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Table of Figures
Figure 1 Lean Principles .................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 2 Toyota Production System ................................................................................................ 8
Figure 3 Boeing Production System ................................................................................................ 9
Figure 4 Boeing before and after CBO .......................................................................................... 10
Figure 5 Boeing Renton Wasington site ....................................................................................... 11
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I. About the Company
A. Brief Background
Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial
jetliners and defense, space and security systems. A top U.S. exporter, the company supports
airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in 150 countries. Boeing products and tailored
services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense
systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-
offering airplanes and services that deliver superior design, efficiency and value to customers
around the world. There are more than 10,000 Boeing commercial jetliners in service, flying
passengers and freight more efficiently than competing models in the market.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security is committed to providing customers around the world
with the right capabilities, at the right time, at the right cost. As one of the two main business units
solutions across platforms, services and support, and information and technologies. Headquartered
in St. Louis and with significant operations in many states and several countries, Boeing Defense,
Space & Security is a $30 billion business that has approximately 50,000 employees worldwide.
commercial, defense and space customers, regardless of their equipment's original manufacturer.
With engineering, digital analytics, supply chain and training support spanning across both the
government and commercial service offerings, Boeing Global Services is uniquely positioned to
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B. Overview of the Advanced Operations in Boeing
a. Design
d. Reengineering
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II. JIT and Lean Operations
Many confuse the concepts of Just In Time (JIT) and Lean Manufacturing. Scott
Thompson, journalist for the Houston Chronicle outlines the differences between the two.
is focused on using efficiency to add value for the customer. Just-in-time manufacturing can be
practiced on its own or as one step in the lean manufacturing process. (Lean Manufacturing vs.
Just-in-time, 2016)
Just in Time (JIT), as the name suggests, is a management philosophy that calls for the
production of what the customer wants, when they want it, in the quantities requested, where they
want it, without it being delayed in inventory. So instead of building large stocks of what you think
the customer might want you only make exactly what the customer actually asks for when they
ask for it. This allows you to concentrate your resources on only fulfilling what you are going to
be paid for rather than building for stock. Within a Just in Time manufacturing system, each
process will only produce what the next process in sequence is calling for. (Just-in-Time (JIT)
Production, 2017)
On the other hand, Lean Manufacturing is a term that has been around now for many years,
originally spawned within the MIT study that led to the book The Machine That Changed the
World by Womack and Jones in 1990. However if you search through the many publications and
web sites looking for a lean manufacturing definition you will find a myriad of differing definitions
for Lean, partly because lean is a continuously developing philosophy and because its application
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Lean has had a number of names over the years, developed primarily from the Toyota
Production System (TPS) it has been called World Class Manufacturing (WCM), Continuous Flow
Manufacturing, and Stock-less production to name a few. Today you will even here Lean Sigma
and Agile Manufacturing. Although developed mainly within manufacturing, Lean is equally
applicable within your office based administrative functions or within service industries such as
healthcare where it is seeing a huge amount of attention. Lean Manufacturing Tools include 5S,
In their book The Machine That Changed the World Womack and Jones define 5
principles of Lean Manufacturing. These Lean Principles define the philosophy of lean.
There are other ways JIT and Lean differ. Lean is a complete system that can be used across
business departments including manufacturing, production, marketing, distribution, etc. You can
use Lean to create a JIT process but JIT is the piece of the Lean method that eliminates the waste
of excessive inventory.
