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Case Study on Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC)

   

Added on  2020-05-04

7 Pages2655 Words194 Views
M A C C A S E S T U D YCONTENTSIntroduction.......................................................................................................................................................................1Overview of MAC Project.........................................................................................................................................1Stakeholders – Key Players & their roles..........................................................................................................2Airbus A380 Case.............................................................................................................................................................2Background...................................................................................................................................................................2Factors that contributed to failure.......................................................................................................................3Analysis of key issues................................................................................................................................................4Aftermath & dealing with project failure..........................................................................................................4Lesson Learned............................................................................................................................................................4Boeing 787 Dreamliner Case.......................................................................................................................................5Background...................................................................................................................................................................5Factors that contributed to failure.......................................................................................................................5Analysis of key issues................................................................................................................................................6Aftermath & dealing with project failure..........................................................................................................6Lesson Learned............................................................................................................................................................7Recommendations for Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC).......................................................................7Conclusions........................................................................................................................................................................8References..........................................................................................................................................................................9INTRODUCTIONOVERVIEW OF MAC PROJECTMurasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) is new Aircraft manufacturer from Japan that produces Regional jetsand supplies Wings for Boeing’s 787 aircraft. The company is currently looking to produce an aircraftwhich is lightweight using Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner lightweight construction technologies throughinternational consortium with Boeing and Airbus. Before a concept for this new aircraft can bedeveloped, the management needs to study the cases of 787 and A380 aircraft development projects toidentify problems they faced. The project phases as initiation, planning, execution, monitoring andcontrol will be explored. Lessons learned from the two cases would be used for making recommendationsto MAC to avoid similar mistakes.

STAKEHOLDERS – KEY PLAYERS & THEIR ROLESMAC: Owner and decision maker responsible for development, production, and sales of theaircrafts.MHI (60% shares): Major supplier of wings and looks into manufacturing of aerospacecomponents, hydraulic equipments, air conditioners, power generation equipments and more. Toyota & Mitsubishi Corporation (10% shares each): The Company develops, produces andprovides support for regional jet airline passengers. The company has a small share in thecompany and would provide the support for sales for the aircraft project.Sumitomo Corporation (Minor shares): Technology developer that also has business intrading and real estate. It has a minor share in the project and thus, was a part ofcommunication that was sent about the project to them.AIRBUS A380 CASEBACKGROUNDAirbus A380 made its debut in October 2007 with an Aircraft that flew from Singapore to Sydneyfollowed by another route between Melbourne and Los Angeles in 2008. Airbus has Air France,Emirates, and Lufthansa as its major customers. The company faced several issues related toproduction and delivery.The project involved development of the first "triple-decker" freight aircraft for long-haul flightmarket that could challenge Boeing as it was designed to carry 35% more passengers, consume 12%less fuel per seat, weigh less with the use of GLAss-REinforced fibre metal laminate, and waspowered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or Alliance GP7200 turbofan engines. The average list price ofA380 was decided to be $347m (£215m). The aircraft was to carry 555 in separate seat classes and850 passenger’s economy class. It was to include various facilities like duty free shops, bars, loungesand beauty salons.FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO FAILUREIncompetence of the company: Inability to deal with the issues led to a delay of two years. Overambitious timelines: The project started in 2000 and was estimated to be delivered in 2006which was unrealistic as the time required to deliver a normal aircraft is 5-6 years. There were addedfunctionalities in this case that required additional time. Lack of buy-in from staff and management: 3D models and technology was needed in this case butthe engineers preferred sticking to a tool called ComputerVision that could only produce 2D models.These older systems were labour intensive and saved jobs while the new system would result into

loss of some jobs. So, despite resistance, company installed Catia and Circe that was two powerfulmodelling software developed by Dassault Systèmes. This led to increase in cost and time. Miscalculations:In 2004, 200 German mechanics were involved in installation of copperand aluminium wires around the floor panels and walls of the airframes but after takingmany efforts, they were found to be too short. The cause behind this problem was themistakes in calculation and the result of replacement of all wires from scratch causing adelay of six months. This delay resulted from the problems of wiring, cabin designcomplexities, and weight issues. Failed communication & Management Conflicts:Airbus was formed by a combination of16 companies from 4 different countries. The project demanded integration for whichreorganization was planned with introduction of new administrative structures where topmanagers were located from each of the 16 divisions. However, this increased conflicts inmanagement. By the year 2005, management problems escalated with the battle ofownership between Airbus, EADS, DaimlerChrysler, Enders and Forgeard. Differentcustomers demanded different functions in the aircraft[ CITATION Nic062 \l 16393 ]. Design complexities: A major reason behind delays was the level of complication in manufacturingdesign caused by the use of 100,000 different wires running over 330 miles and performing 1,150functions. In designing the wiring harnesses, Hamburg plant used older version of CATIA whileToulouse used the updated version causing compatibility issues. Wiring had to be redonebecause of which costs were escalated by $6 billion[ CITATION Bar09 \l 16393 ]. ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUESThe Airbus product suffered major delays after its launch in 2005. Initial delays were caused different software was used for installing 330 miles of wiring than those used for British and French producers. The first production was delivered in October 2007 to Singapore Airlines.Originally planned for 2006, the first planes suffered three major delays, with the launchcustomer, Singapore Airlines, finally getting hold of the first production model in October2007 followed by Emirates with 20 planes and Quantas with 15 planes delivered by2008[ CITATION Dör14 \l 16393 ].In a Quantas A380 plane, one of the engines exploded after takeoff and the flight had totake an emergency landing. In 2011, one of the Quantas flight faced an oil problem. In 2012,investigations were made on 68 aircrafts by European Aviation Safety Agency that revealedproblems like cracks in the wing components and lack of grounding.In subsequent months, there were more delays and the delay extended to 2 years. By 2007,the company could deliver only 9 out of 25 aircrafts promised. The delivery delays resultedinto reduction in earnings by €2 billion and reduction in the share value by 26%[ CITATIONBBC12 \l 16393 ].AFTERMATH & DEALING WITH PROJECT FAILURE

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