Can you talk about your engineering centre in India and how is it helping in capacity building?

Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre (BIETC) in Bengaluru and Chennai is leveraging a talented pool of employees for innovation in aerospace. Our engineers in India undertake high-quality, advanced aerospace work spanning engineering design of structures and systems, manufacturing support, developing systems to test our airplanes and providing digital solutions to our airline customers. Cutting-edge research and development work in traditional and emerging areas is also done at BIETC, including next-generation Airplane Health Management (AHM), environment-friendly coatings, advanced networks and secure-communications, where teams leverage new-age technologies to replace traditional approaches, enhancing safety and productivity across Boeing platforms.

The Boeing India engineering design teams collaborate with our R&D teams globally to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) methods and in the process, result in a significant reduction in time taken for tasks, and also enhancing quality. Digital aviation efforts are also helping airlines reduce fuel consumption through route optimization, and make effective utilisation of their crew. Digital engineering is being used to enhance the manufacturing environment and provide value to customers. Digital threading is being used to create a digital twin before manufacturing aircraft systems, resulting in fewer manufacturing issues. This drives efficiency,                                              President, Boeing India, Salil Gupte                              optimizes product design, and enhances manufacturability, making the end-to-end supply chain more digital.

The Boeing Research & Technology team in India has delivered commercially viable solutions for AHM and Air Traffic Management (ATM). Its ATM experts are currently working with the Airports Authority of India to develop a roadmap for air traffic management modernisation in the country. Today, the research centre is using AI and ML to continue to improve the wide-body airplanes that Boeing delivers. Using Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies, its engineers are finding ways to improve passenger experience during air travel.

What are your various partnerships in India and what future do you see for them?

Boeing has always supported the development of indigenous aerospace and defence capabilities in India, and has through the years invested in partnerships with the Indian aerospace ecosystem in skilling, research and technology, and manufacturing. Our growing partnership with the country’s defence forces and our expanding supplier base makes it imperative for us invest in, develop, and nurture talent.

Our sourcing from India stands at $1 billion a year from 300 suppliers who are part of the global supply chain. Boeing’s industrial partners in India are raising the bar to deliver world-class quality, cost-efficiency, and productivity, as they become an important part of the company’s supply chain for some of the most advanced platforms in the world.

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