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B. JIT and Lean Operations in Boeing
As early as World War II, Boeing employed methods to build the B-17 that would be
considered Lean today. The driving need for planes and the restricted resources for manufacturing
necessitated streamlined processes with minimum waste. The sense of urgency faded after the war,
In the mid 1980s Boeing began its Lean journey with the introduction of Quality Circles
or Productivity Circles. This was followed by World Class Competitiveness training, 5S, and Just-
in-Time workshops. Learning to use individual Lean tools like accelerated improvement
workshops, or AIWs, provided the foundation on which Boeing Commercial Airplanes created an
The whole of The Boeing Company was embracing Lean by 1999. The strategy for
becoming a Lean operation is called the 9 Tactics. A visual representation to show the entire
company how all the elements of Lean fit together has evolved. Based on the Toyotal Production
5S was the next corporate push, which may be the first corporate-wide step that was
recognizably Lean. The 5 Ss are Sort, Simplify, Sweep, Standardize, and Self-Discipline. Every
area was required to progress from level 1 through 5 of 5S. Massive amounts of material were
surplused, recycled, or otherwise removed from areas. The Boeing Surplus Store in Puget Sound
became a great shopping place for the public. Work processes became documented and
Boeing had three primary business units, Commercial Airplanes, Aircraft and Missiles, and
Space and Communications. All the managers in this huge merged company are trained together
in St. Louis at the Boeing Leadership Center. The Coffee Game was developed for the Boeing
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Executive Program. It is a simulation of the entire Value Stream, from coffee growers, through
roasters and transportation companies, distribution and finally, to coffee drinkers at the Boeing
Leadership Center. A primary lesson is the importance of cooperation between suppliers and
customers. This Coffee Game has since been incorporated in the Boeing Six Sigma Black Belt
Moreover, the Boeing Operations Council (BOC) formed a Process Action Team (PAT)
for Lean. They have regular face-to-face meetings as well as frequent virtual meetings, to share
ideas and plans. They make sure that training is standard across the enterprise, and strive for the
On the other hand, Toyota uses a visual display to show how all the elements of a Lean
production system fit together. They call it the Toyota Production System (TPS), shown below. It
looks like a house, with a roof, two pillars on the left and right, internal structure, and a foundation.
Boeing, like other companies that are incorporating Lean, customized the TPS house into
the Boeing Production System (BPS) house. This visual aid showed the entire company how the
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various pieces of Lean all fit together. The latest version of the BPS house re-emphasizes the
Boeing departed from the Toyota model when they developed the Tailored Business
Stream (TBS) approach. TBS divides Commercial Airplane products into three streams, to arrive
at simpler, more usable, cost-effective processes and solutions. Instead of designing and producing
every airplane as if it were unique, they now divide all the elements of work (e.g., parts, processes,
activities, data) into three categories: Basic and Stable, Reusable (including available options), and
To Boeing, Lean has much more substance than any trend or phrase. Simply put, Lean is a
systematic way to identify and eliminate waste, as well as streamline processes in a more efficient
and cost-effective manner. Lean helps spark new ideas to improve quality and reduce costs and
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cycle times with an eye on how to drive innovation and change forward rather than remain bogged
ordering uses the advantages of just-in-time ordering and the value of close partnerships with
suppliers. The result is a more efficient system with benefits for Boeing and its suppliers. The CBO
system establishes a minimum and maximum number of items that each supplier needs to maintain
in the Boeing inventory. Suppliers check the inventory and ship items in time to maintain that
range. To do this, the suppliers check the Boeing inventory to verify the number and status of their
supplied parts. To protect both Boeing and its hundreds of suppliers, the CBO system gives access
only to the portion of the inventory with that supplier's parts. (Vidya, 2014)
Heres a comparison of the status of Boeing before and after the implementation of the
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Figure 5 Boeing Renton Wasington site
Through case-study work done with the Environmental Protection Agency, Boeing has
demonstrated a synergy between Lean and the environment. Consider the following:
o Smaller footprints decrease energy requirements and water usage, and cut the
impact from storm water runoff from building roofs and parking lots.
o Lean efforts such as kitting result in decreased chemical usage. Kits contain just
The Boeing Renton (Wash.) site had a significant reduction (more than 20 percent) in
In addition, here are some of the several improvements Lean Manufacturing contributed in
Boeing's St. Charles Weapons Enterprise Capability Center and Mesa Rotorcraft site
where the Apache helicopter is built have been awarded the 2004-2005 Shingo Prize for
Excellence in Manufacturing. This is the first time Boeing has won what Business Week has called
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the "Nobel Prize of manufacturing." They reduced manufacturing time by 60% and floor space by
In the Commercial Airplanes parts plants, employees reduced inventory levels by $1 billion
in 1999. The 737 program is now giving tours of their moving line to employees from all over the
country, suppliers, and customers. Since late 1999, just before Lean implementation began, to the
end of 2004, they reduced factory cycle time 46%, store inventory 59%, work-in-progress
inventory 55%, and factory footprint 21%. Flow time in Final Assembly have decreased from 22
III. Conclusion
the supply chain of the company while being environmentally sustainable and a great help as well
in the other aspects of the company, from design, production, quality control and to the different
functions in Boeing. As a result, Lean is an employee-driven philosophy that helps Boeing stay
highly competitive and nimble in a continuously evolving global business and technical landscape.
Lean is a concept so critical to Boeing that the company's Vision 2016 mission statement lists it as
a core competency.
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References
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