Boeing selects Western Data Systems

Citation

(1999), "Boeing selects Western Data Systems", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 71 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1999.12771bab.006

Boeing selects Western Data Systems

Boeing selects Western Data Systems

Keywords Software, WDS

Western Data Systems (WDS) recently announced that Boeing Electronic Systems & Missile Defense (ES&MD) has selected the WDS CompassENTERPRISE® suite of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software as a key component of their new generation information system. The WDS software will be implemented at Boeing's Anaheim, California, and El Paso, Texas sites as part of Boeing ES&MD's "Vision 2000" project to streamline production operations throughout the organisation. This project adds significant new installations of the WDS CompassENTERPRISE software to those already in use at multiple sites within Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems and Boeing Australia.

"We selected the WDS CompassENTERPRISE software because it provides the aerospace and defense (A&D) functionality we need for the future, and because it has been proven at many companies similar to ours, including other Boeing units", stated Jim Kinloch, program Manager for Vision 2000.

As part of Boeing ES&MD's "Vision 2000" program, CompassENTERPRISE applications will provide support for manufacturing, MRO, engineering, procurement, cost and contract management, and will be integrated with other software products for Product Data Management (PDM), shop-floor data collection, and financial management. The new client/server system uses a Sun Enterprise 10000 Data Center Server with local and wide area networks to support both the Anaheim and El Paso sites.

Boeing Electronic Systems & Missile Defense (ES&MD) is recognised as a leading company in its addressed markets of strategic missiles, missile defense systems, marine systems products, and electronic products and sensor systems for global defense and commercial markets. With more than 6,500 employees, ES&MD is a major player in National Missile Defense/Theater Missile Defense. The company's equipment and expertise is being applied to programs such as the GroundBased Interceptor/Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite System, Patriot Advanced Capability, and the Navy Theater-Wide Missile Defense System. For more than 40 years ES&MD has helped to produce all successful generations of Minuteman ICBMs, and is now leading a team of contractors to replace the aging guidance system electronics in the Minuteman III ICBM; designated as the backbone of the US fleet.

The El Paso plant is a Boeing Strategic Manufacturing Center, producing a variety of electronic products for several Boeing business units on dozens of Department of Defense and NASA programs. It is a rate adaptive, agile manufacturing facility with the capability to respond to a wide range of program needs. In 1995, it was named one of "America's 10 Best Plants" by Industry Week magazine.

Boeing ES&MD joins a growing number of units of The Boeing Company that have selected Western Data Systems ERP software. CompassENTERPRISE applications are already in use at Boeing's sprawling Military Aircraft and Missile Systems manufacturing facilities in St Louis, Missouri, with portions of the application suite also in use at related sites in Long Beach, California and Macon, Georgia. Boeing also recently went live with CompassENTERPRISE software at aircraft overhaul and component manufacturing sites in Avalon, Amberly and Brisbane, Australia.

Western Data Systems (WDS) is a provider of application software and services to the global commercial and military aerospace and defence industry. WDS serves the operational management needs of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance; repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities in industry and government in the USA and throughout the world. From prime contractors, component and sub-system suppliers; to logistics support centers and depots, Western Data Systems mission-critical business solutions help optimise the A&D enterprise.

WDS is headquartered in Calabasas, California, USA. International headquarters are located in Eton, Berkshire, UK.

Details from Weston Data Systems. Tel: +44 (0) 181 585 3400; Fax: +44 (0) 181 585 3401; E-mail: Cormack@westdata.com