SPRING 2011

14 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

14 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK By John Wolz editor@globalfastenernews.com BOEING: LEAN MANUFACTURING KEY TO FASTENER PROFITS The Boeing Company executive in charge of the 635 million fasteners the airplane maker is projected to use in 2012 isn't just overseeing paperwork. John Byrne has toured most of the fastener manufacturing facilities Boeing buys from. "There are very few I haven't been in," the director of common commodities and supplier management for Boeing commercial airplanes noted. And what has Byrne seen in fastener plants? Opportunities for lean manufacturing, he said in an interview with GlobalFastenerNews.com at Boeing's Everett, WA, facilities north of Seattle. The first 16 years of Byrne's 24-year Boeing career were spent in plant operations, where he found "ample opportunity" for the aerospace giant to cut costs. There are very few industries that have maximized lean manufacturing opportunities, Byrne believes. Byrne cited the transition of the Boeing 737 production to a moving line, which jumped from 28 planes a month to the current level of 31.5 — increasing to 38 in 2013. That production increase was "yielded from just good, solid, lean manufacturing applications," Byrne declared. Boeing wants suppliers to make "appropriate profit margins," but Byrne expects fastener manufacturers to gain through lean manufacturing rather than price increases to Boeing. Byrne said Boeing recognizes the problem of metal price volatility and other costs to the fastener manufacturer and will work with them on "variable pricing solutions." Boeing can help level some of those variables, he added. As a major buyer of titanium and other metals, Boeing has some advantages in the market they can share with suppliers. Byrne emphasized that Boeing knows the difference between cost and price. "Cost is not the price," he said in noting the importance of "total value" rather than "low cost." However, cost is "one of the key contributors to value." Beyond buying the fasteners, the total cost includes the assembly cost, he added. In 2009, Chicago-headquartered Boeing revenue totaled .3 billion and at the beginning of 2010 the company had a backlog of orders totaling 6 billion. There are not likely to be many suppliers of highly engineered fasteners to Boeing. The multiple engineering requirements for aerospace fasteners "tend to place constraints on how wide a supplier base you can have," Byrne explained. Byrne's staff of 30 conducts a "rigorous qualifying process, which reduces the number of suppliers." For fasteners and other parts, Boeing looks at a long product life cycle, Byrne told GlobalFastenerNews.com. The 737 short-range twinjet created a new market when it went into production in 1967. The Next Generation 737 took its first flight in 1997. In 2007 – 40 years after the first 737 – Boeing celebrated the 7,000th order for the plane. "Boeing wants to continue to simplify fastening systems, while maintaining performance," Byrne said of the future of fasteners. Every ounce of weight on any airplane requires more fuel on every flight. "Managing weight is a tough challenge," Byrne acknowledged. The new Dreamliner 787 is a prime example. The Dreamliner will use 20% less fuel than similarly sized airplanes due to half of the plane’s primary structure being constructed from composite materials. A one-piece carbon fiber reinforced plastic fuselage section replaces 1,500 aluminum sheets and 50,000 fasteners. Beyond the pricing and scheduling demands, Byrne obviously appreciates what goes into Boeing airplanes. "Very few people appreciate the amount of engineering in fastening solutions," Byrne pointed out. "There are a lot of people who think just 'nuts and bolts'." The engineering of tolerances is "pretty amazing engineering." The full Boeing interview is available on the Article Store at GlobalFastenerNews.com