Exponential potential

Boeing has a perfect 10-for-10 record of success in introducing new airplanes. With the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing plans to be 11-for-11.

The Boeing 777, the company's most recent new airplane in production, broke new ground in technology, design and innovation. It also set the standard for passenger comfort.

So it makes sense that when Boeing began designing the 787 Dreamliner, engineers looked to the 777 program and its successes. The 787 is taking the best from the 777 program a step further, supplementing "lessons learned" with new technologies, bringing even greater capability to the middle of the market—200 to 300 seats.

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All aboard!

The value of Lean moving lines continues to be realized in the Boeing 737 Program at Renton, Wash., with the Front Spars buildup area the latest example.

Mark Blakeley, 737 Spars general manager, said there wasn't any doubt that the assembly of spars would benefit tremendously by implementing a moving production line.

"It wasn't a question of should we do it; it was a question of how it could be done," Blakeley said. "The more we learned about it, the more apparent it became that a moving line was fundamental to Lean manufacturing."

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Broadening horizons

When Asaph, a Kenyan boy, and his friends shield their eyes and look up to see a white contrail high in the blue Serengeti sky, they nod knowingly as he quietly says, "Boeing."

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Boeing is the word that defines the jetliner fleet of Kenya Airways, which operates airplanes from the Boeing 737, 767 and 777 families. The two companies have forged a unique relationship that exemplifies the ways Commercial Airplanes pursues corporate citizenship and close cooperation with its customers.

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