Boeing claims efficiencies at 757 production unit

Boeing says it is expecting to see production efficiencies and reducing costs of manufacture at its Boeing 757 commercial airliner production facility in the US, just four months after successfully implementating a Baan v5.1a ERP system. Implementation began in November 2001 and was completed in July. The system is based on iBaan Enterprise and is providing management and operators with immediate, real time access to data across the production supply chain. Modules now live include Purchase and Sales Schedules and Assembly Line Control, all supporting heavy manufacturing. It also adds iBaan technologies for integration of ‘best of breed’ and legacy systems to ease information flow both internally and into the supply chain. Boeing says it’s now also ready to incorporate the iBaan OpenWorld integration framework to provide XML-based communications so that its manufacturing users have increased flexibility to connect further applications with their ERP systems back and forth in real-time. “By implementing a comprehensive iBaan solution for all of our 757 production IT, we now have immediate access to full production line and supply chain data from start to finish,” says Michele Martin, Boeing Information Systems director for ERP and supply chain systems. “This gives us powerful new manufacturing capabilities that are leading to significant increases in our efficiency, along with lower costs – two critically important factors in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace.” Baan’s work with Boeing spans eight years. What’s now called Baan Enterprise is used extensively as the ERP technology at facilities throughout Boeing’s commercial business. Boeing also uses the specific iBaan for Aerospace and Defence system at two of its defence business units and Baan provides on-site support at numerous Boeing locations.