BCA's Hank Queen is confident his team is on the right path

BY TOM KOEHLER


The environment during the past several years has been anything but calm for Hank Queen, Commercial Airplanes vice president of Engineering and Product Integrity.

In February 2000, only three days after being made responsible for BCA engineering skills and capacity, almost 14,000 Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace-represented engineers and technical workers in his organization went on strike. The largest white-collar strike in U.S. history, it would go on to last 40 days and mark a low point for morale and productivity.

In September 2001, terrorism threw an already slumping market for commercial airplanes into a steep decline. Queen has seen employment in his organization reduced to 16,000 from 23,000 since the events of Sept. 11, in large part because of the tough market conditions.

With an annual budget of about $3 billion, Commercial Airplanes Engineering and Product Integrity is a diverse, complex and proud organization. Critically important to the future of Boeing, it is responsible for the engineering integrity of all Boeing-built jetliners, which carry more than three million passengers every day.

The organization also likely will consume the lion's share of the development cost of the 7E7, if the proposed new airplane program proves it can meet demanding efficiency goals and gets the go-ahead from the Boeing board of directors.

But despite the difficult times and significant future challenges, Queen, well-regarded for his thoughtful leadership, remains as steady as ever, confident his team is on the right path toward making the company's commercial airplane customers successful again.

"A lot hasn't gone our way, and the environment has been tough," said Queen, a former 767 chief project engineer who has worked as an engineer or engineering manager at Boeing since 1975, a month after graduating with an aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue University. "But we're choosing not to get stuck in what I call a 'victim' mode. There is so much that we can do when we work together to change things for our benefit."

An example of this is that in April, Boeing and its suppliers finished delivering 4,300 enhanced security flight deck door kits to 76 airlines, enabling the airlines to meet a Federal Aviation Administration installation deadline for all aircraft serving U.S. airports.

Bounded by Commercial Airplanes' strategic objectives to effectively work together, achieve competitive advantage and make customers successful, Engineering and Product Integrity has set challenging, but absolutely necessary, "transformational" goals, Queen said. They include a 100 percent improvement in engineering productivity, supporting "breakthrough" improvement in the cost of producing each airplane, and a 30 percent increase in morale—all by 2008, the year the first 7E7s are scheduled for delivery to customers. The goals are tied together by what Queen calls the organization 's "People Plan," built on commitment, engagement, accountability, leadership and stewardship.

Queen said he believes the key to improving his organization 's productivity and morale lies in improving utilization—getting the right engineer or technical worker with the right skills doing the right job at the right time. His team is relying on engagement, a methodology that focuses on needed change at the workgroup level, to help improve utilization.

"Employee involvement always has been a focus in the company, but we believe engagement is a step above involvement," Queen said. "It means that every one of our employees must be actively engaged with their managers and coworkers in improving their situation and removing obstacles in their work."

Significant progress toward the goals already has been made—engagement is working—but there are many miles to go, Queen said.

Employee satisfaction in Engineering and Product Integrity, as measured by the results of the company's annual employee opinion survey, has risen from a 10-year low in 2000 to a 10-year high in 2003. Productivity, as measured by the organization's expenditures against a "fairly constant statement of work," also has improved, he said.

"What we have been trying to do has been hard, but also very rewarding," Queen said. "Transformation is essential to our future, not just in Engineering, but in every facet of our company—and people are absolutely the foundation of our plan to transform ourselves, of how we will change."