Systems and Operations Management of Airbus - Assignment Example

? Systems and Operations Management of Airbus 380 May 9, Outline: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Brief Overview of Airbus and A380 Development……………………………………………… 3 The role of systems and operations management at Airbus…………………………………..…. 5 Efficient updates of Airbus information systems and operations management..……………….. 11 The role of soft systems methodology in analyzing and defining the business requirements of Airbus…………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 Introduction Today aviation leaders recognize the imperative to change, yet only a handful are equipped with the right tools and techniques to create effective change within their teams, divisions and organizations. Competition between Airbus and Boeing as the world's dominant commercial aircraft manufacturers sets the overall tone for the air transportation industry. Currently both companies dominate about 90% of the air transportation market with very few major competitors on the horizon. Their latest models of A380 and Boeing 747 proved that companies are willing and able to meet the constantly changing demand of the customers in terms of flight efficiency and increased number of seats. While Boeing 747 was welcomed positively by the customers, development and introduction of A380 at the market reduced the market share of Boeing by approximately 14.8% (Newhouse, 2007). In such a way, Airbus A380 proved to be the world’s most advanced spacious and efficient aircraft (McKeegan, 2007). The current paper will analyze the role of systems and operations management, including Soft Systems Methodology, at Airbus and their integration within the business. In addition, the paper will explain how the Airbus information systems and operations management should be updated in order to support and improve their business efficiency. Finally, the paper will analyze the people, technology and organizational issues involved in improving the operations at Airbus. Brief Overview of Airbus and A380 Development Airbus has been in business for about 30 years and is jointly owned by European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company-EADS (80%) and BAE systems (20%), which are two of the largest defense contractors (Addison, 1993). Now Airbus is a single company, headquartered in Toulouse, France, began as a French-German consortium in 1970 that was soon joined by Spain and later Britain. Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped, ready to fly items. In 2000 DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Aerospatiale-Matra and CASA in Spain merged to form EADS (Gunston, 2010). In 2001 BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) and EADS formed the Airbus Integrated Company to coincide with the development of the new Airbus A380, which will seat 845 passengers and be the world's largest commercial passenger jet. The development of A380 has been agreed as industrial cooperation across Europe, mainly Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. The final assembly of the aircraft should have been done by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace in Hamburg, Germany and Aerospatiale-Matra in Toulouse, France. The picture below shows the basic dimensions of A380 in comparison with other aircrafts like B777-300, B747 and A340-600 (Newhouse, 2007). The Airbus product line consists of 14 aircraft models, starting from the 100-seat single-aisle A318 jetliner to the 525-seat A380 in three-class categories or 825-seat in one-class category with 2-4-2 seating configuration, which is now the largest civil airliner in service. The aircraft has wider seats than in previous versions and the size of individual seat screen is also wider. Until April 2011, Airbus received 234 orders for their A380 aircraft while 46 have been already delivered to the customers and started being in operation (see Table 1 in the Appendix). The Airbus A380 project was delayed for 18 months with an additional cost of about US$6 billion leads to the assembly line roughly two years after schedule. Such delay with development and integration within the business happened due to several reasons. First of all, the aircraft A380 was the most complex passenger jet ever to be built (McKeegan, 2007). That is why, it took many stages of design and development until the company reached the planned outcome. Second, internal management problems and disagreements and frequent changes of management added to the delay because there was always a necessity to balance work between the German and French plants of the company, so that neither country had too obvious an advantage. Eventually, the lack of integration between design and manufacturing processes led to the delays of the aircraft’s launch (Gunston, 2010). The role of systems and operations management at Airbus The design and development of A380 used such new technologies as laser welding, GLARE, carbon fiber panels, and CFRP wing ribs in structure, variable frequency generators in electrical generation and self-contained electro hydraulic actuators in hydraulics. Cockpit Airbus used similar cockpit