A little DAP will do ya

Derivative Airplane Programs innovate to meet U.S. government needs

BY CHRISTINE LAM

The Boeing Derivative Airplane Programs organization recently received the Washington State Quality Award, an advanced-level award for organizations that have demonstrated significant progress toward business excellence. The DAP award application went through an intensive evaluation and scoring process by the WSQA Board of Examiners. The award was presented by Washington State Gov. Gary Locke.

This commendation is one of the latest for DAP-a Boeing Integrated Defense Systems organization that's earned a stellar reputation for creativity, innovation and world-class customer service in a high-velocity environment.

Located in Seattle, Derivative Airplane Programs includes three commercial airplane models that are reconfigured to meet military requirements:

. The C-32A is a specially configured Boeing 757-200 for the U.S. Air Force that provides safe, reliable, worldwide airlift for the Vice President of the United States, U.S. Cabinet members and other U.S. government officials.

. The C-40A, a modified 737-700C jetliner, increases the logistical capabilities of the U.S. Navy's worldwide fleet. It can be configured as an all-passenger aircraft, an all-cargo aircraft or a combination of the two.

. The C-40B and C-40C are specially modified Boeing Business Jets that provide high-performance, flexible, cost-effective airlift support for the U.S. Unified Command's Combatant Commanders, senior government leadership and team travel.

"Our team has worked extremely hard to provide high-quality, reliable and integrated airlift solutions to our military customers," said Brian Hellings, Boeing IDS deputy director of DAP. "When they need aircraft 'now,' we do our best to meet those needs."

A good example of that is the C-40B. Boeing developed the first C-40B aircraft in approximately two years, rather than a more typical six to eight years, and delivered it in December 2002. It was deployed 90 days later with Central Command's Combatant Commander, U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, to Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar. The C-40B airplane remained there for 57 days-the duration of the initial effort in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hellings said that, to ensure that all of the customer's needs were met, a DAP-led team that included supplier L3-COM and U.S. Air Force personnel provided on-site maintenance, logistics support and technical assistance for Franks' communications staff. The efforts of the DAP team produced an airplane that was ready to perform 100 percent of its mission at any time during the deployment.

Additionally, Franks' C-40B served as the platform for the first combat mission ever flown by the 89th Airlift Wing (the VIP Special Airlift Mission organization at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.).

Howard Chambers, Boeing IDS vice president of Airlift and Tankers, recognized the DAP team for its efforts during the annual Boeing Silver Eagle Award ceremony in Anaheim in April this year. The DAP team won both the Silver Eagle Award for performance and the prestigious Gold Eagle Award for leadership.

Derivative Airplane Programs are also well-known for reliability. The DAP team returned a C-40C airplane to the customer 12 days ahead of schedule in March after completing upgrades requested by the U.S. Air National Guard for support of members of Congress. The customer, in a letter to Mark Rogers, Boeing IDS DAP program director, said, "I would like to express my appreciation for Boeing's great work on the C-40C program. Your C-40C team has consistently done an exceptional job of managing expectations and delivering an excellent product on time or ahead of schedule. Thanks to your team's efforts and their focus on meeting schedule commitments."

"The DAP team is amazing," Rogers said. "In the last four years, DAP employee teams successfully fielded four unique airplane models that operate at four different customer locations and support five distinct customer agencies with first-ever fully commercial fleet-support contracts for the United States Air Force and United States Navy. At the same time, they managed to implement the Malcolm Baldrige business model using process-based management for continuous improvement to enable DAP to be postured for future growth."

christine.y.lam@boeing.com