Airbus Strategy of Assembling an Aircraft
1) Critically examine and comment on the pros and cons os Airbu’s Strategy of assembling an aircraft at different locations? Advantages and Disadvantages of their strategy? Explain
Airbus is a multinational company, with its headquarters in Toulouse, which coordinates all activities and controls the progress in all corporate functions. Its main actions are focused on four EU members: France, Germany, UK, Spain (Airbus online: 2012)
France includes four manufacturing sites and three assembly lines. As one of the founder members France has the biggest number of employees. Germany has an important role in the development and engineering of all aircrafts. Hamburg is the Centre of Excellence for cabin and cargo customisation. (Airbusonline:2012)
The main contribution of the United Kingdom is the expertise in the design and manufacturing of wings. The assembling of wings for all Airbus aircrafts takes place in the UK. Spain contributes the expertise in weight-saving, composite materials and in innovative manufacturing technologies. However, non EU members like China, Japan, USA or Russia have become more and more attractive in terms of working conditions and tax policy. (Airbusonline:2012)
These international collaborations emphasize the multinational thinking of Airbus and indicate the EU as an important partner in terms of creating attractive general conditions.
It has to be noticed that Airbus’s operations are one before and one after the implementation of the Sup@irWorld Program. In the next, are listed some of the advantages and disadvantages of the its implementation.
Pros: * Improved productivity of its operations to effectively cater to the changing requirements of its customers. * Cycle time reduction of manufacturing aircrafts from 7.5 to 6 years * Smart buying- Reduced its supply cost base: The aim of this program was sharing risk with their suppliers and thus make them more responsible for the overall performance of Airbus.
Airbus is a multinational company, with its headquarters in Toulouse, which coordinates all activities and controls the progress in all corporate functions. Its main actions are focused on four EU members: France, Germany, UK, Spain (Airbus online: 2012)
France includes four manufacturing sites and three assembly lines. As one of the founder members France has the biggest number of employees. Germany has an important role in the development and engineering of all aircrafts. Hamburg is the Centre of Excellence for cabin and cargo customisation. (Airbusonline:2012)
The main contribution of the United Kingdom is the expertise in the design and manufacturing of wings. The assembling of wings for all Airbus aircrafts takes place in the UK. Spain contributes the expertise in weight-saving, composite materials and in innovative manufacturing technologies. However, non EU members like China, Japan, USA or Russia have become more and more attractive in terms of working conditions and tax policy. (Airbusonline:2012)
These international collaborations emphasize the multinational thinking of Airbus and indicate the EU as an important partner in terms of creating attractive general conditions.
It has to be noticed that Airbus’s operations are one before and one after the implementation of the Sup@irWorld Program. In the next, are listed some of the advantages and disadvantages of the its implementation.
Pros: * Improved productivity of its operations to effectively cater to the changing requirements of its customers. * Cycle time reduction of manufacturing aircrafts from 7.5 to 6 years * Smart buying- Reduced its supply cost base: The aim of this program was sharing risk with their suppliers and thus make them more responsible for the overall performance of Airbus.