A commercial aircraft programme has always been an undertaking with significant risk. Accurately estimating potential sales and production costs of these aircraft is an essential part of containing this risk. This paper addresses the cost estimating process and cost management of the latest Boeing programme — the 757.
Substantial resources are required for a new programme. The number of people involved, of course, varies with the stage of production, but Boeing will employ approximately 10,000 at peak production rates. In a typical Boeing programme, a network of over 1000 suppliers of material, parts and equipment will employ another 20 000 people at peak production so that total employment is in the 30 000 range.