layout, procedures and handling characteristics at A380 with those of A320 and A340 families, which include overall cockpit layout (screens and controls arrangement, dark cockpit, color coding), flight envelope protection, side sticks, non back-driven thrust levers and FMS 2nd generation as FMS functions base line. This was done to reduce crew training costs. However, based on customers' feedback, research on new technology, product added value and flight safety enhancements Airbus was able to improve cockpit features, including camera/video, taxiing aids, larger and interactive displays, FMS interface, enhanced ECAM, navigation on airports, take-off acceleration monitoring, on-board Information System, thrust indication, vertical situation awareness, collision avoidance and enhanced crew rest. In addition, glass cockpit and fly-by-wire flight controls have been improved being linked to side-sticks. Such improved cockpit displays feature eight 15-by-20 cm (6-by-8-inch) liquid crystal displays, which are physically identical and interchangeable to comprise two primary flight displays, two navigation displays, one engine parameter display, one system display and two multi-function displays (Gunston, 2010). Those MFDs were new with the A380 aircraft to provide an easy-to-use interface to the flight management system by replacing 3 multi-function control and display units, which include QWERTY keyboards and trackballs, interfacing with a graphical "point-and-click" display navigation system. Wing Rib Technology To meet the high requirements for A380, Airbus Filton UK has designed and created an advanced wing rib-manufacturing cell utilizing the Makino MAG-series equipment. According to Gunston (2010), team working on this process set specific objectives when outlining the scope of work for the new cell, including (a) quality (low scrap rate, low concessions, high process capability, and in-process verification, (b) cost (machine utilization greater than 90%, multi-machine staffing, reduced inventory, and reduced floor space, and (c) delivery (complete machined wing rib, start to finish, in 1 to 2 days; single-piece production runs). The wing ribs are massive with a size of 3.1 x 2 m and single-piece parts machined from an individual billet of a new, weight-saving, high-tensile-strength aluminum alloy. A single-spindle machine has been chosen over a multi-spindle gantry machine because the first one provided the advantage of dramatically fewer process variables to control. In this case, greater spindle utilization was mandatory and to be three times as efficient at removing metal as the alternative. In addition, it was required that the spindle had only one set of tools, one fixture, and a constant spindle interface. Airport compatibility is one of the main driving factors that have strong influence on the wing design. 80 m gatebox requirement puts a limitation on the span length. This requirement and the weight of the aircraft forces a large wing area. Fuel space is also another factor. 80 m span constraint results in an AR of 7.53, which is lower than the A330/340. The cruise Mach is 0.85 for A380. For this reason, wing has more sweeps compared to A340. Another key issue in the wing design is the vortex wake. Despite the size of A380, the flap design, engine location, and pylon design play an important role on the vortex wake, and proper design may reduce the effect of the size of the aircraft on the wake formation. The wings of A380 are sized for a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) over 650 tones, albeit with some strengthening required. The stronger structure and wings were used on the A380-800F freighter. Such design approach somehow sacrificed some fuel efficiency on the A380-800 passenger model, but Airbus estimated that the size of the aircraft and the latest technology used would provide lower operating costs per passenger than all existing variants of Boeing 747. In addition, the A380 features wingtip fences similar to those found on the A310 and A320 to improve the effects of wake turbulence, increasing fuel efficiency and performance. Engines The A380 can be fitted with two types of engines: A380-841, A380-842 and A380-843F with Rolls-Royce Trent 900, and the A380-861 and A380-863F with Engine Alliance GP7000 turbofans. The Trent 900 is a derivative of the Trent 800, and the GP7000 has roots from the GE90 and PW4000. The Trent 900 core is a scaled version of the Trent 500, but incorporates the swept fan technology of the stillborn Trent 8104. The GP7200 has a GE90-derived core and PW4090-derived fan and low-pressure turbo-machinery. Only two of the four engines are fitted with thrust reversers. One of the important requirements in A380's design was noise reduction (Ryan, 2011). Both engine types allow the aircraft to achieve QC/2 departure and QC/0.5 arrival noise limits under the Quota Count system set by London Heathrow Airport, which was expected to become a key destination for the A380. The aircraft can run on mixed synthetic jet fuel with a natural-gas-derived component. A three hour test flight on Friday, 1 February 2008 between the Airbus company facility at Filton in the UK to