Did It Work

Did all these changes substantially change the design/build process for commercial jet aircraft at Boeing? Yes! Was it a change for the better? Yes! Were the changes enough to maintain the market share that Boeing currently enjoys? The answer to the last question is difficult to answer now since the changes are not complete and their effects will not be known until well into the 21st century. During the research for this case study, United Airlines had taken delivery of the first 777 on schedule on May 17, 1995 in Seattle, Washington. "The Working Together concept was very dynamic," said United 777 Program Manager Gordon McKinzie. "Working closely with Boeing, we helped resolve hundreds of design elements". "The result is that the 777 is the exact plane we wanted, and we're proud to have been part of it." Boeing President Phil Condit commented regarding United Airlines: "Their input to the design process has clearly resulted in the right airplane, for the right market, at the right time." Condit notes that since the program was launched, the 777 has captured more than 75 percent of its market.

The goal for the 777 program was to reduce the "noncomformance events" (parts that don’t fit) by 50%; the actual reduction was 75-80%.

An unanticipated benefit of working together was an education of the customer regarding the complexity of the design/build process of airliners. Phil Condit explains that by being involved in the process they understood that "some of their previous demands were difficult to accomplish and they compromised the product". Customer involvement worked much better than expected and they quickly became an integral part of the process.

Originally developed by Shadd Shokralla