MAC Case Study: Lessons Learned from Airbus and Boeing Projects

This case study analyzes the Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) project, focusing on lessons learned from the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner projects. The report begins with an introduction to MAC, its stakeholders, and its goals of producing a lightweight aircraft through an international consortium. It then provides detailed overviews of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner projects, including major factors contributing to failures, such as incompetence, unrealistic expectations, communication conflicts, miscalculations, supply chain problems, outsourcing complexities, and high development costs. The consequences of these failures, including delays, cost overruns, and customer dissatisfaction, are examined. Key lessons learned are extracted from each case, emphasizing the importance of risk analysis, effective communication, realistic expectations, resource management, and thorough project reviews. The analysis concludes with recommendations for MAC, including the need for skilled project management, stakeholder engagement, employee training, and the use of agile methods to improve project outcomes.

MAC Case Study
Lessons Learned & Applications
10/22/2018

MAC Case Study
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Project Overview.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Key Stakeholders.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Airbus A380 Case Study................................................................................................................................................. 2
Overviee of the Project................................................................................................................................................ 2
Major Factors behind Failure & Analysis of Key Issues..................................................................................3
Consequences & Dealing with Failures................................................................................................................. 4
Lesson Learned.............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Boeing 787 Dreamliner Case Study............................................................................................................................. 5
Overview of the Project.............................................................................................................................................. 5
Major Factors behind Failure & Analysis of Key Issues..................................................................................5
Consequences & Dealing with Failures................................................................................................................. 6
Lesson Learned.............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Recommendations & COnclusion................................................................................................................................ 7
References............................................................................................................................................................................ 8
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MAC Case Study
INTRODUCTION
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) is a Japanese firm that is a prime supplier of regional
jets and wings for Boeing’s 787 aircraft. The company is now aiming to produce a
lightweight aircraft through international consortium with Airbus and Boeing and by utilizing
the Dreamliner lightweight technology being adapted by the latter. The project is a large-
scale investment and the management wishes to analyze all the possible risks and issues
before stepping in to the initiation phase. 787 and A380 case studies have been analyzed to
determine the loopholes and avoid the same. The report covers the respective overview and
issues of each to understand the lessons learned. The recommendations are based on the
findings.
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
The primary stakeholder is Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) that will be responsible
and accountable for the project and its associated success or failure. The production,
construction, and sale of the aircrafts will be done by MAC. Murasaki Heavy Industries
(MHI) has 64% of shares and is involved in the manufacturing and supplying of aircraft
equipment. It will be involved in the process of decision-making. Mitsubishi Corporation and
Toyota Motor Corporation have 10% shares each and will have a role in the decision-making
activities for the project along with the contribution in execution and control phases. Mitsui
& Co. and Sumitomo Corporation are also the shareholders of the company with active
interest in the project. The technical support & assistance along with the regional support will
be provided by the stakeholders during the lifecycle of the project.
AIRBUS A380 CASE STUDY
OVERVIEE OF THE PROJECT
Airbus A380 was launched in the year 2007 and it flew from the Singapore to Sydney. The
next year, the aircraft covered additional route as Melbourne to Los Angeles. The major
customers of the company include Emirates, Air France, and Lufthansa. With the success of
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MAC Case Study
A380, Emirates ordered 120 aircrafts and there were bulk orders received from other
customers, such as Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways, and many others. The company witnessed
some issues with the processes of production and delivery.
The project included the construction of a triple-decker flight and it was first of its kinds. It
was claimed that the aircraft will be potential of incorporating 35% more passengers and will
bring down the fuel consumption by 12%. The turbofan engine and construction technology
would make it a lightweight aircraft and the overall cost was estimated to be $347m (£215m).
It also claimed that 1405 passengers will be incorporated in economy and business class
categories (Bbc, 2012).
MAJOR FACTORS BEHIND FAILURE & ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUES
 Incompetence: There were several issues that came up during the project that led to
the significant delays. The organization and its management were not competent
enough to deal with the issues to resolve and avoid them in a timely manner.
