Author: spr1311kbeery

Is The “Dreamliner” Still a Dream?

Posted on by spr1311kbeery

Finally, “after months of headaches brought on by its 787 Dreamliner jet, Boeing Company is now back on track and even speeding up the production rate of the new airliner.”

This is fantastic news for the Dreamliner program being that starting from January 16th until late April of this year, all of the Boeing 787s had been grounded due to some safety concerns with the plane’s lithium-ion battery system. The influential aerospace company has stated that they have since increased the jet production rate to seven airplanes per month at one of its factories in Everett, Washington, and claims that the Dreamliner program is set to reach a further increase to ten per month by the end of the year.

Before the grounding, Boeing had delivered fifty of the Dreamliner planes to eight different airlines worldwide, including United Airlines, which is the only U.S. carrier that operates 787s currently. Today the Dreamliner program has more than 800 unfulfilled orders to 58 customers worldwide. Hence, the immediate need for Boeing to fix the jet’s design flaws and production challenges they were facing. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded Boeing’s newest and most technologically advanced jetliner until the risk of battery fires was resolved. During the time of the grounding order, Boeing had not been allowed to deliver any new 787 Dreamliner’s but continued building them. The company had to seriously look at the jet program’s operations and reevaluate some of their critical decisions.

The final assembly of the Dreamliner’s takes place at the Everett facility, but the bulk of the jet’s large components come from numerous suppliers around the world so the time putting these planes together is influenced heavily on the getting the parts in quickly. “There are about 50 suppliers in California alone.” But the major production slowdown was due to Boeing having to redesign the 787’s battery system due to some overheating incidents that had occurred. One incident even resulted in a fire.

Although “Boeing will not say how much redesigning, testing, and retrofitting the battery system has cost the company,” officials have stated that the cost was absorbed into spending $705 million in research and development during Boeing’s first quarter. The three-month grounding period of the Dreamliner created a 2.5% downturn in revenue for the company, which came out to be around $18.9 billion. Despite all the production troubles Boeing has encountered recently, the company now firmly states it is back on track to deliver more than 60 of the planes during this year as originally planned. But the question is whether the Dreamliner will now stick in the pubic’s mind as a troubled aircraft?

In addition to the increased production of the Dreamliner jet, Boeing has also increased production of its 737 and 777 jets and is forecasting to deliver as many as 645 planes this year, making this a record for the company.

Which types of critical decisions did Boeing have to reevaluate? Do you think that the grounding of the Dreamliner will or has had any effect on the company or the plane’s reputation? Which types of forecasting methods do you think Boeing is using in regards to their production ability and what other factors does Boeing need to consider?

Article Reference: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/la-fi-mo-boeing-787-production-rate-20130510,0,6024577.story

 

Green Innovations – Affecting How and Where We Travel?

Posted on by spr1311kbeery

“When you travel these days, you’re doing so in a more environmentally friendly fashion than you did a decade ago- and you probably can’t even tell.”

Today, many business industries are changing the way they operate their business by placing more emphasis on environmental sustainability. For example, hotels are using motion sensors, key cards that control lights, fluorescent bulbs and ceiling fans aimed at saving energy. They are installing low-flow shower heads and toilets, while also recycling more and replacing individual shampoo bottles with large dispensers. Although these things may seem small and almost unnoticeable, they truly make a huge difference. “Green buildings use, on average, 26% less energy, emit 33% less carbon dioxide, use 30% less water, and produce 50% to 75% less solid waste, according to the building council.”

Element Hotels- use eco-friendly materials as often as possible and are applying for LEED certification.

When looking at other industries such as the airline and rental car businesses, they too are making a larger effort to surpass the minimum legal requirements and become more sustainable. Since 2000, Airlines have saved more than $33 Billion on fuel and prevented the release of 670 Billion pounds of greenhouse gases.  The Airline industry has adopted new technology and practices to reduce their carbon footprints. For instance, US Airways are replacing gas-powered ground vehicles that transport bags with electronic ones at its Philadelphia hub and adding a new building to house the vehicles at Philadelphia Airport that is made of 20% recycled materials.

Moving on, another industry, the car rental industry is also taking many new steps in order to be more “green.” Today the enterprise has more than 5,000 hybrids and electric vehicles for rent in 70 different locations. Lisa Marini, a spokeswoman says that “we will continue to add hybrids and EV’s to our fleet based on consumer demand and availability from manufacturers.” Furthermore, David Eastes, a director at VroomVroomVroom.com who tracks the industry, says he has seen an increase in the number of companies dedicated solely to renting out hybrid and electronic vehicles and “that’s never been seen before.”

Moreover, business in these three industries are making the change to be more green not only because they have been forced on the industry by the threat of government action, sheer economics or consumer demands, but some companies say its just good business. Paul Snyder, Vice President of corporate responsibility for IGH proclaims that, “we actually have customers who are asking, ‘What’s the carbon footprint of our meeting.” With so many people today becoming more and more knowledgeable and concerned about sustainability, making every effort to go more green, no matter how small, and even if it goes unnoticed, is extremely important.

In sum, How do you judge companies based on their sustainability efforts? And how do these efforts change your opinion of the company’s reputation? What sustainability efforts have you experienced from hotel, airline, and rental car businesses?

Reference: http://www.hotelmanagement.net/green/green-innovations-are-changing-the-face-of-travel-20076