1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,080 STEVE MILES: So in the interest of time and to keep going, 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,980 our next speakers are in the aeronautic space. 3 00:00:07,980 --> 00:00:10,830 And we have Alan Thorne, who's the manager 4 00:00:10,830 --> 00:00:14,790 of the Manufacturing Automation Program at Cambridge 5 00:00:14,790 --> 00:00:20,730 University, who will be our next speaker. 6 00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:24,330 And as I think was mentioned-- and Ken, actually, 7 00:00:24,330 --> 00:00:28,290 do you want to come up and sit on the panel here? 8 00:00:28,290 --> 00:00:31,170 As was mentioned in the beginning of the session, 9 00:00:31,170 --> 00:00:34,620 this is the example of a market opportunity 10 00:00:34,620 --> 00:00:37,620 that looks like it's going to require a higher 11 00:00:37,620 --> 00:00:41,970 level of academic collaboration, and then with our standards 12 00:00:41,970 --> 00:00:46,170 organization and so on, to ensure that the aircraft parts 13 00:00:46,170 --> 00:00:49,200 industry comes up to meet the kinds of requirements 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,020 that the OEMs are placing on the industry. 15 00:01:06,892 --> 00:01:09,050 ALAN THORNE: Hello, everyone. 16 00:01:09,050 --> 00:01:10,158 My name is Alan Thorne. 17 00:01:10,158 --> 00:01:11,950 I'm actually one of the associate directors 18 00:01:11,950 --> 00:01:15,820 at the Cambridge Auto-ID Lab in the UK. 19 00:01:15,820 --> 00:01:18,217 I'm afraid one of my colleagues, Duncan MacFarlane, 20 00:01:18,217 --> 00:01:20,050 was going to be here today and speak to you, 21 00:01:20,050 --> 00:01:21,370 but he couldn't make it. 22 00:01:21,370 --> 00:01:24,760 So making up for that in [? gray ?] [INAUDIBLE] 23 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,880 is Ken Porad from Boeing, who's going 24 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,130 to be talking at the end of my presentation 25 00:01:30,130 --> 00:01:32,860 about some of the industrial requirements in this area. 26 00:01:39,090 --> 00:01:40,840 So the kick off in this [INAUDIBLE] today, 27 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,465 basically I'm going to go over the aim. 28 00:01:42,465 --> 00:01:46,290 What we've been doing is putting together a research forum 29 00:01:46,290 --> 00:01:49,217 to help with the adoption of RFID in the aerospace sector. 30 00:01:49,217 --> 00:01:51,300 So I'm going to go over the aim of that work, some 31 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:53,070 of the background work we've been doing, 32 00:01:53,070 --> 00:01:55,710 the development of the research consortium, 33 00:01:55,710 --> 00:01:57,900 the research themes that we've been looking at, 34 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:01,230 and then we'll move over to Ken to get Ken's view on some 35 00:02:01,230 --> 00:02:04,530 of the industrial requirements and how the research program is 36 00:02:04,530 --> 00:02:07,770 feeding into his work. 37 00:02:07,770 --> 00:02:11,910 So the aim of the program is to remove barriers to widescale 38 00:02:11,910 --> 00:02:14,340 automated ID deployment in the aerospace sector 39 00:02:14,340 --> 00:02:16,620 through timely and effective R&D-- 40 00:02:16,620 --> 00:02:17,473 a noble goal. 41 00:02:17,473 --> 00:02:19,890 And that's one of the things I do want to point out here-- 42 00:02:19,890 --> 00:02:21,910 is we're looking at ID technology. 43 00:02:21,910 --> 00:02:24,187 So we're not specifically looking at RFID, 44 00:02:24,187 --> 00:02:26,520 because one of the things we have found in the aerospace 45 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,100 sector is there's going to be a number of ID solutions 46 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:31,030 that we'll be using. 47 00:02:31,030 --> 00:02:34,810 And we have to think about which appropriate ID technology works 48 00:02:34,810 --> 00:02:36,060 for which particular solution. 49 00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:41,510 So if we look at the background, I mean, 50 00:02:41,510 --> 00:02:43,790 the Cambridge Auto-ID Lab is based at the engineering 51 00:02:43,790 --> 00:02:46,880 department in Cambridge, we have a lot of work going off 52 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,800 into the aerospace sector. 53 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,080 And there's been a lot of requests 54 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,990 to understand how our RFID work could 55 00:02:53,990 --> 00:02:58,030 impact some of the aerospace work that's been going on. 56 00:02:58,030 --> 00:03:00,460 And the aerospace companies we've been speaking to 57 00:03:00,460 --> 00:03:02,920 over the last few years have been thinking quite broadly 58 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:07,000 about how RFID would affect their business 59 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,600 across a wide scale, all the way from the production level, 60 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,020 right through to end-of-life information about products. 61 00:03:14,020 --> 00:03:15,520 So that made it quite exciting to us 62 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,220 as a research area to be tackling. 63 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:22,690 There's been many one-off trials using 1D and 2D barcodes, 64 00:03:22,690 --> 00:03:24,670 and RFID as well. 65 00:03:24,670 --> 00:03:28,240 And really, it was recognized quite early 66 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,170 on that it wasn't going to be just a simple case of taking 67 00:03:32,170 --> 00:03:35,320 knowledge from the fast-moving consumer goods area, 68 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,900 and moving out of into the aerospace sector. 69 00:03:37,900 --> 00:03:40,240 There were some definite differences there. 70 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,220 And one of the quick ones you can see here 71 00:03:42,220 --> 00:03:45,370 is the aerospace industry is very much interested in what 72 00:03:45,370 --> 00:03:47,410 happens to a product during its life phase, 73 00:03:47,410 --> 00:03:49,490 rather than up to the point of sale, 74 00:03:49,490 --> 00:03:52,990 which we find in the retail area. 75 00:03:52,990 --> 00:03:55,030 So there's been numerous industrial trials 76 00:03:55,030 --> 00:03:59,050 and activities going on, and I've listed just a few here. 77 00:03:59,050 --> 00:04:01,720 But you can see that Boeing, Airbus, General Electric, BAE 78 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,780 systems to name a few, have been really diving into this work. 79 00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:07,870 And of course, the standards development area 80 00:04:07,870 --> 00:04:09,430 is really pushing ahead as well. 81 00:04:09,430 --> 00:04:12,550 We've got EPCglobal looking at how the EPC network will 82 00:04:12,550 --> 00:04:16,370 support this area, as well as organizations, such as ATA, 83 00:04:16,370 --> 00:04:18,550 [? SETA, ?] and IATA. 84 00:04:18,550 --> 00:04:21,279 And of course, there's been a number of industrial forums, 85 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:26,980 such as the Aviation RFID Forum run by Boeing and Airbus, 86 00:04:26,980 --> 00:04:30,660 as well as RFID Journal. 87 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:33,540 So it was recognized that there was really 88 00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:36,420 a need for a research program to help 89 00:04:36,420 --> 00:04:38,250 with the adoption of this work. 90 00:04:38,250 --> 00:04:41,400 And really, it was to add some research rigor behind some 91 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,640 of the activities that were going on, 92 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,980 as well as provide an independent research 93 00:04:46,980 --> 00:04:51,000 body to support solutions and development of some 94 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:58,050 of the standards for work to go towards the standards area. 95 00:04:58,050 --> 00:05:01,830 So I've just listed here a few of the key differences 96 00:05:01,830 --> 00:05:06,790 that you can find between the retail sector and the aviation 97 00:05:06,790 --> 00:05:07,290 sector. 