designers Society of America Design Excellence Award, IDEA 93. A year earlier, the airplane's passenger cabin was awarded the same honor -- the first time any airplane was recognized by the society.

United Airlines became the first airline customer to receive a Boeing 777 - - one of 34 it has on order -- last month. The airplane entered revenue service with United Airlines June 7. Boeing will deliver 19 777 jetliners this year.