the main Airbus factory in Toulouse, France was a success. One of the four engines of A380 used a mix of 60 percent standard jet kerosene and 40 percent gas to liquids (GTL) fuel supplied by Shell. There was no need to make any modification in the aircraft to use the GTL fuel, which was designed to be mixed with regular jet fuel. While most of the fuselage is aluminum, composite materials make up 25% of the A380's airframe, by weight. Carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, glass-fiber reinforced plastic and quartz-fiber reinforced plastic are used extensively in wings, fuselage sections, tail surfaces, and doors. The A380 is the first commercial airliner with a central wing box made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, and it is the first to have a wing cross-section that is smoothly contoured. Other commercial airliners have wings that are partitioned span-wise in sections. The flowing, continuous cross-section allows for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. Thermoplastics are used in the leading edges of the slats. The new material GLARE (GLAss-REinforced fiber metal laminate) is used in the upper fuselage and on the stabilizers' leading edges. This aluminum-glass-fiber laminate is lighter and has better corrosion and impact resistance than conventional aluminum alloys used in aviation. Unlike earlier composite materials, it can be repaired using conventional aluminum repair techniques. Newer weldable aluminum alloys are also used. This enables the widespread use of laser beam welding manufacturing techniques %u2014 eliminating rows of rivets and resulting in a lighter, stronger structure. The A380 employs Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) architecture, first used in advanced military aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor, Eurofighter Typhoon, or Dassault Rafale. It is based on a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) design. Many previous dedicated single-purpose avionics computers are replaced by dedicated software housed in onboard processor modules and servers, which cuts the number of parts, provides increased flexibility without resorting to customized avionics, and reduces costs by using commercially available computing power. Together with IMA, the A380 avionics are very highly networked. The data communication networks use Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet, following the ARINC 664 standard. The data networks are switched, full-duplexed, star-topology and based on 100baseTX fast-Ethernet, which reduces the amount of wiring required and minimizes latency. The Network Systems Server (NSS) is the heart of A380 paperless cockpit, which eliminates the bulky manuals and charts traditionally carried by the pilots. The NSS has enough inbuilt robustness to do away with onboard backup paper documents. The A380's network and server system stores data and offers electronic documentation, providing required equipment list, navigation charts, performance calculations, and an aircraft logbook. All are accessible to the pilot from two additional 27 cm (11 inch) diagonal LCDs, each controlled by its own keyboard and control cursor device mounted in the foldable table in front of each pilot. Power-by-wire flight control actuators are used for the first time in civil service, backing up the primary hydraulic flight control actuators. During certain maneuvers, they augment the primary actuators. They have self-contained hydraulic and electrical power supplies. They are used as electro-hydrostatic actuators (EHA) in the aileron and elevator, and as electrical backup hydrostatic actuators (EBHA) for the rudder and some spoilers. The aircraft's 350 bar (35 MPa or 5,000 psi) hydraulic system is an improvement over the typical 210 bar (21 MPa or 3,000 psi) system found in other commercial aircraft since the 1940s. First used in military aircraft, higher pressure hydraulics reduced the size of pipelines, actuators and other components for overall weight reduction. The 350 bar pressure is generated by eight de-clutchable hydraulic pumps. Pipelines are typically made from titanium and the system features both fuel and air-cooled heat exchangers. The hydraulics system architecture also differs significantly from other airliners. Self-contained electrically powered hydraulic power packs, instead of a secondary hydraulic system, are the backups for the primary systems, which usually saves weight and reduces maintenance. The A380 uses four 150 kVA variable-frequency electrical generators eliminating the constant speed drives for better reliability. The A380 uses aluminum power cables instead of copper for greater weight savings due to the number of cables used for an aircraft of this size and complexity. The electrical power system is fully computerized and many contactors and breakers have been replaced by solid-state devices for better performance and increased reliability (Maxwell, 2007). The A380 features a bulbless illumination system. LEDs are employed in the cabin, cockpit, cargo and other fuselage areas. The cabin lighting features programmable multi-spectral LEDs capable of creating a cabin