98 00:05:07,290 --> 00:05:09,840 If we look at product lives, you find 99 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,340 that in the retail sector, most of our products, [INAUDIBLE] 100 00:05:12,340 --> 00:05:14,970 we can measure in months. 101 00:05:14,970 --> 00:05:16,500 Whereas in the aerospace sector, we 102 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:17,917 find that many of the products are 103 00:05:17,917 --> 00:05:20,200 going to be out there between 20 and 50 years. 104 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:21,825 So we're going to actually be capturing 105 00:05:21,825 --> 00:05:25,395 a lot more information about the way these products are used. 106 00:05:25,395 --> 00:05:26,770 And of course, the technology has 107 00:05:26,770 --> 00:05:29,180 to last the lifetime of that product. 108 00:05:29,180 --> 00:05:31,750 So we're looking for much more robust technologies 109 00:05:31,750 --> 00:05:33,580 to be used there. 110 00:05:33,580 --> 00:05:36,520 Product characteristics-- we find in the retail sector 111 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,300 most of the products are low value, low complexity items, 112 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:42,460 whereas in the aviation sector, we 113 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:45,520 find that they're high value, high complexity items, where 114 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,490 we can start to look at using more expensive technologies, 115 00:05:48,490 --> 00:05:51,010 such as expanding into some of the active technologies 116 00:05:51,010 --> 00:05:54,580 and the more sophisticated tag classifications that 117 00:05:54,580 --> 00:05:58,180 will give us more information about these products. 118 00:05:58,180 --> 00:06:01,300 Key application areas-- in the retail sector, 119 00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:04,090 it's mainly been focused in the logistics area. 120 00:06:04,090 --> 00:06:06,010 In the aerospace sector, we're really 121 00:06:06,010 --> 00:06:08,080 looking at how the product's being used-- 122 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,650 lifecycle information, repair services, 123 00:06:11,650 --> 00:06:15,460 [? spares ?] management, as well as the logistic services. 124 00:06:15,460 --> 00:06:17,348 And of course, environmental conditions-- 125 00:06:17,348 --> 00:06:19,390 the environmental conditions in the retail sector 126 00:06:19,390 --> 00:06:22,600 are actually quite nice compared to in the aerospace sector. 127 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,200 It is quite a harsh environment that these parts 128 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:26,200 are going to be used in. 129 00:06:28,910 --> 00:06:32,840 So we went about setting a research consortium together 130 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:34,890 to support some of this work. 131 00:06:34,890 --> 00:06:38,600 And we started it off in December of 2004. 132 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,280 And this was really going around, 133 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:43,520 getting industrial consultation to understand 134 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,620 what the requirements were. 135 00:06:45,620 --> 00:06:48,527 So in April 2005, we announced that we 136 00:06:48,527 --> 00:06:50,360 were going to be putting together a program, 137 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,110 and then we started on the background work 138 00:06:52,110 --> 00:06:53,090 for that program-- 139 00:06:53,090 --> 00:06:55,980 background investigations, membership process. 140 00:06:55,980 --> 00:06:58,580 So this is an industry-sponsored program, getting members 141 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:00,830 to join the program, and of course, 142 00:07:00,830 --> 00:07:04,560 forming a core research team that would be working on it. 143 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,050 The program has just been launched. 144 00:07:06,050 --> 00:07:10,940 It was launched on [? the ?] 9, 2005, basically, at one 145 00:07:10,940 --> 00:07:12,470 of the Boeing facilities. 146 00:07:12,470 --> 00:07:13,850 And really since then, we've been 147 00:07:13,850 --> 00:07:16,760 moving into initial scoping activities 148 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,563 to understand the research area more widely. 149 00:07:19,563 --> 00:07:21,980 Those research scopes are going to be delivered, actually, 150 00:07:21,980 --> 00:07:23,188 at the beginning of February. 151 00:07:23,188 --> 00:07:26,228 Our next meeting's in London on the 1st and 2nd of February. 152 00:07:26,228 --> 00:07:28,520 Then we'll be launching into the full research program. 153 00:07:31,183 --> 00:07:32,600 And of course, the important thing 154 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,360 is to make sure that these industrial requirements are 155 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:40,350 getting fed back into the program as it continues on. 156 00:07:40,350 --> 00:07:43,190 So to give you an idea, the industrial consultation 157 00:07:43,190 --> 00:07:46,550 meetings that we've been having, the initial one 158 00:07:46,550 --> 00:07:49,610 was in Cambridge in December 2004, 159 00:07:49,610 --> 00:07:52,972 with [? MBNA ?] in Germany and DaimlerChrysler in 2005. 160 00:07:52,972 --> 00:07:54,680 And of course, we did quite a lot of work 161 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:55,970 at the Paris Air Show. 162 00:07:55,970 --> 00:07:58,850 So this is really consulting with the industry 163 00:07:58,850 --> 00:08:02,240 and finding out what their needs were and requirements. 164 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,730 And the kind of people we've been working with are airframe 165 00:08:04,730 --> 00:08:07,760 manufacturers, parts suppliers, airline organizations, 166 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,730 aerodefense organizations, the Ministry of Defence, 167 00:08:10,730 --> 00:08:12,590 maintenance service organizations, 168 00:08:12,590 --> 00:08:14,780 and some light aircraft manufacturers, 169 00:08:14,780 --> 00:08:17,460 so as to get a broad feel of the kind of requirements that were 170 00:08:17,460 --> 00:08:17,960 needed. 171 00:08:20,630 --> 00:08:23,790 The kind of organizations we're involving in the program-- 172 00:08:23,790 --> 00:08:25,940 again, it is an industry-funded program. 173 00:08:25,940 --> 00:08:28,760 We have end user membership to the program. 174 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,140 We have technology membership to the program. 175 00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:34,549 And of course, we have standards bodies involved in the program, 176 00:08:34,549 --> 00:08:37,130 as well as the research side, where we are using 177 00:08:37,130 --> 00:08:38,675 the Cambridge Auto-ID Lab. 178 00:08:38,675 --> 00:08:43,190 It is primarily managing the program as such 179 00:08:43,190 --> 00:08:47,060 and adding its research activities to it. 180 00:08:47,060 --> 00:08:49,610 Auto ID labs-- the rest of the auto-ID labs 181 00:08:49,610 --> 00:08:52,430 are supporting us in this work, and providing their research 182 00:08:52,430 --> 00:08:54,950 skills as they fit the needs of the program. 183 00:08:54,950 --> 00:08:56,450 And of course, what we're also doing 184 00:08:56,450 --> 00:08:58,370 is looking for other research organizations 185 00:08:58,370 --> 00:09:00,770 to help us out, where they got specific skills 186 00:09:00,770 --> 00:09:02,690 or add to our activity. 187 00:09:05,380 --> 00:09:07,130 So to give you an idea of some of the labs 188 00:09:07,130 --> 00:09:10,430 that are helping us out at the moment, 189 00:09:10,430 --> 00:09:13,640 the Korean Auto-ID Lab is keen to get involved, 190 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:15,380 as well as the Japanese Auto-ID Lab 191 00:09:15,380 --> 00:09:18,140 has been very hard at work on this program. 