2021 ended with news of pretty much everyone worth mentioning in the business world getting a ticket to the metaverse, including The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) that is undergoing a top-to-bottom clean-up of its design, engineering and manufacturing infrastructure as it embarks on a journey to build its next clean-sheet airplane.
In its factory of the future, immersive 3-D engineering designs will be accompanied by robots that communicate between themselves, while Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT). Will be linking the mechanics across the globe through its $3,500 HoloLens headsets. This is merely a snapshot of Boeing’s ambitious strategy to improve its engineering and operations throughout the company in a digital ecosystem in as little as two years.
Aerospace recovery
The confident CEO of France’s aerospace giant Safran SA (OTC: SAFRY) who is one of the largest companies in the industry told investors the company plans to hire 12,000 people this year, giving hope that the aerospace rebound is happening in 2022. Safran who joined forces with General Electric
(NYSE: GE)
expects 2021 revenue to amount to 15.6 billion euros.
Improving engineering
Boeing’s history has quite a few bold pledges on a digital revolution, but results of these quests were mixed as management was focused on managing multiple threats where improving quality and safety have been prioritized. More than 70% of quality issues originate from a design issue and therefore, improving engineering is believed to be key to bringing a new aircraft to life in as little as half of a decade. Boeing’s chief engineer, Greg Hyslop is focused on improving speed, quality, communication, and responsiveness when issues occur. In other word, when the building part is done better, re-work is minimized and so is the financial risk.
Boeing is set to regain its engineering dominance after the 737 MAX crisis and structural flaws that were shown in its 787 Dreamliner. It needs to build a strong foundation for its future aircraft program which is $15 billion bet.
After years of intense competition, there’s a new front in Boeing’s war with Europe’s Airbus SE (OTC: EADSY) but this time, it’s happening on the factory floor.
Putting aerospace in
a shared digital space that uses virtual reality or augmented reality
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB) has embarked on a quest to shift work, play and living into an immersive virtual world called the metaverse.
According to Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury who is also a former automobile research boss, by plunging the company into the “metaverse,” Airbus aims to create an immersive environment where human workers will be digitally linked to machines and other workers using virtual reality and augmented reality, resulting in the invention of new systems and leveraging the power of data.
Airbus’ approach has been characterized by incremental advancements of specific programs, rather than the systemic restructuring that Boeing is going for. Both airspace companies aim to build virtual three-dimensional “digital twin” replicas of the jet and link the production system to enable simulations. The digital versions imply that every single piece of information about the aircraft, from its concept to its journey to the sky, are connected and available. Having this kind of knowledge that goes deep into the supply chain could result in a powerful and revolutionary change.
A long game
Even Boeing realized that that digital technology alone cannot cure everything as it must be accompanied by organizational and cultural changes across the company. In other words, pursuing the digital revolution is worth the cost but it cannot solve the years of quality control issues, a disastrous two-year grounding of its foundation aircraft and intense regulatory scrutiny on its own.
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