Media Contact:
Jim Ong
650.931.2710
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boeing Deploys Advanced Scheduling Software Developed by
Stottler Henke to Facilitate Assembly of Boeing 787 Dreamliner
AI-based software will streamline large-scale production scheduling
for Boeing’s newest commercial airliner
SAN MATEO, Calif., May 29, 2007 – The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) contracted with Stottler
Henke Associates, Inc. (www.stottlerhenke.com) to develop a version of Stottler Henke’s
Aurora™ intelligent scheduling software specifically to help Boeing manage certain aspects of
the process of building the Boeing 787 Dreamliner™ commercial airliner, which is due to market
in 2008. Aurora is a configurable scheduling engine that enables organizations to plug in
components that provide the domain-specific expertise needed for each unique type of
scheduling task.
The Boeing engagement is one of several Aurora-related projects now under way at Stottler
Henke. The firm also is developing for the United Space Alliance (USA) an in-flight version of
Aurora for proposed use on board the United States’ next-generation manned spacecraft. The
system is designed to be used by astronauts to schedule their activities on the Crew Exploration
Vehicle (CEV), due to launch in 2008. Aurora is currently in use at NASA at the Kennedy Space
Center.
The Aurora version for Boeing will prioritize factory production tasks by balancing resource
capacities with manufacturing requirements and constraints. The result is a dynamic assembly
schedule that will adapt to real-time production variability and allow Boeing to execute the plan
as efficiently as possible.
"The greatest consideration in airplane assembly scheduling is the scale of the problem, and the
tangle of inter-related constraints which make it extremely difficult to resolve conflicts," said
Richard Stottler, president of Stottler Henke Associates. "We’re gratified that Boeing recognized
in Aurora a uniquely capable solution for this massive scheduling challenge."
Aurora is a sophisticated scheduling system that combines a variety of scheduling techniques,
intelligent conflict resolution, and decision support. The software’s scheduling decisions take
into account resource requirements, a variety of constraints, and any pertinent domain
knowledge.
Once Aurora has created a schedule, it displays it in a series of graphical images that allow the
user to see the scheduled activities, resource allocations and the temporal relationships among
the activities. This display also allows the user to edit the schedule directly, intuitively, and
easily. Aurora’s analytic capabilities help the scheduling team understand why the software
scheduled the way it did, so the team can focus on those parts of the production plan that could
result in schedule cycle improvement if streamlined.
Founded in 1988, Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. applies artificial intelligence and other
advanced software technologies to solve problems that defy solution using traditional
approaches. The company delivers intelligent software solutions for education and training,
planning and scheduling, knowledge management and discovery, decision support, and software
development. Stottler Henke's clients include manufacturers, retailers, educational media
companies and government agencies. In 2006, Stottler Henke was the subject of a NASA
"Hallmarks of Success”
video profile
for its work developing and later commercializing
advanced planning and training software systems. Stottler Henke received a
2004 "Brandon Hall Excellence
in Learning" award
for innovative technology. For the past four consecutive years, Stottler
Henke was named one of the "top 100" companies making a significant impact on the military
training industry by Military Training Technology magazine, and in 2005 received a Blue
Ribbon recognizing it as a company that leads the industry in innovation.
Web:
http://www.stottlerhenke.com.
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