EXCLUSIVE WEB REPORT: Purchasing names Boeing executive Supply Chain Manager of the Year

Steven Schaffer turns suppliers into partners, emphasizing opportunities rather than problems

By Paul E. Teague -- Purchasing, 10/18/2007 6:29:00 AM

With a shortage of titanium-based fasteners forcing delay of the first flight of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner airplane until the first quarter of 2008, Steven Schaffer, the company’s vice president of Global Partners, summed up his strategy for solving the problem this way: “We trust our suppliers.” 

That simple statement of faith underscores the new relationship that Schaffer has built with the company’s supply base over the last three years, a relationship in which suppliers have taken on an unprecedented (for Boeing) amount of responsibility for design and integration of parts and subsystems. 

But, of course, there is more than trust at play in solving the current parts-shortage. Schaffer and his team are working closely with suppliers to resolve the parts-shortage problem by re-sequencing work and taking other steps to adapt the production process to new supply schedules. Taken together, say analysts, the trust and the roll-up-your-sleeves collaboration are helping the company weather the stormy skies. 

“Actually, Boeing is to be commended for its efforts in managing the supply base,” says Bill Lewandowski, vice president of supplier management at the Aerospace Industries Association in Arlington, Va. “The company has overcome its supplier-management problems from a decade ago.” 

For his work in re-fashioning the supply chain, Purchasing has named Schaffer the 2007 Supply Chain Manager of the Year.

Click here to read the full story behind the collaborative effort Schaffer has forged with Boeing suppliers. 

Click here to see a drawing of the plane with a list of suppliers for each subsystem. 

Click here to read background on the shortage of aerospace-grade fasteners. 

Click here to read industry comments on the fastener problem and Boeing’s response.