Time to read: 6 min
Why was Boeing’s 747 such a huge success, while BAC’s Concorde is currently out of commission? It’s because Boeing thoroughly researched their target market before developing their product, while BAC jumped right to the development, skipping the research. Boeing’s research revealed the need for a plane that could carry more passengers, while BAC incorrectly assumed that people wanted to pay more to get to their destinations faster.
BAC did produce a beautiful aircraft, but since they left out that crucial first step, research, the outcome failed. Let’s look at a clear set of problem-solving steps for the research and development process of design projects and then analyze it in the context of Boeing’s R&D process for the B747, contrasted with BAC’s process of building the Concorde.
Problem-Solving Framework for R&D
这海尔迈尔的问题are a set of problem-solving questions for anyone proposing a research project or product development effort:
你想做什么？阐明您的目标，而无需使用任何行话。
今天如何完成，当前实践的限制是什么？
What’s new in your approach, and why do you think it will be successful?
Who cares? If you’re successful, what difference will it make? What are the risks and the payoffs?
它要花多少钱？这需要多长时间？检查成功的期中和最终“考试”是什么？
这se questions will help set up your framework for problem-solving as you move through the process of researching and developing your project idea. While these questions may seem overwhelming at first, breaking them down into the following steps will help you manage the process of answering them.
1. Establish the need or realize that there is a problem to be solved.
This is the most important step: the research you need to do before the development. There’s no point in developing a product no one will buy! One way to take this step is to‘pretotype,’—test your idea quickly and inexpensively by creating extremely simplified, mocked-up, or virtual versions of your product to help validate the premise that, “If we build it, they will use it.”
Boeing thought there was a need for an aircraft that could carry more passengers because the United States Air Force began a study on large transport aircraft and selected Boeing to manufacture the plane. Boeing also had airline customers that were pressuring them to build a larger passenger aircraft. This concrete evidence gave Boeing the confidence to create the B747, capable of carrying 467 people.
BAC, on the other hand, thought there was a need for an aircraft that could carry passengers to their destinations faster and created the Concorde that went Mach 2, twice the speed of sound. However, BAC failed to conduct research to validate customers’ desires for such an aircraft.
最初，BAC希望设计长距离和短距离超音速飞机，但在客户不感兴趣时放弃了短期版本，这是正确的决定，但是该公司应该在长期版本上进一步研究客户的意见。尽管BAC开发了一架美丽的飞机，但由于对市场需求的误解，协和将最终失败了。
R＆D解决问题的下一步是寻找解决方案，一旦确定了问题，并有具体的证据表明该问题需要解决。
2.计划如何解决问题。
多少时间、金钱和资源将要求ed to carry out your solution to the problem you’ve identified? In the case of an aircraft, lots of engineers and materials are needed.
这B747 cost about $2 billion in development and took five years, from May 1964-February 1969, from proposal to the first test flight. The Concorde cost $1.3 billion in development and took 15 years, from February 1954-March 1969, from initial meeting to first test flight.
一个good way to figure out how many resources you’ll need is resource planning, which involves identifying the resources needed to successfully execute a project and then executing within these resource constraints.
Once you have a general game plan, start incorporating the details.
3. Understand the problem by developing requirements and uncovering existing solutions for similar problems.
这个设计需要什么才能实现？有什么要求？
B747需要携带很多乘客。协和需要走得很快。
Who else is currently making it? What are the existing solutions?
B747于1989年推出。18年后，空中客车公司配备了一架竞争大型乘客飞机，即380。市场上现有的解决方案是747，它的销量非常好。空中客车公司没有学习和改进B747S设计，而是提出了一架全新的飞机。
一个irbus’s 380 could carry 853 passengers, many more than the 467 from the B747, however the A380 had some major issues. The A380 was really expensive, Airbus initially could not build them fast enough to meet initial orders, the turbulence created from these aircraft was very disruptive, and they were difficult to gate at airports because they required special gate parking, due to their massive size. Airbus should have imitated the B747s positive qualities and ignored the negative, learning from its competitors. However, Airbus did not do the proper research into existing solutions for a similar problem and ultimately built an aircraft ahead of its time that did not sell well.
这refore, Boeing’s 747 did not have these issues.
协和的人没有其他相互竞争的商业超音速飞机，只有军用，因此创造了一个全新的市场。这是有风险的，因为新市场缺乏既定行业的智慧和经验。创建新市场的企业不一定知道他们的客户是谁，或者应该提供的产品和服务范围。
这re is, of course, a potentially huge reward for creating a new market and disrupting other industries, but the Concorde didn’t instigate a supersonic commercial aircraft market or disrupt the aviation industry.
Once you have your project requirement details and have hopefully learned from other existing solutions, brainstorm different solutions.
4.生成替代解决方案并通过将替代方案与设计要求和彼此进行比较来评估替代方案。
Rather than building an entirely new plane with more capacity, Boeing could have used more smaller planes with more frequent routes. In the case of the Concorde, rather than building an entirely new plane, there are other methods of supersonic transport, like the hyperloop.
一个贸易研究始终是一种很好的方法，可以在一组建议的可行解决方案中识别最平衡的技术解决方案（FAA 2006）。贸易研究列出了最重要的要求，为每个人分配了重要性，并最终决定了最佳解决方案。
In the case of the hyperloop, it would have failed the trade study because one of the most important criterion in supersonic travel is flexibility in routes. The hyperloop can only go to and from a single destination and therefore has a very low score for that requirement. It is also extremely expensive, even more than the Concorde, and would score low on cost as well.
5.决定可接受的解决方案。
6.传达结果。
Document! Iterate! Learn from your successes and mistakes!
Boeing started with the 747-100 in 1966 and quickly iterated and updated the plane to produce the 747-200 quickly afterward, in 1968, and again in 1980, with the 747-300, and in 1985, with the 747-400. Ultimately, the 747-8 was announced in 2005, with two versions: the -8F and -8I, and has received 125 total orders.
Unfortunately, the Concorde did not have enough sales to keep it in business, and a fatal accident ultimately led to its retirement in 2003.
Main Takeaways
与设计过程一样复杂，最重要的是确定开发是否应该首先发生！研究回答了这个问题。启动项目之前的体型，以发现是否需要您设计的内容。
Did this process answer those Heilmeier questions for you? If so, you’re ready to problem solve! Start with the steps, do your research, share your findings with your team, and decide whether you should start developing, or do more research. Good luck!