 Non-Realistic Expectations: The plan was to launch the aircraft in 2006 with its
initiation in the year 2000. The triple decker aircraft was the first of its kind and it
usually takes at least 5 years to launch an aircraft. The expectations and timeline were
incorrectly set up since there were several new functionalities and parts that had to be
constructed and incorporated in the aircraft (Freimuth, 2016).
 Communication & Management Conflicts: The project involved 16 different
operational units that were spread in several geographical locations. In order to make
sure that effective project communication was carried out, re-structuring and re-
location strategy was used which resulted in more harm than good. Ownership
disputes and conflicts were witnessed in the project. Also, there were conflicts
observed between the management and the engineers. The management was ready to
use 3D models while the engineers preferred and recommended using 2D models. The
productivity and efficiency of the engineers and operational staff was negatively
impacted as management did not change its decision. The use of Catia and Circe
software components was also not welcomed by the engineers.
 Miscalculations: There were 200 German mechanics involved in the installation of
copper and aluminum wires in the aircraft. However, due to errors in calculations, it
was found that the wires were too short. It resulted in a delay of six months and there
were complexity issues and weight problems that were also observed.
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MAC Case Study
 Design complexities: There were over 100,000 wires involved in the aircraft that
were performing over 1,150 operations simultaneously. There were issues in
consistency of operations that were also observed. It is because Hamburg plant was
making use of different version of CATIA software while Toulouse plant
incorporated latest version. The issues of complexities and incompatibility were
observed as an outcome.
CONSEQUENCES & DEALING WITH FAILURES
There were several issues that were came up in the project; however, the organization was
always in denial of the problems and kept on announcing the plans for mitigating and
resolving the issues. There was a delay of over 2 years that resulted in deterioration of
interests of the stakeholders and brought down the customer engagement levels as well. The
development costs also went up by $13 Billion. The company could only receive 172 orders
as the aircraft demanded fuel efficient jets. In order to deal with the issues, the company
adopted the strategy of cost-cutting with the suppliers and labor unions.
LESSON LEARNED
• There can be several issues that may come up in the projects under the categories as
operational, technical, security, or many more. It shall not be assumed that the project
issues will always be because of the technical complexities or errors. It must always
be made sure that the risk analysis of all the possible issues is done in advance and the
management shall be active to adopt the adequate risk management processes (Dorfler
& Baumann, 2014).
• The employees must have effective communication and interaction among themselves
irrespective of their designation and organization level. The work culture will be
improved only when the employees interact and learn from one another.
• There are several tools, equipment, and material needed for the execution and
completion of the project. Requirements and needs analysis shall be a process
executed in the planning stage and the employee needs shall be met (Shore, 2009).
• It is necessary to set relevant expectations in the project that can be met by the
members of the project team. The stakeholders and the resources shall be brought on a
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MAC Case Study
common platform and the expectations shall be documented with consent from all the
parties in the initial project phases (Rochfort, 2006).
BOEING 787 DREAMLINER CASE STUDY
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
Boeing introduced Dreamliner 1 in the year 2003 and claimed that the aircraft will make use
of composite material, will be fuel efficient, and easier to maintain. With the enhancement in
the features and decrease in the costs, there was an order of 500 aircrafts that was received in
a short span of time.
However, from the management theories and concepts, the project was declared a failure
because of escalated costs, major delays, loss of customers, and investor relations. A total
delay of 3 years was involved in the project. The initial delay of six months resulted in
escalation of costs to $ 1 Billion and it kept multiplying.
MAJOR FACTORS BEHIND FAILURE & ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUES
 Supply chain Problems: There were limited fasteners needed by the engineers for the
execution and completion of the project. The suppliers and investors wished to grab
larger orders and therefore, showed little interest in the project. It resulted in the delay
of delivery which had an impact on the linked functionalities. The inability to
maintain the supplier relations and absence of training of the workers led to delays
and re-works during the project timeline (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009).
