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Part Two
Design
hopeless lack of integration [between the French and
German sides] within the company’. Even before the
problems became evident to outsiders, critics of Airbus
claimed that its fragmented structure was highly
inefficient and prevented it from competing effectively.
Eventually it was this lack of integration between design
and manufacturing processes that was the main reason
for the delays to the aircraft’s launch. During the early
design stages the firm’s French and German factories
had used incompatible software to design the 500 km
of wiring that each plane needs. Eventually, to resolve
the cabling problems, the company had to transfer
two thousand German staff from Hamburg to Toulouse.
Processes that should have been streamlined had to be
replaced by temporary and less efficient ones, described
by one French union official as a ‘do-it-yourself system’.
Feelings ran high on the shopfloor, with tension and
arguments between French and German staff. ‘The
German staff will first have to succeed at doing the
work they should have done in Germany’, said the same
official. Electricians had to resolve the complex wiring
problems, with the engineers having to adjust the
computer blueprints as they modified them so they
could be used on future aircraft. ‘Normal installation
time is two to three weeks’, said Sabine Klauke, a
team leader. ‘This way it is taking us four months.’ Mario
Heinen, who ran the cabin and fuselage cross-border
division, admitted the pressure to keep up with intense
production schedules and the overcrowded conditions
made things difficult. ‘We have been working on these
initial aircraft in a handmade way. It is not a perfectly
organized industrial process.’ But, he claimed, there was
no choice. ‘We have delivered five high-quality aircraft
this way. If we had left the work in Hamburg, to wait for
a new wiring design, we would not have delivered one by
now.’ But the toll taken by these delays was high. The
improvised wiring processes were far more expensive
than the planned ‘streamlined’ processes and the delay
in launching the aircraft meant two years without the
revenue that the company had expected.
But Airbus was not alone. Its great rival, Boeing, was
also having problems. Engineers’ strikes, supply chain
problems and mistakes by its own design engineers had
further delayed its ‘787 Dreamliner’ aircraft. Specifically,
fasteners used to attach the titanium floor grid, to the
composite ‘barrel’ of the fuselage had been wrongly
located, resulting in 8,000 fasteners having to be
replaced. By 2009 it looked as if the Boeing aircraft was
also going to be two years late. At the same time, Airbus
had finally moved to what it called ‘wave 2’ production
where the wiring harnesses that caused the problem
were fitted automatically, instead of manually.
Why is good design so important?
Good design enhances
profitability
Good design satisfies customers, communicates the purpose of the product or service to its
market, and brings financial rewards to the business. The objective of good design, whether
of products or services is to satisfy customers by meeting their actual or anticipated needs
and expectations. This, in turn, enhances the competitiveness of the organization. Product
and service design, therefore, can be seen as starting and ending with the customer. So
the design activity has one overriding objective: to provide products, services and processes
which will satisfy the operation’s customers. Product designers try to achieve aesthetically
pleasing designs which meet or exceed customers’ expectations. They also try to design a
product which performs well and is reliable during its lifetime. Further, they should design
the product so that it can be manufactured easily and quickly. Similarly, service designers
try to put together a service which meets, or even exceeds, customer expectations. Yet at
the same time the service must be within the capabilities of the operation and be delivered
at reasonable cost.
In fact, the business case for putting effort into good product and service design is overwhelming
according to the UK Design Council. 2 Using design throughout the business
ultimately boosts the bottom line by helping create better products and services that compete
on value rather than price. Design helps businesses connect strongly with their customers
by anticipating their real needs. That in turn gives them the ability to set themselves apart
in increasingly tough markets. Furthermore, using design both to generate new ideas and
turn them into reality allows businesses to set the pace in their markets and even create new
ones rather than simply responding to the competition.