192 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:20,090 And we've got two other labs that 193 00:09:20,090 --> 00:09:23,000 are becoming pushed by the sponsors, if you like. 194 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,520 So UNICAMP in Brazil is a university 195 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,340 that is sponsored by Embraer, an aviation 196 00:09:31,340 --> 00:09:34,370 organization in Brazil, who are keen to work with us, 197 00:09:34,370 --> 00:09:38,720 as well as Magdeburg, one of the front [INAUDIBLE] in Germany 198 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:39,890 who works with Airbus. 199 00:09:42,463 --> 00:09:44,380 So to give you an idea of who our sponsors are 200 00:09:44,380 --> 00:09:48,400 at the moment, the user sponsorship, as you can see, 201 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,980 technology membership, and the standards bodies involved. 202 00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:56,520 So the way we've been moving forward 203 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,118 with this is, each member that joins the program 204 00:10:00,118 --> 00:10:02,160 gets a vote on the themes and the way the program 205 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:03,960 goes forward. 206 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:05,970 And basically, everyone, what we do 207 00:10:05,970 --> 00:10:08,220 is we take these initial themes that we found. 208 00:10:08,220 --> 00:10:09,330 We present on them. 209 00:10:09,330 --> 00:10:11,153 We allow the membership to vote on 210 00:10:11,153 --> 00:10:12,570 how they would like to go forward, 211 00:10:12,570 --> 00:10:14,580 and which themes will be taken on. 212 00:10:14,580 --> 00:10:16,590 What we do have is a governing body 213 00:10:16,590 --> 00:10:19,013 to ensure that any disputes get resolved. 214 00:10:19,013 --> 00:10:21,180 And the governing bodies really been pulled together 215 00:10:21,180 --> 00:10:23,545 from the end user membership of the program. 216 00:10:23,545 --> 00:10:25,170 So that's to make sure that we're still 217 00:10:25,170 --> 00:10:27,503 [? in there ?] meeting the requirements of the aerospace 218 00:10:27,503 --> 00:10:29,790 sector, and not necessarily just meeting 219 00:10:29,790 --> 00:10:30,990 technology vendors' needs. 220 00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:37,440 So the program structure is, we have a bunch of research teams 221 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,020 that we're working on, and we're pulling organizations in 222 00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:43,100 to support the research work in those different areas. 223 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,700 So the kind of research themes that we're working on 224 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:52,630 come out as ID lifecycle management, application 225 00:10:52,630 --> 00:10:55,990 matching, sensor fusion, security, track and trace, 226 00:10:55,990 --> 00:10:57,520 and data synchronization. 227 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,160 So these are key areas that have been identified 228 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,370 by the aerospace organizations as being important research 229 00:11:03,370 --> 00:11:05,270 tracks that should be solved to help 230 00:11:05,270 --> 00:11:09,010 with the adoption of this technology. 231 00:11:09,010 --> 00:11:12,100 So lifecycle ID management, the background of this 232 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:15,370 is we're finding that a product can have 233 00:11:15,370 --> 00:11:16,960 a number of identities in it. 234 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,540 It can have a number of databases or data repositories 235 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:21,597 within a system holding information on it. 236 00:11:21,597 --> 00:11:23,680 So for example, it can have production information 237 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:24,340 about it. 238 00:11:24,340 --> 00:11:26,360 It could have maintenance information about it, 239 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,510 and it could use this information about it. 240 00:11:28,510 --> 00:11:29,890 As components in that product get 241 00:11:29,890 --> 00:11:32,770 changed, how do we thread together this information 242 00:11:32,770 --> 00:11:35,440 to maintain information throughout the product 243 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,457 lifecycle of that part, which is quite an important issue. 244 00:11:38,457 --> 00:11:40,540 And we've got a number of industrial collaborators 245 00:11:40,540 --> 00:11:43,250 that are working on that program. 246 00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:47,390 ID application matching-- again, as I said before, RFID is not 247 00:11:47,390 --> 00:11:48,295 the only ID solution. 248 00:11:48,295 --> 00:11:49,670 And there is actually going to be 249 00:11:49,670 --> 00:11:53,220 a number of ID solutions used in the aerospace sector. 250 00:11:53,220 --> 00:11:55,730 If we look at people like Rolls-Royce, 251 00:11:55,730 --> 00:11:58,485 they're very keen-- they use data matrixes on fan blades 252 00:11:58,485 --> 00:11:59,360 for identifying them. 253 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,790 It's a way in which they can uniquely identify fan blades. 254 00:12:02,790 --> 00:12:05,690 So we've got to deal with a mix of IT technologies. 255 00:12:05,690 --> 00:12:07,160 What this work here is looking at 256 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,740 is different processes within the aerospace industry 257 00:12:09,740 --> 00:12:12,710 and understanding which ID technologies fit most 258 00:12:12,710 --> 00:12:14,820 appropriately to those needs. 259 00:12:14,820 --> 00:12:16,290 Once we can do that, we can start 260 00:12:16,290 --> 00:12:18,380 to understand the different ID technologies 261 00:12:18,380 --> 00:12:22,010 that we use in different areas within a particular process. 262 00:12:22,010 --> 00:12:24,620 And we can work out which would be appropriate technology 263 00:12:24,620 --> 00:12:26,600 or best match across the different processes 264 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,180 that that part or product has to go through. 265 00:12:30,180 --> 00:12:32,923 And again, we have a number of industrial collaborators 266 00:12:32,923 --> 00:12:33,590 working on that. 267 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,850 Sensor fusion-- this is coming through health care monitoring 268 00:12:42,850 --> 00:12:44,800 on aircraft. 269 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,740 So we're very interested in knowing how we can best 270 00:12:47,740 --> 00:12:50,680 use sensory information that comes from aircraft systems, 271 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,245 as well as ID information that comes from parts that 272 00:12:53,245 --> 00:12:57,370 are in that aircraft to make best decisions on has there 273 00:12:57,370 --> 00:13:00,700 been a problem with the aircraft or future maintenance that 274 00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:02,050 has to happen on an aircraft? 275 00:13:02,050 --> 00:13:03,840 Or is there a failure mode about to occur? 276 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,870 Data synchronization-- we're finding 277 00:13:10,870 --> 00:13:12,820 that, on many of the applications, 278 00:13:12,820 --> 00:13:15,610 it may be that the product might not 279 00:13:15,610 --> 00:13:17,810 be in a networked environment. 280 00:13:17,810 --> 00:13:20,050 So we might have to store information locally 281 00:13:20,050 --> 00:13:22,390 on the tag for a number of processes, 282 00:13:22,390 --> 00:13:24,880 or it might be that it's a safety-critical kind 283 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,580 of information that has to be stored on the tag. 284 00:13:27,580 --> 00:13:29,260 So how do we deal with products that 285 00:13:29,260 --> 00:13:31,750 are moving in and out of networked environment, 286 00:13:31,750 --> 00:13:35,050 and making sure the data is updated in an appropriate way, 287 00:13:35,050 --> 00:13:36,850 and the correct synchronization processes 288 00:13:36,850 --> 00:13:40,330 are happening so that's another very important research topic 289 00:13:40,330 --> 00:13:42,990 that's been brought forward. 