 Outsourcing Complexities: There were a few functionalities that were being carried
out by the in-house members. The majority of the functions and tasks were outsourced
to several suppliers and vendors, such as Alenia Aeronautica, Spirit AeroSystems, etc.
These vendors and groups further outsourced the activities to their respective vendor
groups and the chain multiplied. This resulted in significant delays for the project as
the complexities were increased and only 16% of the overall delivery was completed
at the end of the first cycle (Baker, 2013). There were also technical and design
complexities reported which negatively impacted the time, costs, and resources. For
instance, $18.9 Million were lost in the brake controlling system by Crane which did
not comply with the necessary standards (Elahi, Sheikhzadeh & Lamba, 2012).
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MAC Case Study
 High Development Costs: Due to increased functionalities, there was a high initial
cost of development that was involved. In order to control these costs, Boeing decided
to implement the GSP model.
 Lack of competency: The Company decided to be the system integrated and it was
not competent enough to meet the requirements for the same. There were several
issues that came up during the project that led to the significant delays. The
organization and its management were not competent to deal with the issues to
resolve and avoid them in a timely manner. The multi-chain and multi-layered
outsourcing model, design & technical competencies, and errors in estimations also
enhanced the issues (Mseitif, 2014).
CONSEQUENCES & DEALING WITH FAILURES
The delay in the construction and production activities negatively impacted the project and
had the worst implication on the project budget. The company decided to use GSP model and
cost-cutting strategy to deal with the issues around the project costs. There was a lot of
investment done to enhance the operational speed and inadequate due diligence was observed
in the initial stages to deal with the risks.
LESSON LEARNED
• The resource engagement and satisfaction can be achieved only when they are
provided with the guidance & support from the management and are allotted with the
activities as per the competencies and skills. Resource assessment and allocation must
be based on the adequate analysis and the management shall also arrange for trainings
to develop and enhance the skill sets (Denning, 2013).
• The outsourcing of the tasks shall be done only after analyzing and utilizing the in-
house competencies to the fullest. The chances of adhering to the desired
requirements increased with the involvement of in-house resources and members
(Amalraj, 2007).
• There shall be reviews, audits, and inspections done by the management at regular
intervals for validating and verifying the project progress.
• An automated tracking system shall be used to monitor the performance of the
employees and the project as a whole.
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MAC Case Study
RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION
• MAC must make sure that management allotted to the project has the adequate skills to
validate and verify the project progress and performance. There shall also be automated tools
used to enhance the performance and avoid the issues (Shariff, 2013).
• The stakeholder engagement process must be carried out to ensure that contribution and
interest levels are maintained.
• The resources shall be provided with the trainings on the project areas, tools, and concepts so
that the skill sets are enhanced and the resources may be able to deal with the risks and issues
on their own (Newton, 2015).
• Iterative and agile methods shall be used during the development and management processes
so that short-term goals may be defined. The quality and flexibility of the operations will be
achieved and the overall scalability will also improve as a result (Csbdu, 2004).
• Procurement plan shall be defined to manage the project procurements and maintain the
relations with the supplier groups. Needs assessment shall be done and there shall be use of
contractual processes to deal with the procurement issues.
• The use of internal and external data sources shall be done to gain maximum information
regarding the project, possible issues, areas to be paid attention to, methodology to be
followed, and likewise (Bilkent, 2010).
• There was poor risk handling techniques involved in Airbus and Boeing case studies. MAC
shall ensure that risk management plan is prepared and defined so that the risks are managed
and taken care of well in advance (Crane, 2013).
• The issues of project delays and overrun of the project budget shall be avoided by conducting
reviews and audits at frequent levels and by ensuring that all of the other project areas are in-
sync with each other. The streamlined execution of all the project areas will lead to the
avoidance of schedule or budget overrun.
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MAC Case Study
REFERENCES
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from http://www.beg.utexas.edu/energyecon/ua_2007/AB_Project_Mgt_challenges.pdf
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Bilkent. (2010). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Cs.bilkent.edu.tr. Retrieved
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