ambience simulating daylight, night or shades in between. On the outside of the aircraft, HID lighting is used to give brighter, whiter and better quality illumination. These two technologies provide brightness and a service life superior to traditional incandescent light bulbs. The A380 was initially planned without thrust reversers, as Airbus believed it to have ample braking capacity. The FAA disagreed, and Airbus elected to fit only the two inboard engines with them. The two outboard engines do not have reversers, reducing the amount of debris stirred up during landing. The A380 features electrically actuated thrust reversers, giving them better reliability than their pneumatic or hydraulic equivalents, in addition to saving weight. The A380 produces 50% less cabin noise than a 747 and has higher cabin air pressure (equivalent to an altitude of 1500 meters (5000 ft) versus 2500 meters (8000 ft)); both features are expected to reduce the effects of travel fatigue (Maxwell, 2007). The upper and lower decks are connected by two stairways, fore and aft, wide enough to accommodate two passengers side-by-side. In a 555-passenger configuration, the A380 has 33% more seats than a 747-400 in a standard three-class configuration but 50% more cabin area and volume, resulting in more space per passenger. Its maximum certified carrying capacity is 853 passengers in an all-economy-class configuration. The two full-length decks and wide stairways allow multiple seat configurations of the Airbus A380. According to Goldberger (2009), the announced configurations go from 450 (Qantas) up to 644 passengers (Emirates Airline two-class configuration). Compared to a 747, the A380 has larger windows and overhead bins, and 60 cm (2 ft) of extra headroom. The wider cabin allows for up to 48 cm (19 inch) wide economy seats at a 10 abreast configuration on the main deck, while 10 abreast seating on the 747 has a seat width of only 43.7 cm (17.2 inch) (seat pitch varies by airline). Efficient updates of Airbus information systems and operations management Creative Electronic Systems (CES) developed a range of AFDX hardware modules for Airbus with the LynxOS real-time operating system at their core. Included is a PowerPC® VME processor board capable of controlling up to six AFDX PMCs, using PMC extension boards. A complete solution for A380 flight testing features 25 PowerPCs working in parallel. LynxOS' POSIX® conformance has helped Airbus' contributing equipment vendors assure compatibility of their subsystems (Norris and Wagner, 1999). To improve the information systems and operations systems at Airbus Hamilton Sundstrand provided the company with thirteen systems and major components for the aircraft A380. Air Generation System (AGS) The AGS provides heating and cooling for the entire airplane passenger cabin, flight deck, cargo bays and avionics equipment bay. The heart of the system is two pneumatically-driven air conditioning packs, or Air Generation Units (AGUs) that produce a total of 752 KBTU/hour cooling or 62 tons of cooling. Cabin Pressurization and Control System (CPCS) The A380 CPCS controls the air pressure in the cabin and the rate of air exchange to give maximum passenger comfort and safety. The system includes four outflow valves that regulate the cabin altitude to no more than 7,000 feet while flying up to 41,000 feet (Norris and Wagner, 1999). Ventilation Control System (VCS) The A380 VCS regulates the flow of fresh and re-circulated air and regulates air temperature control throughout the three main decks of the pressurized fuselage: the mid-deck, upper-deck, and cargo bays. The system includes the individual outlets located above each passenger seat row, which are adjustable in airflow and direction. Avionics Ventilation System (AVS) The A380 AVS consists of two independent circuits, right and left hand, that control and regulate the flow of cooling air from the AGUs to the cockpit panels, avionics equipment racks, primary power center, and the upper deck electrical equipment bay for cooling of electronic equipment. The system then finally discharges the air outside the airplane through a cabin outflow valve (Norris and Wagner, 1999). Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) The APU comprises the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), the electronic control box (ECB), and mounting hardware. The PW 980A APU is the world's most powerful APU, providing 1,800 horsepower, which is 20 percent more powerful than the largest existing APU in service. The APU provides auxiliary electric power to the aircraft via two 120 kVA electric generators. Ram Air Turbine (RAT) The RAT provides emergency power in the unlikely event of a complete loss of engine power. The A380 RAT is the largest ever built and features a 64 inch diameter propeller that is deployed into the air stream from the wing fairing to power its 70 kVA air-cooled generator. Sufficient emergency power is provided to maintain control of the aircraft and to deploy flaps and landing gear for a safe landing. Side-Stick Controllers More than 20 years ago, Airbus was first to introduce fully digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control