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Another chapter closed on Boeing’s much-vaunted and problem-plagued 787 Dreamliner program this week with news that Scott Carson would retire. Carson, 63, has led Boeing’s commercial division and has been the chief point-man on the Dreamliner program since 2006.
The news does not come as a surprise. Just five days ago Boeing issued another update on the Dreamliner, which pushed back the plane’s first test flight until the end of the year, and scheduled deliveries to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010. The first plane was originally scheduled for delivery in May of 2008.
While on the surface this story appears to be primarily about transportation and manufacturing, it also has a long history related to computer-aided design. Back in 2006, Boeing’s main rival Airbus became embroiled in controversy when it revealed it would encounter major delays on its A380 superjumbo project. Airbus blamed the delays on problems with its implementation of computer-aided design software from Dassault.
Essentially, it was discovered that teams in France and Germany were using different versions of Dassault’s Catia computer-aided design software on the A380’s development, leading to serious manufacturing errors. Boeing too had selected Dassault’s Catia software as the primary piece of its computer-aided design (CAD) system, but insisted it would not fall victim to the errors encountered by Airbus.
Boeing probably hasn’t committed the same errors as Airbus, but it’s clear it has managed to come up with a few wrinkles of its own. The Dreamliner has been plagued by a string of delays ranging from parts shortages, to a labor strike, to structural flaws – flaws that the sophisticated CAD system were meant to prevent. The Dreamliner is the first major passenger airliner to make extensive use of composite materials, lightweight carbon fibers and more fuel-efficient engines, all of which have taxed the CAD software’s abilities.
When the Dreamliner takes flight it will no doubt be a tremendous step forward in the history of aviation. Without even completing a test flight, it is the most popular new airliner to be introduced to date by Boeing with 800 advance orders.
But the Dreamliner experience will also serve as a vivid reminder that despite the advances in computer-aided design, such projects are still fraught with challenges that can make or break a company – or a career.
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