290 00:13:42,990 --> 00:13:44,820 And of course, track and trace-- 291 00:13:44,820 --> 00:13:46,800 as in many different areas, track and trace 292 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,840 is very important in the aerospace sector. 293 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,760 I mean, it's a legislative requirement 294 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,630 to provide good track and trace of aerospace parts. 295 00:13:54,630 --> 00:13:57,293 So currently, we've got some scoping activities, 296 00:13:57,293 --> 00:13:59,460 understanding what the legislative requirements are, 297 00:13:59,460 --> 00:14:02,760 as well as the business needs in the aerospace sector for track 298 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,010 and trace, and thinking about what the future will 299 00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:06,750 be of track and trace. 300 00:14:09,390 --> 00:14:11,070 And everyone's in agreement. 301 00:14:11,070 --> 00:14:13,170 Basically, the security is an enormous here 302 00:14:13,170 --> 00:14:14,340 that has to be covered. 303 00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:16,950 And really, this hit all of our research areas 304 00:14:16,950 --> 00:14:18,700 that we've been looking at. 305 00:14:18,700 --> 00:14:20,940 So we can see here, in this diagram 306 00:14:20,940 --> 00:14:24,180 here, I've tried to show from right down at a hardware level 307 00:14:24,180 --> 00:14:26,490 up to the business level on the left-hand side, 308 00:14:26,490 --> 00:14:29,007 and the different research topics we're working on. 309 00:14:29,007 --> 00:14:30,840 You can see that there's quite a good match. 310 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,720 We're hitting quite a few of the areas with the research topics 311 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:34,780 that we're looking at. 312 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:37,830 And you can see on the far right that actually, security 313 00:14:37,830 --> 00:14:40,260 goes across a whole bunch of those research teams 314 00:14:40,260 --> 00:14:43,122 that we were investigating. 315 00:14:43,122 --> 00:14:45,580 And actually, our security work team is working quite well. 316 00:14:45,580 --> 00:14:47,470 That's now moved into an industrial work 317 00:14:47,470 --> 00:14:51,970 team that are actually looking into that work right now. 318 00:14:51,970 --> 00:14:55,180 So deliverables are coming out of the program-- 319 00:14:55,180 --> 00:14:57,520 tools to support deployment analysis, 320 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,400 guidance on pilot results, guidelines 321 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,010 on complex requirements, demonstrations 322 00:15:03,010 --> 00:15:07,060 to clarify applications and issues, software prototyping, 323 00:15:07,060 --> 00:15:09,890 and white papers. 324 00:15:09,890 --> 00:15:13,310 And for our next meeting that's going on on the 1st and 2nd 325 00:15:13,310 --> 00:15:15,962 of February, we've got a number of industrial white papers 326 00:15:15,962 --> 00:15:18,170 that are coming out on each of these research topics. 327 00:15:18,170 --> 00:15:20,960 And these are basically the scoping activities 328 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,990 that have been going on for the last few months. 329 00:15:25,910 --> 00:15:29,120 So to give you an idea of some of the current research 330 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,320 team that's involved in the program, 331 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,720 basically what we're looking for here 332 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,993 is really to find research organizations that 333 00:15:37,993 --> 00:15:39,410 are interested in getting involved 334 00:15:39,410 --> 00:15:40,400 in some of these areas. 335 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,943 And it'd be very good if you could get in touch with me 336 00:15:43,943 --> 00:15:45,860 to talk further about how we could collaborate 337 00:15:45,860 --> 00:15:48,370 on this program. 338 00:15:48,370 --> 00:15:51,300 So that covers what we're doing as putting together a research 339 00:15:51,300 --> 00:15:52,680 program for this area. 340 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,620 What I would like to do is move over to Ken 341 00:15:55,620 --> 00:15:59,220 to allow him to talk about some of the requirements that Boeing 342 00:15:59,220 --> 00:16:01,590 and his vision for where some of the commercial aircraft 343 00:16:01,590 --> 00:16:02,540 activities are going. 344 00:16:07,540 --> 00:16:08,540 Thank you. 345 00:16:08,540 --> 00:16:12,040 [APPLAUSE] 346 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,210 KEN PORAD: Are we going to take a break first? 347 00:16:18,856 --> 00:16:20,570 ALAN THORNE: What did he put here? 348 00:16:44,580 --> 00:16:46,880 KEN PORAD: Good afternoon, everybody. 349 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:48,310 My name is Ken Porad. 350 00:16:48,310 --> 00:16:50,290 I'm the Boeing engineering representative 351 00:16:50,290 --> 00:16:53,890 to the Air Transport Association [INAUDIBLE] 352 00:16:53,890 --> 00:16:56,710 automated identification and data capture. 353 00:16:56,710 --> 00:16:59,470 And I'm leading the effort at Boeing Commercial Airplanes 354 00:16:59,470 --> 00:17:04,089 to get RFID-enabled shipping labels all over our factory 355 00:17:04,089 --> 00:17:07,420 to reduce unit cost, cycle time, and defects, and also 356 00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:12,220 on shipping labels and packing slips, and on airplane parts. 357 00:17:12,220 --> 00:17:16,210 And Alan asked me to talk about some of the progress 358 00:17:16,210 --> 00:17:18,725 on deploying RFID on the airplane parts, 359 00:17:18,725 --> 00:17:21,100 because it's the most exciting and it's the most complex. 360 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,380 I want to start with how we do business today. 361 00:17:27,380 --> 00:17:30,350 In commercial aviation, we have barcoded nameplates 362 00:17:30,350 --> 00:17:32,630 to identify products on the airplane. 363 00:17:32,630 --> 00:17:34,220 And typically, there's three elements 364 00:17:34,220 --> 00:17:36,740 of data that are on these nameplates that 365 00:17:36,740 --> 00:17:38,450 are a pointer to a global database 366 00:17:38,450 --> 00:17:40,370 of unlimited information about the life cycle 367 00:17:40,370 --> 00:17:42,080 history of that product. 368 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:43,790 And we use a unique serial number 369 00:17:43,790 --> 00:17:46,460 within a manufacturer's code and a part number. 370 00:17:46,460 --> 00:17:49,040 Those three elements today define uniqueness 371 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,930 to an airplane part. 372 00:17:50,930 --> 00:17:52,770 And there's a problem with that. 373 00:17:52,770 --> 00:17:54,760 The problem is that's a static device. 374 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,330 So once it's printed, that barcoded 375 00:17:56,330 --> 00:18:00,170 name plate, that's the way it is for 20 or 30 years. 376 00:18:00,170 --> 00:18:02,690 And in my industry, we change our numbers 377 00:18:02,690 --> 00:18:04,310 to make it more complicated. 378 00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:07,010 Any time that we add a service bulletin or a mod kit 379 00:18:07,010 --> 00:18:09,500 to improve reliability of an airplane part, 380 00:18:09,500 --> 00:18:11,780 if we change form, fit, or function of that part, 381 00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:13,950 we have to roll the part number. 382 00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:17,130 So you can imagine, what's up on the screen, 383 00:18:17,130 --> 00:18:20,330 if this identifies the product on an airplane, that lower 384 00:18:20,330 --> 00:18:22,040 nameplate, that's good for 30 years. 385 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,917 That's the Social Security number of a part. 386 00:18:23,917 --> 00:18:26,000 And you'll see that there's a unique serial number 387 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:27,110 and a manufacturer code. 388 00:18:27,110 --> 00:18:29,420 That's in human-readable text in English, 389 00:18:29,420 --> 00:18:31,040 and it's also in a barcode. 