Statistical Engineering at the Boeing Company

• Activity Number: 287
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Defense and National Security
• Author(s): Gurbachan Chadha*+
• Keywords: Statistical Engineering ; Applied Statistics ; Engineering Excellence ; Statistical Thinking ; Statistics ; Quantitative Management

Abstract

Engineering Excellence is an area of key focus at The Boeing Company, one of the industry leaders in Applied Statistics. There is a recent industry movement to establish "Statistical Engineering" discipline that "uses statistical concepts, methods, and tools and integrates them with Information Technology to generate improved results." There is an opportunity to investigate if Statistical Engineering is an enabler to Engineering Excellence. The author reviewed literature related to Statistical Engineering from 2005 to 2011. A number of organizations across Boeing were interviewed regarding their use of Statistics on Boeing programs. A scientific survey on Statistical Engineering for managers and engineers at the Boeing Philadelphia site was conducted. This paper summarizes the literature review, interviews, and survey results. Statistical Engineering found its roots in manufacturing and its scope has expanded to engineering design. The findings indicate that Statistical Engineering is an enabler to Engineering Excellence. The author recommends development of a Statistical Engineering sub-function within the Systems Engineering function of aerospace companies to benefit programs.