Comparative Analysis: Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 for MAC Project

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 projects, focusing on lessons learned in project management. The report examines issues in project initiation, planning, and execution phases for both aircraft. For the Airbus A380, the analysis highlights problems rela...Read More

Running head: ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
Name of student
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1ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Part 1..........................................................................................................................................2
Lessons learnt from Airbus 380.............................................................................................2
1.1 Project initiation issues................................................................................................3
1.2 Project planning issues.................................................................................................3
1.3 Project execution issues...............................................................................................4
Part 2..........................................................................................................................................5
Lessons learnt from Boeing 787 Dreamliner.........................................................................5
2.1 Project initiation issues................................................................................................6
2.2 Project planning issues.................................................................................................6
2.3 Project execution issues...............................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9

2ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
Introduction
Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) is in production of Regional Jets with no intention to
compete with Boeing and Airbus as MAC has obtained order to manufacture 787’s wings for
Boeing. Therefore, there is no reason for competition as it is not that in business interest of
MAC and they are not even considering this as well. However, the CEO, Lisanne has
ambition of taking the company to the next level for this she has plan of manufacturing
medium size passenger jet and for this they need to compete with Boeing and Airbus as well.
Therefore, the CEO wants to get a comprehensive idea regarding two projects the Boeing 787
and the Airbus 380. The focus is to identify issues with reference to these projects. Analysis
of issues in these projects will provide Murasaki Aircraft Corporation (MAC) idea regarding
how to design effective strategy to implement project which ensures success as well. In this
report issues in these projects are analysed in terms of three project phases which are project
initiation, project planning and project execution. It will ensure that execution of project is
effective and efficient as well.
Part 1
Lessons learnt analysing Airbus 380
Airbus A380 first introduced in the market in October 2007 and the first Aircraft took its
flight from Singapore to Sydney. In 2008, the organization introduced an additional route for
its aircraft and this time it flew between Melbourne and Los Angeles. Some of the major
consumers of Airbus are Air France along with Emirates, and it also includes Lufthansa as
well ("Factfile: Airbus A380", 2020). Emirates received contract to design120 aircraft from
the Airbus along with orders from Air France. They also received orders from Qatar Airways
along with Virgin Atlantic as well. However, there were many issues that affected not only
production, but delivery of aircraft as well (SPIEGEL, 2020). These issues are described in

3ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
details in this context with reference to project initiation followed by project planning and
execution of project as well.
1.1 Project initiation issues
In order to ensure commendable position in the market, the company has partnered with
stakeholders from many European countries. Stakeholders of the organization is from French,
Germany, Britain and Spain. Although these stakeholders work as an organization, there are
various conflicts between these stakeholders regarding formulation of strategies and this is
what has affected project initiation process in this context. Therefore, the main issues in
project initiation process was lack of coordination between organization and stakeholders.
For this, the organization was not capable of managing internal relations while considering
the organization and its stakeholders as well.
1.2 Project planning issues
If this project is analysed in details, then it will provide idea that there were various issues in
project planning and identification of these issues are important for Murasaki Aircraft
Corporation (MAC) for designing proper project plan and ensure that execution of project is
effective and efficient as well.
Considering timelines for the project that is not realistic:
The project delivery schedule that was considered in this project was not realistic at all and
in fact it was overambitious. The project was started in 2000 and given the complexity of the
project it was not possible to deliver this project in 2006. The organization did not considered
complexity and amount of effort required for completing this project. Therefore, it was not
possible to deliver the project within that assigned timeline which was provided by the
organization (Robertson, 2020). It is important to identify that in this project there was
thousands of engineers who were working in 16 sites which are in four different countries.

4ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
Although a general aircraft design and delivery is completed within 5 to 6 years, but in this
project, the aircrafts needed to include features which was never provided in other aircrafts in
that time and therefore, it was not possible to deliver the project within that assigned
timeframe. Therefore, planning for project timeline was not effective and it affected project
success as well.
Poor planning regarding application of technology:
In order to deliver such complex project within provided timeline, it was required to apply
advanced technology for designing aircrafts. It was required to provide designing
technologies that are capable of providing 3D model, but instead of that this project
considered Computervision, an older technology that is only capable of producing 2D
blueprints which were not effective for this project. Therefore, there was lack of proper
planning in this context.
Lack of planning for communication with stakeholders:
In this project there was lack of proper communication plan that was required for ensuring
proper coordination between different stakeholders which are from different countries. This
led to conflict between stakeholders and there was battle for ownership between these
stakeholders. Two main groups of stakeholders which included DaimlerChrysler and a
French Holding Company had conflicts of interests and it led to negotiations for months for
balancing requirements for each of these stakeholders as well.
1.3 Project execution issues
Technical issues:
Most of the technical issues that affected this project are mainly due to problems in 2004
when 200 mechanics from Germany were employed for installing copper and aluminium

5ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
wires as well. Although efforts were provided but those wires were very short and the main
reason for this was lack of proper calculation and replacing all wires from scratch as well.
Complexity and design errors:
One of the major reason for project delay was issues in designing and manufacturing. It was
required to apply 100,000 different wires for 330 miles and it needed to perform 1,150
different functions. In order to design wiring harness two plants were working together, one
is Hamburg plant that applied older version of CATIA and another plat was Toulouse that
applied newer version of it. This led to compatibility issues and there was lack of
specification flow between these two plants. Therefore, it was not possible to fit wires in the
same frame and therefore delayed design of aircraft. Therefore, it affected success of the
project as well.
Part 2
Lessons learnt from Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Dreamliner 1 that was brought in the market by Boeing in January 2003 offered a new design
for the airplane while making it a fuel efficient jetliner which was designed with composite
material. The Dreamliner if analysed from organizational perspective was a success. It was
for Boeing the most efficient commercially available airplane produced by Boeing. It
provided 20% increase in fuel efficiency, offered enhanced in-flight experience, reducing
maintenance costs and along with this, these aircrafts were lighter by 30,000 to 40,000
pounds in weight. The launch for the organization proved to be most significant launch for its
aviation business. It helped the company in ensuing orders for 500 aircrafts and that is only
within 3 years after the launch of 787 Dreamliner. However, if this is analysed from the
perspective of project management, it was not successful and this was the project that had
longest delays, cost escalations, loss of revenues, customers, investor confidence and

6ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
capability of management in executing complex project properly ("Boeing 787 Dreamliner: a
timeline of problems", 2020). There was an initial delay of 6 months delay which leading to
extra costs of $1 billion and a reduction in revenue of $3.5 billion. Therefore, it affected
success of the project as well.
2.1 Project initiation issues
Requirements of stakeholders:
When there are many stakeholders in a project, there are various inputs for the project and
this is what makes project complex. Each stakeholder has own set of expectation for the
project and integrating those expectations into project is not that easy. This was the reason
why this project was not successful and one of its main reasons is lack of coordination
between organizational strategies and project stakeholders. As project stakeholders in this
context were from different countries, not only there was conflict of interest but also there
was political conflict for which project initiation was not proper.
Expectation of investors:
Another major issue of this project in initiation phase was meeting expectations of the
investors. Although the organization was able to get investors for the project, but CEO of the
organization was not capable of analysing demands of demands of investors and integrate
those demands into project. There were many investors in the project and they were from
different countries. Therefore, coordinating between these investors was not easy and it has
led to issues in project initiation as well.
2.2 Project planning issues
Ensuing a proper supply chain for the project:
The design of the aircraft required less number of fasteners and it was 80% lower in this new
design. Therefore, suppliers were not interested in supplying such low amount of fasteners as

7ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
they were interested in larger orders they got from other companies. However, this was not
considered while doing planning for the project regarding supply chain. It affected delivery of
these fasteners and delivery was delayed as well ("Timeline: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner woes",
2020). Therefore, it delayed overall project as well.
Complexities in outsourcing:
The company decided not to design new aircrafts in house and they also planned to outsource
activities of manufacturing. These manufacturing activities included design, integration and
integration as well. However, this planning regarding manufacturing of aircrafts had various
issues. As most of the manufacturing activities were outsourced, the role of the company was
only limited to general design and assembling. Therefore, they had less control over quality
of these manufacturing activities and it therefore affected quality of the project as well ((Paur
et al., 2020)). These suppliers again outsourced respective manufacturing activities for which
they were assigned for. These sub suppliers which were employed by the main suppliers were
not efficient in ensuring quality of materials that were required for this project. One sub-
contractor for this project was Crane and it designed Brake Control Monitoring System
(BCMS). However this Brake Control Monitoring System (BCMS) had some significant
feedback issue and therefore re-design was required which contributed to the quality issues
and delay in the project. It led to an additional cost of $18.9 million that needed to be
provided by Boeing as Crane refused to take ownership of the risk. Not only Crane, but
various other suppliers also contributed to delay and this required additional investment for
speeding deliveries. Boeing needed to increase their annual contract budget by 15% and the
main reason for this was poor project planning which affected success of the project as well
("Boeing 787 delays cast hard light on outsourcing", 2020).
Not defining roles according to competencies:

8ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
The organization tried to work as a system integrator but this is not something that the
organization is best in and this was not its core competency. This is another aspect where the
organization made a poor planning. This project was new for Boeing and they have not done
this type of projects before. Therefore, it was required for them to identify their competencies
and consider that in project planning for ensuing success in the project ("Engine Problem
Delays Delivery of Boeing’s Dreamliner", 2020). However, this was not ensured by the
organization which affected success of the project as well.
2.3 Project execution issues
There were various issues in the project planning as described in the project. Therefore, it
affected execution of the project as well.
Quality issues in design:
As suppliers were not capable of meeting quality standard in delivery of materials there were
various issues in integration of the aircraft. Although integration was being managed by the
company itself but lack of knowledge of the company regarding this and along with this, lack
of skilled employees was another major reason which led to various quality issues in product
design after manufacturing for aircraft was completed.
Quality control:
Another major issues in project execution was control of aircrafts as Brake Control
Monitoring System (BCMS) was designed poorly by Crane, one of the subcontractors of the
project as already described in this context. Therefore, it was required to redesign Brake
Control Monitoring System (BCMS) and it led to project delay and additional budget was
required for this. Therefore, it affected success of the project as well.

9ANALYSIS OF PROJECT FOR MAC
References:
Boeing 787 delays cast hard light on outsourcing. (2020). Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-outsourcing-analysis/boeing-787-delays-
cast-hard-light-on-outsourcing-idUSTRE58L4CS20090922
Boeing 787 Dreamliner: a timeline of problems. (2020). Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/Boeing-787-Dreamliner-a-timeline-of-
problems/
Engine Problem Delays Delivery of Boeing’s Dreamliner. (2020). Retrieved 1 February
2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/business/global/28boeing.html
Factfile: Airbus A380. (2020). Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11693164
Paur, J., Paur, J., Gilbertson, S., Staff, W., Goode, L., & Staff, W. et al. (2020). A Nightmare
Delay for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.wired.com/2009/07/787-dreamliner-delay/
Robertson, D. (2020). Airbus will lose $4.8bn because of A380 delays. Retrieved 1 February
2020, from https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/airbus-will-lose-48bn-because-of-
a380-delays-609q5rkswkp
SPIEGEL, D. (2020). Airbus Debacle Worsens: New A380 Delays To Cost Billions - DER
SPIEGEL - International. Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.spiegel.de/international/airbus-debacle-worsens-new-a380-delays-to-
cost-billions-a-440642.html

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Timeline: Boeing's 787 Dreamliner woes. (2020). Retrieved 1 February 2020, from
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-dreamliner-timeline-
idUSBRE96B13L20130712