390 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,160 That upper nameplate has the supplier's part number. 391 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,480 That supplier's part number of changes over time-- 392 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,360 sometimes many times over the years. 393 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:42,620 So what we do today is we have to install a revised 394 00:18:42,620 --> 00:18:45,740 upper nameplate in a service bulletin or mod kit, 395 00:18:45,740 --> 00:18:48,170 so any third-party maintenance provider worldwide 396 00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:51,020 could install this on any Boeing customer's airplane 397 00:18:51,020 --> 00:18:54,550 without linking it to a specific serial number to end item. 398 00:18:54,550 --> 00:18:57,470 So you can imagine the logistics challenge it is. 399 00:18:57,470 --> 00:19:01,370 You can imagine the benefits for RFID. 400 00:19:01,370 --> 00:19:03,480 Let's talk about benefits. 401 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,020 A lot of times, when we present, we have Airbus with us. 402 00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:08,690 Airbus, as you know, is our major competitor. 403 00:19:08,690 --> 00:19:10,520 But they're not our competitor to implement 404 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,560 standards initiatives. 405 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:14,270 You may not know that Boeing and Airbus 406 00:19:14,270 --> 00:19:17,360 share 70% common suppliers. 407 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,600 So to provide inconsistent requirements and direction 408 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,820 to common suppliers would be costly and foolish 409 00:19:22,820 --> 00:19:24,650 for Boeing and Airbus. 410 00:19:24,650 --> 00:19:27,398 And what's worse would be to have an inconsistent solution 411 00:19:27,398 --> 00:19:29,690 to a common customer that flies a mixed fleet of Boeing 412 00:19:29,690 --> 00:19:31,610 and Airbus Jets. 413 00:19:31,610 --> 00:19:34,070 So we've been working with Airbus for 10 years 414 00:19:34,070 --> 00:19:40,632 now, first to deploy barcoded nameplates, and now on RFID. 415 00:19:40,632 --> 00:19:42,590 Without spending a lot of time on the benefits, 416 00:19:42,590 --> 00:19:45,230 this is worth a lot of money to Boeing. 417 00:19:45,230 --> 00:19:48,890 As I said, we're going to be putting RFID-enabled shipping 418 00:19:48,890 --> 00:19:51,440 labels on packages incoming to Boeing. 419 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,830 Just in Boeing Seattle, we get 50,000 packages 420 00:19:54,830 --> 00:19:58,100 per day incoming to support the production of an airplane 421 00:19:58,100 --> 00:19:59,430 program. 422 00:19:59,430 --> 00:20:00,407 So 50,000 per day. 423 00:20:00,407 --> 00:20:02,240 If you want to know about the business case, 424 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,870 today, we have nine linear barcodes on each box. 425 00:20:05,870 --> 00:20:11,060 So nine times 50,000, that's 450,000 times someone 426 00:20:11,060 --> 00:20:13,490 has to read a barcode. 427 00:20:13,490 --> 00:20:16,970 In Wichita, Kansas, we set up a portal that incoming receiving, 428 00:20:16,970 --> 00:20:19,820 and we pushed palleted shipments from all of the logistics 429 00:20:19,820 --> 00:20:22,925 providers like FedEx and UPS and DHL. 430 00:20:22,925 --> 00:20:25,550 They'd all just come right into our incoming or receiving door, 431 00:20:25,550 --> 00:20:29,150 or at our dock door, and go right into our ERP system. 432 00:20:29,150 --> 00:20:30,740 That was worth millions right there. 433 00:20:30,740 --> 00:20:32,750 I'm not allowed to tell you the exact numbers, 434 00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:34,910 but they're huge. 435 00:20:34,910 --> 00:20:38,240 Also in our factory, reducing cycle time unit costs 436 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:39,560 and defects. 437 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,800 You probably know there's six million parts on a jetliner. 438 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,990 We're not going to be putting RFID tags on all six 439 00:20:44,990 --> 00:20:49,340 million parts, but I will show you what we have planned for. 440 00:20:49,340 --> 00:20:51,208 Another major benefit for Boeing is 441 00:20:51,208 --> 00:20:53,000 that this information that we're exchanging 442 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,550 with our partners, our airline customers and our suppliers, 443 00:20:56,550 --> 00:20:59,240 this is helping us reduce the cycle time to solve problems 444 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:00,560 that occur. 445 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,650 The airplane is one of the most complex products ever created 446 00:21:03,650 --> 00:21:04,850 by man. 447 00:21:04,850 --> 00:21:06,260 And as there's growing pains when 448 00:21:06,260 --> 00:21:07,718 we introduce a new product, there's 449 00:21:07,718 --> 00:21:09,560 a lot of technical problems. 450 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,810 And before, it would take up to 18 months 451 00:21:11,810 --> 00:21:14,660 to fault isolate why these problems are being caused 452 00:21:14,660 --> 00:21:17,960 and to get a technical fix deployed into the field. 453 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,810 With RFID, we think we'll get sharing of information 454 00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:24,430 to reduce that cycle time down to three months. 455 00:21:24,430 --> 00:21:26,470 All these other benefits up on the screen 456 00:21:26,470 --> 00:21:28,780 provide accurate as-delivery configuration helps 457 00:21:28,780 --> 00:21:31,000 us with warranty claim processing, 458 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,940 helps airlines track their rogue units, 459 00:21:33,940 --> 00:21:36,010 helps reduce the risk of suspected unapproved 460 00:21:36,010 --> 00:21:37,540 and counterfeit parts. 461 00:21:37,540 --> 00:21:40,000 This is all going to be very wonderful with RFID 462 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,470 that barcode could not really do. 463 00:21:44,250 --> 00:21:46,110 The way this is going to work is that, when 464 00:21:46,110 --> 00:21:49,093 we create the airplane, we develop a birth record. 465 00:21:49,093 --> 00:21:51,510 That birth record has the serial numbers and part numbers. 466 00:21:51,510 --> 00:21:53,970 We turn that over to an airline customer. 467 00:21:53,970 --> 00:21:56,520 That customer has agreed to tell us all of their flight 468 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,100 hours and landings, their unscheduled component 469 00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:01,560 removals by part number and serial number, and all 470 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,540 their dispatch delays-- their air turnbacks, 471 00:22:03,540 --> 00:22:06,780 their cancellations, their delays, cancellations. 472 00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:09,270 We keep track of this through a teradata mainframe, 473 00:22:09,270 --> 00:22:11,430 and it's available 24/7 worldwide 474 00:22:11,430 --> 00:22:15,570 to Boeing customers using Microsoft Excel as a platform. 475 00:22:15,570 --> 00:22:18,300 We've actually been doing this since June of 1995 476 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:20,640 when we launched the 777 airplane, 477 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,670 but we were doing it without auto-ID technology 478 00:22:23,670 --> 00:22:25,690 and it was very inefficient. 479 00:22:25,690 --> 00:22:28,410 So now with RFID, we're getting very excited 480 00:22:28,410 --> 00:22:30,555 on the new Dreamliner to launch this. 481 00:22:30,555 --> 00:22:35,650 And we'll get to what Cambridge is doing for us in a moment. 482 00:22:35,650 --> 00:22:37,200 First, I wanted to explain, we're 483 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,040 not putting RFID on six million parts on an airplane. 484 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,340 It's going to be on the new Dreamliner 2,000 end items-- 485 00:22:44,340 --> 00:22:45,360 only 2,000. 