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This case describes The Boeing Company's production process for assembling and supplying kit carts to 787 Dreamliner final assembly lines and explores appropriate strategies for solving challenging issues within the process. The case employs a systems analysis approach to break the process into sub-systems and analyze inputs and outputs at every level. The 787 program pioneered numerous innovative manufacturing processes Boeing planned to implement on other commercial airliners. Chief among them was the use of kit carts to deliver parts and tools to mechanics. However, after kitting was implemented in 2016, the 787 program experienced challenges delivering kits to the right place, at the right time, and with the right parts. Kitting was a critical part of the streamlined 787 assembly process. Just one incorrect or incomplete kit on the production floor led to delays, and challenges with assembly schedules, on-time delivery, and financial consequences. Students will use a holistic approach to analyze complex information systems, as well as identify internal process improvements to ensure on-time parts delivery.

This case details The Boeing Company's raw material supply chain risks and explores appropriate strategies to mitigate them. Aluminum and titanium accounted for about 75% of the weight of a typical large commercial aircraft, so Boeing and its suppliers bought hundreds of millions of pounds of these metals every year in order to manufacture structural parts. But Boeing's forecasting methodologies for aluminum and titanium consistently underestimated true demand, which cost the company significant time and money. The case describes an ineffective scrap recovery process which failed to recover millions of dollars of precious scrap material, as well as a disproportionately low allocation of risk mitigation resources to raw material mills. Students will analyze purchasing policies pertaining to supplier evaluation and develop new strategies to minimize raw material costs.

This case describes the process BorgWarner Transmission Systems undertook when an increase in demand required that it create new production lines in another country. To minimize inventory costs, the company engaged with a graduate student team from the University of Michigan's Tauber Institute for Global Operations for assistance with creating optimal operating procedures. The student team was tasked with developing a prediction tool to ensure a high probability that BorgWarner friction plate samples would pass pre-production verification testing. The case provides students with an overview of the production and quality assurance processes for friction plate manufacture, as well as data classification models for machine learning. Students then develop a reliable forecasting methodology to systematically evaluate process parameters and maximize test pass rates for friction plates.

Student spreadsheet for case W05C00.

EMMICO has just acquired Franz Kuerten and is trying to integrate its Vienna plant operations. The problem is the company is storing too much inventory at the plant and its off-site warehouse - up to five times the amount it needs for regular production. To hit the inventory sweet spot, student interns from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan are tasked with using two models to calculate economic order quantity. They will have to report their findings in a week.

Student spreadsheet for case W04C90.

EMMICO has just acquired one of its suppliers and is rapidly shedding employees as it goes about trying to integrate the companies and the supplier's legacy system. The organization has asked a Tauber Institute for Global Operations intern team to seek solutions to the operations problems facing the newly organized company. The team is tasked with increasing the company's economic value index by increasing inventory turns and eliminating an external warehouse. They have a tough road ahead.