Manufacturing Mayday

  • Authors:
  • Alexander Hellemans

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Spectrum
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

Production delays have seriously affected orders for the new A380 superjumbo airliner with several major companies, including Virgin Atlantic and FedEx, canceling or delaying their purchases. The immediate and biggest causes of delays arose from design changes to the plane's 500 km of wiring. The wiring problems also brought to light an underlying defect in the way the multifunctional consortium was functioning. Analysts say the delays are mainly because the time it takes to develop a highly technical and complex project combined with aggressive marketing ploys was completely underestimated. Selling the plane and promising delivery dates before the plane was truly ready was a critical mistake