486 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:47,755 You're probably wondering why 2,000. 487 00:22:47,755 --> 00:22:50,130 Well, they really drive the cost of ownership of a Boeing 488 00:22:50,130 --> 00:22:52,395 airplane, those 2,000 parts. 489 00:22:52,395 --> 00:22:54,270 What you see up on the screen is the criteria 490 00:22:54,270 --> 00:22:57,270 the airlines told Boeing and Airbus that's important to them 491 00:22:57,270 --> 00:22:59,940 to track through a life cycle-- up to 30 years. 492 00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:02,820 And they said focus on line-replaceable units. 493 00:23:02,820 --> 00:23:05,940 Repairable parts-- not consumables or throwaways, 494 00:23:05,940 --> 00:23:08,280 but parts that are recommended as spare, 495 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,080 and parts with a high frequency of removal. 496 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,880 That drives cost of ownership. 497 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,520 And expensive spare parts-- 498 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,020 parts that are on what's called the master minimum equipment 499 00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:16,687 list that means. 500 00:23:16,687 --> 00:23:18,188 They're dispatch-critical. 501 00:23:18,188 --> 00:23:20,730 So if they're not working, an airline cannot put the airplane 502 00:23:20,730 --> 00:23:21,605 into revenue service. 503 00:23:21,605 --> 00:23:24,780 So they want to manage why they have delays. 504 00:23:24,780 --> 00:23:27,090 Anything that's a life-limited or time-controlled part, 505 00:23:27,090 --> 00:23:29,010 like landing gear, that's a great candidate 506 00:23:29,010 --> 00:23:31,118 to have an RFID nameplate on, because we're 507 00:23:31,118 --> 00:23:32,910 going to be housing the maintenance history 508 00:23:32,910 --> 00:23:34,360 right on the nameplate. 509 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:36,870 And I'll show you in a moment how that's going to work. 510 00:23:36,870 --> 00:23:39,240 And also, all of the emergency equipment on the airplane 511 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:40,560 will have an RFID tag. 512 00:23:43,300 --> 00:23:45,060 We've talked to many world airlines 513 00:23:45,060 --> 00:23:47,610 about this program, even more than depicted 514 00:23:47,610 --> 00:23:48,360 on this world map. 515 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,300 And they all said this is of high value to them. 516 00:23:51,300 --> 00:23:53,340 There's a very big return on investment 517 00:23:53,340 --> 00:23:54,915 in commercial aviation for RFIDs. 518 00:23:58,170 --> 00:24:01,170 Unlike in our factory, with supply chain management 519 00:24:01,170 --> 00:24:03,970 and logistics, when you put these on the airplane, 520 00:24:03,970 --> 00:24:06,300 you have to worry about continued airworthiness 521 00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:08,520 and safety of flight. 522 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,160 And Boeing has to certify to the regulatory agencies 523 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,140 that we do not impact any installed system 524 00:24:13,140 --> 00:24:16,380 or equipment on the airplane, because these RFID tags, 525 00:24:16,380 --> 00:24:19,890 even as to identify a nameplate, the FAA considers 526 00:24:19,890 --> 00:24:23,340 this a transmitting portable electronic device. 527 00:24:23,340 --> 00:24:25,320 And as such, typically, we have to demonstrate 528 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,470 through a failure mode and effects analysis 529 00:24:27,470 --> 00:24:29,970 that the probability of a single point failure bringing down 530 00:24:29,970 --> 00:24:33,360 an airplane is 10 to the minus 9th. 531 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:35,340 What we've done it Boeing is that we 532 00:24:35,340 --> 00:24:38,040 decided to do some in-service evaluations instead, which 533 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,593 I'll show you in a moment. 534 00:24:39,593 --> 00:24:41,760 But this is the official Boeing engineering position 535 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,097 on passive RFID on one of our jetliners. 536 00:24:45,097 --> 00:24:46,680 And this is for an existing, currently 537 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,560 in-production jetliner, or our new Dreamliner. 538 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,750 We're saying that for passive RFID technology, 539 00:24:51,750 --> 00:24:53,640 because there's no on site power source 540 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,000 and no active transmitter and our schema is to use this 541 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:58,800 while the airplane is parked on the ground, 542 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,830 not on an active taxiway and not in flight-- 543 00:25:01,830 --> 00:25:04,200 and we have adequate electromagnetic shielding 544 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,540 on the Boeing airplane today, and we're 545 00:25:06,540 --> 00:25:11,730 going to use part 15 certified unlicensed use FCC rules, 546 00:25:11,730 --> 00:25:13,950 we believe that passive devices do not 547 00:25:13,950 --> 00:25:16,170 impact form, fit, or function of any installed system 548 00:25:16,170 --> 00:25:18,840 or equipment on a Boeing airplane. 549 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,470 And we've got already the FAA, JA, EASA, Air Transport 550 00:25:22,470 --> 00:25:23,670 Canada to agree to this. 551 00:25:26,740 --> 00:25:30,330 In fact, we received on May 13 a National Policy Memo 552 00:25:30,330 --> 00:25:33,240 from the FAA allowing passive RFID tags 553 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,320 we put on Boeing jetliners. 554 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:40,920 So that's the basis for the new airplane, the 787 Dreamliner. 555 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,210 To prove that this worked, we wanted 556 00:25:43,210 --> 00:25:44,340 to do a proof of concept. 557 00:25:44,340 --> 00:25:47,430 And we picked one of our good customers, FedEx, 558 00:25:47,430 --> 00:25:50,400 who had an MD-10 going through the conversion from a passenger 559 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,080 plane to a freighter. 560 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,650 And we got to do a science project. 561 00:25:54,650 --> 00:25:56,400 For the first time in commercial aviation, 562 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,610 we outfitted the airplane with passive RFID tags 563 00:25:59,610 --> 00:26:02,340 in all zones-- the flight deck and the wheel well, 564 00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:05,100 the avionics compartment, the E&E bay, and the cargo 565 00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:06,570 compartment. 566 00:26:06,570 --> 00:26:10,020 And we flew this airplane 18 hours per day, multiple flight 567 00:26:10,020 --> 00:26:12,630 segments per day, out of Memphis, Tennessee, 568 00:26:12,630 --> 00:26:14,890 for 90 consecutive days. 569 00:26:14,890 --> 00:26:17,123 And we also left the tags on for one year. 570 00:26:17,123 --> 00:26:19,290 And I'm here to tell you, there was not one failure. 571 00:26:22,510 --> 00:26:25,600 Here are the objectives as officially stated. 572 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,120 We wanted to identify any potential electromagnetic 573 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,660 interference or any detrimental environmental effects. 574 00:26:31,660 --> 00:26:34,280 As you well know, there's a lot of changes in temperature, 575 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:35,740 pressure, humidity. 576 00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:37,810 There's caustic chemicals, like skydrol, 577 00:26:37,810 --> 00:26:39,518 which is hydraulic fluid. 578 00:26:39,518 --> 00:26:41,060 All these can affect the performance. 579 00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:43,255 There's also quite a bit of metal in the airplane. 