in a civil airliner with the first flight of the A320. Airbus' cockpits feature side-stick controllers as opposed to traditional "yoke and column" pilot controls. Hamilton Sundstrand, through its Ratier-Figeac subsidiary, has built the side-stick controller for every Airbus aircraft, a total of 8,500 units to date. The A380 side-stick features a side-stick transducer and damper unit that provides the pilot with "evolutive" feel feedback for a more natural feel of flying the aircraft (Pandey, 2010). Throttle Control Assembly (TCA) The A380 TCA controls the airplane's total 300,000 lbs. of thrust from the four main engines. The A380 TCA features a new "plug-in" modular design that's easily installed, or removed. The A380 TCA design is based on four independent modules for improved reliability and lower weight. Trimmable Horizontal Stabilizer Actuator (THSA) The A380 THSA is a flight critical component that controls the angle of the A380's horizontal stabilizer. The horizontal stabilizer is active during take-off and landing to adjust the pitch of the aircraft (nose up/nose down) and keeps the airplane level during horizontal flight. The THSA is powered from its hydraulic motors or an electric motor backup channel. To put the size of the airplane and THSA in perspective, the A380's vertical stabilizer has the area of an A320 wing and the new airplane's horizontal stabilizer is equivalent to a pair of A310 wings. Moving the horizontal stabilizer requires a powerful actuator. The A380 THSA, the largest ever built, is more than 9.5 feet long and provides up to 128,000 lbs. maximum operating force (Vogel, 2009). Airbus' initial publicity stressed the comfort and space of the A380's cabin, anticipating installations such as relaxation areas, bars, duty-free shops, and beauty salons. Virgin Atlantic Airways already offered a bar as part of its "Upper Class" service on its A340 and 747 aircraft, and has announced plans to include casinos, double beds, and gymnasiums on its A380s (Maxwell, 2007). Singapore Airlines offers twelve fully-enclosed first-class suites on its A380, each with one full and one secondary seat, full-sized bed, desk, personal storage. Four of these suites are in the form of two "double" suites featuring a double bed. Qantas Airways has shown their product which features a long flat-bed that converts from the seat but does not have privacy doors. Emirates Airline's fourteen first-class private suites have shared access to two "shower spas". First and business class passengers have shared access to a snack bar and lounge with two sofas, in addition to a first-class-only private lounge (Norris and Wagner, 2010). The role of soft systems methodology in analyzing and defining the business requirements of Airbus Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) developed in the late 60s’ is a special tool to compare the world as it is and some models of the world as it might be to have a better understanding of the world (“research”) and some ideas of improvement (“actions”). In short, methodology can be used to successfully manage change. The main advantage of the methodology is that it helps to untangle the evaluative lessons from programs with multiple goals and multiple perspectives on those goals, which can be done by developing specific perspectives on the program, constructing some models based on those perspectives and then comparing them with the real life (Checkland and Scholes, 1991). The methodology has seven stages as it is shown on the picture from the left. Airbus used SSM to analyze and define their business requirements and foresee the usability and effectiveness of their new product of A380. Appendix: Table 1: Airbus Orders and Deliveries Table 2: Comparison between A380 and Boeing 747-400 Picture 1: Graphic view of Airbus 380 Picture 2: General Arrangements of A380 Picture 3: Tails of Airbus 380 References: Addison, C. (1993). Airbus. Howell Press; 1st edition. Airbus Global Market Forecast: 2010 - 2029. December 13, 2009. Checkland, P. and Scholes, J. (1991). Soft systems methodology in action. Goldberger, P. (2009). Redesigning Qantas’s Airbus A380. February. http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/redesigning-qantas-airbus-a380 Gunston, B. (2010). Airbus: The Complete Story. Haynes Publishing, February 1. Maxwell, D. (2007). Airbus A380: SuperJumbo on World Tour. Zenith Press; 1st edition, November 15. McKeegan, N. (2007). The world's largest private jet. NY Times, November 15. http://www.gizmag.com/airbus-a380-worlds-largest-private-jet/8368 Newhouse, J. (2007). Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business. Knopf, 1st edition, January 16. Norris, G. and Wagner, M. (1999). Airbus Jetliners. Zenith Press, October 3. Norris, G. and Wagner, M. (2010). Airbus A380: Superjumbo of the 21st Century. Zenith Press; First edition, June 7. Pandey, M. R. (2010). How Boeing Defied the Airbus Challenge: An Insider's Account. CreateSpace, June 1. Ryan, R. (2011). A380 adds to noise concerns. May 2. http://gardencity.patch.com/articles/airbus-380-adds-to-noise-concerns Vogel, G. (2009). Flying the Airbus A380. Crowood Press, November 15. Read More