580 00:26:43,255 --> 00:26:45,630 So we wanted to evaluate the integrity of the application 581 00:26:45,630 --> 00:26:48,610 to make sure none of the data got corrupted over time. 582 00:26:51,370 --> 00:26:53,240 This was our test coupon. 583 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,560 You'll see a standard barcoded nameplate with human readable. 584 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,140 This complies with the Air Transport Association Spec 2000 585 00:26:59,140 --> 00:27:01,240 chapter 9 standard. 586 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,060 What you don't see inside is a laminated inlay, 587 00:27:04,060 --> 00:27:07,390 which is the microchip with the antenna package. 588 00:27:07,390 --> 00:27:10,930 On the back of this device, we had iron-loaded silicone, 589 00:27:10,930 --> 00:27:13,250 which is to make this work directly applied to metal, 590 00:27:13,250 --> 00:27:15,370 so there wouldn't be interference. 591 00:27:15,370 --> 00:27:17,080 We ran this test twice. 592 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,530 The first test we did with 13.56 megahertz, 593 00:27:20,530 --> 00:27:23,620 using an inlay from Infineon technologies in Germany, 594 00:27:23,620 --> 00:27:26,110 with a 10,000-bit EPROM. 595 00:27:26,110 --> 00:27:29,620 That test worked fabulously, but it had one limitation. 596 00:27:29,620 --> 00:27:33,430 The read range was, like, 6 to 8 inches in the airplane-- 597 00:27:33,430 --> 00:27:35,810 6 to 8 inch read range. 598 00:27:35,810 --> 00:27:37,540 And that didn't fulfill the vision we had 599 00:27:37,540 --> 00:27:39,165 of walking through the passenger cabin, 600 00:27:39,165 --> 00:27:42,040 reading all of the life vests, or reading behind side wall 601 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,643 panels, devices, or up in the passenger service units, 602 00:27:45,643 --> 00:27:47,560 where the oxygen masks come down when you lose 603 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,630 cabin pressure of the airplane. 604 00:27:49,630 --> 00:27:51,867 So that read range didn't work for us. 605 00:27:51,867 --> 00:27:53,950 So we decided, let's go back to the drawing board. 606 00:27:53,950 --> 00:27:56,690 Let's go to ultra-high frequency. 607 00:27:56,690 --> 00:27:59,470 So we partnered at that time with Intermec Technologies. 608 00:27:59,470 --> 00:28:01,660 They created some inlays for us-- 609 00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:06,070 915 megahertz, metal mount-compatible, and we 610 00:28:06,070 --> 00:28:08,320 ran the test again. 611 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,770 And at 915 megahertz in a Boeing airplane, 612 00:28:11,770 --> 00:28:15,040 we got 10 to 12 feet read range, and it worked really 613 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,015 fabulously. 614 00:28:16,015 --> 00:28:19,010 We were very pleased. 615 00:28:19,010 --> 00:28:22,520 Here's our test airplane, tail number N370FE 616 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,190 We've used it for two tests now-- 617 00:28:25,190 --> 00:28:27,800 the high frequency, the ultra-high frequency. 618 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,330 And we have plans this year to do 619 00:28:29,330 --> 00:28:32,090 the same airplane, the same parts, with active tags. 620 00:28:34,467 --> 00:28:37,050 I wanted to show you some of the applications in the airplane. 621 00:28:37,050 --> 00:28:39,780 This is an electronics avionics box. 622 00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:41,520 It's in a benign application, where 623 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,312 the temperature, pressure, and humidity are 624 00:28:43,312 --> 00:28:45,633 relatively constant. 625 00:28:45,633 --> 00:28:47,800 This is the inertial reference unit of the airplane. 626 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:49,540 This is also a temperature-controlled 627 00:28:49,540 --> 00:28:51,470 environment. 628 00:28:51,470 --> 00:28:53,180 This controls the flaps of the airplane. 629 00:28:53,180 --> 00:28:55,520 It's in the left wheel well. 630 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,910 It's a pretty caustic environment, actually. 631 00:28:58,910 --> 00:29:00,300 This is the smoke detector. 632 00:29:00,300 --> 00:29:02,930 This is on the ceiling of the cargo compartment. 633 00:29:02,930 --> 00:29:06,140 We did every other smoke detector of the airplane. 634 00:29:06,140 --> 00:29:07,640 This was in the right wheel well. 635 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,050 This is a Vickers hydraulic pump. 636 00:29:09,050 --> 00:29:13,220 It runs the hydraulic system on the MD-10. 637 00:29:13,220 --> 00:29:15,710 This is the handheld products portable data terminal 638 00:29:15,710 --> 00:29:17,900 that the mechanics at FedEx use to read and write 639 00:29:17,900 --> 00:29:20,240 to these devices during the test. 640 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:21,770 What's interesting about this device 641 00:29:21,770 --> 00:29:23,510 is that it reads barcodes. 642 00:29:23,510 --> 00:29:25,580 It reads and writes RFID. 643 00:29:25,580 --> 00:29:28,970 It takes a digital photograph, and it will send this through 644 00:29:28,970 --> 00:29:32,450 an 802.11b wireless LAN network. 645 00:29:32,450 --> 00:29:37,010 The United States Postal Service just ordered 350,000 of these, 646 00:29:37,010 --> 00:29:39,920 so that's your Insider trading tip of the day. 647 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,290 I didn't say that. 648 00:29:42,290 --> 00:29:44,030 Findings of the evaluation-- there 649 00:29:44,030 --> 00:29:47,300 was no detrimental effects, and there was no suspected 650 00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:49,520 electromagnetic interference. 651 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,530 And so the FAA gave us the go-ahead 652 00:29:51,530 --> 00:29:55,940 as the new basis for our new airplane, the Dreamliner. 653 00:29:55,940 --> 00:29:58,850 So on October 3, we made the announcement. 654 00:29:58,850 --> 00:30:01,880 Significant line replaceable units on the Dreamliner-- 655 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,800 2,000 of them, actually, will have passive UHF RFID. 656 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,370 We're calling them just ubiquitous term smart labels. 657 00:30:10,370 --> 00:30:13,790 But it's going to have human-readable barcodes 658 00:30:13,790 --> 00:30:16,130 and between 860 and 960 megahertz 659 00:30:16,130 --> 00:30:18,280 a global interoperable frequency. 660 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,030 And I'll get to a moment the requirements, 661 00:30:20,030 --> 00:30:23,790 but ISO 18000-6C air interface protocol. 662 00:30:23,790 --> 00:30:26,870 I'll show you those requirements in a moment, but it's official. 663 00:30:26,870 --> 00:30:29,420 The Dreamliner will be the first Boeing platform 664 00:30:29,420 --> 00:30:35,550 to have RFID-enabled smart labels on significant parts. 665 00:30:35,550 --> 00:30:38,585 We're not just focusing on parts identification. 666 00:30:38,585 --> 00:30:40,710 Like I said, the shipping labels and packing slips, 667 00:30:40,710 --> 00:30:43,080 we have a team that are about 90% done. 668 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,050 That will also be EPC class 1 gen 2. 669 00:30:46,050 --> 00:30:47,850 We've already decided that. 670 00:30:47,850 --> 00:30:52,020 Boeing actually joined EPCglobal last quarter. 671 00:30:52,020 --> 00:30:54,390 I will become the co-chair of the Aerospace 672 00:30:54,390 --> 00:30:58,200 and Defense Business Action Group for EPCglobal. 673 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,040 That was announced yesterday by Mike Miranda. 674 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,010 As far as the total integrated automation of our airplane 675 00:31:05,010 --> 00:31:07,470 final assembly, we're experimenting right now 676 00:31:07,470 --> 00:31:09,990 with active tags with real-time locating systems 677 00:31:09,990 --> 00:31:11,208 in our factory. 678 00:31:11,208 --> 00:31:13,500 And there will be passive tags on returnable containers 679 00:31:13,500 --> 00:31:16,290 and tooling also. 680 00:31:16,290 --> 00:31:18,270 Finally, we have a new aftermarket process, 681 00:31:18,270 --> 00:31:21,270 which is like what's called power by the hour, which 682 00:31:21,270 --> 00:31:23,207 will be managing the spare parts business 683 00:31:23,207 --> 00:31:25,290 and managing the maintenance for airline customers 684 00:31:25,290 --> 00:31:26,840 after we deliver the Dreamliner. 685 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,970 And that will be centered around predictive maintenance based 686 00:31:29,970 --> 00:31:34,530 on information from the RFID smart labels. 687 00:31:34,530 --> 00:31:37,990 These are the key requirements for the on-airplane tags. 688 00:31:37,990 --> 00:31:40,650 It's a passive reader talk first protocol. 689 00:31:40,650 --> 00:31:43,570 It's 860 to 960 megahertz. 690 00:31:43,570 --> 00:31:45,540 It'll be read/write secure memory. 691 00:31:45,540 --> 00:31:48,570 It complies with the text element identifiers 692 00:31:48,570 --> 00:31:51,180 and the data syntax and semantics of ATA Spec 693 00:31:51,180 --> 00:31:53,860 2000 Chapter 9. 694 00:31:53,860 --> 00:31:54,480 Here's a rub. 695 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,330 We have to pass the DO 160 environmental tests. 696 00:31:57,330 --> 00:32:01,020 That's, like, vibration, salt spray, fungus, humidity-- 697 00:32:01,020 --> 00:32:02,430 pretty severe testing. 698 00:32:02,430 --> 00:32:05,340 That's going to drive the cost of these tags from cents 699 00:32:05,340 --> 00:32:07,020 up to dollars-- probably a target 700 00:32:07,020 --> 00:32:10,290 price of $15 for an integrated smart label. 701 00:32:10,290 --> 00:32:11,980 That's because of the sophisticated test 702 00:32:11,980 --> 00:32:14,130 it has to go through. 703 00:32:14,130 --> 00:32:17,640 The air interface is the EPC protocol. 704 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,010 These will be metal mount, surface-insensitive packages. 705 00:32:20,010 --> 00:32:22,800 We're asking for a 10-year data service life, 706 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:24,720 and it has to comply with the FAA policy 707 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,763 memo released on May 13. 708 00:32:27,763 --> 00:32:29,430 We had a meeting at the Museum of Flight 709 00:32:29,430 --> 00:32:31,080 in October of last year. 710 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,540 We had 40 companies attend. 711 00:32:33,540 --> 00:32:37,500 This was all of the people like Philips and Intel 712 00:32:37,500 --> 00:32:42,090 and Symbol Technologies and Teleflex. 713 00:32:42,090 --> 00:32:45,360 Everybody was invited, and we said this 714 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:46,920 is what our requirements are. 715 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,690 Boeing's a requirements holder. 716 00:32:48,690 --> 00:32:51,330 We're a system integrator, a type 2 certificate holder. 717 00:32:51,330 --> 00:32:54,060 We do not have a core competency in RFID technology. 718 00:32:56,460 --> 00:32:57,960 Some of the data elements that we're 719 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,742 going to be writing to these tags 720 00:32:59,742 --> 00:33:01,950 is things like the part number and the serial number, 721 00:33:01,950 --> 00:33:05,550 the manufacturer, the date of manufacture, country of origin, 722 00:33:05,550 --> 00:33:08,250 the mod level, the weight of the part, 723 00:33:08,250 --> 00:33:10,500 the lot number, things like this, many more. 724 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:12,692 This is all being standardized. 725 00:33:12,692 --> 00:33:14,400 If you're a supplier to Boeing or Airbus, 726 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,525 you'll be happy to know that these requirements are 727 00:33:16,525 --> 00:33:20,070 all the same for Boeing, for Airbus, for Bombardier 728 00:33:20,070 --> 00:33:22,080 for Embraer, for [INAUDIBLE] Aviation 729 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,580 and for Cessna-- for everybody. 730 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:28,853 ATA Spec 2000 across industry global team-- 731 00:33:28,853 --> 00:33:30,270 everything's going to be the same. 732 00:33:33,670 --> 00:33:35,610 What we've accomplished-- we've accomplished 733 00:33:35,610 --> 00:33:37,720 the passive in-service evaluations. 734 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:39,930 We've held global forums with airline customers 735 00:33:39,930 --> 00:33:41,520 and suppliers. 736 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:45,210 They've been held in Hong Kong, in Munich, in Orlando, Florida, 737 00:33:45,210 --> 00:33:46,080 and Atlanta. 738 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,420 And this year, it will be held in Chicago, and also 739 00:33:48,420 --> 00:33:51,660 in Chongming, China, later this fall. 740 00:33:51,660 --> 00:33:53,640 The FAA has approved it. 741 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,272 We've got the smart labor requirements defined. 742 00:33:57,272 --> 00:33:59,730 We've done our internal studies and our planning directives 743 00:33:59,730 --> 00:34:00,540 at Boeing. 744 00:34:00,540 --> 00:34:03,180 We've joined EPCglobal We're forming 745 00:34:03,180 --> 00:34:06,300 an Aerospace and Defense Business Action Group. 746 00:34:06,300 --> 00:34:08,699 We've joined the Cambridge University Aero-ID research 747 00:34:08,699 --> 00:34:09,840 program. 748 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,346 We're especially interested in data synchronization. 749 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,310 Planned next steps-- continue this effort with Cambridge 750 00:34:20,310 --> 00:34:23,110 on the data synchronization and the sensor networks. 751 00:34:23,110 --> 00:34:24,960 We're very interested. 752 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,139 We're going to be conducting more supplier forums this year, 753 00:34:28,139 --> 00:34:32,755 continue to develop the smart label, more airline forums. 754 00:34:32,755 --> 00:34:34,380 We're developing our service-ready plan 755 00:34:34,380 --> 00:34:37,560 for the Dreamliner, finalizing our certification plan 756 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,290 with the FAA, finalizing the data content 757 00:34:40,290 --> 00:34:42,300 and doing an active tag in-service evaluation 758 00:34:42,300 --> 00:34:43,889 this year. 759 00:34:43,889 --> 00:34:46,050 But my message to you is that we couldn't do this 760 00:34:46,050 --> 00:34:48,360 without academia. 761 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,120 Sanjay started this all at MIT, and now we're 762 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,020 with Cambridge University. 763 00:34:53,020 --> 00:34:57,030 And so Boeing, we're a great industrial concern. 764 00:34:57,030 --> 00:34:59,190 But we don't have the competency that you have. 765 00:34:59,190 --> 00:34:59,700 I thank you. 766 00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:01,470 Thank you for inviting me here. 767 00:35:01,470 --> 00:35:03,327 We're working very closely with you. 768 00:35:03,327 --> 00:35:05,160 There's lots of opportunities for continuing 769 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,320 working together. 770 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,390 We do have time for questions and answers, 771 00:35:09,390 --> 00:35:12,525 if that allows, for Alan or myself-- 772 00:35:12,525 --> 00:35:13,650 anything about our program. 773 00:35:13,650 --> 00:35:16,872 [APPLAUSE] 774 00:35:20,316 --> 00:35:25,740 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] [? before we get there. ?] 775 00:35:25,740 --> 00:35:27,710 Can you talk about the active testing, what's 776 00:35:27,710 --> 00:35:30,170 the purpose of that, why are you interested in doing that? 777 00:35:30,170 --> 00:35:33,250 But you said you're using passive labels? 778 00:35:33,250 --> 00:35:35,330 KEN PORAD: We have a plan for active tags 779 00:35:35,330 --> 00:35:38,630 on the airplane, where upon demand from the flight deck, 780 00:35:38,630 --> 00:35:41,510 they'll interrogate the entire airplane in a broad way. 781 00:35:41,510 --> 00:35:46,790 Active tags in our airplane test will broadcast anywhere. 782 00:35:46,790 --> 00:35:49,400 They're bouncing off the walls of the fuselage. 783 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,440 It's really worked well on our static tests. 784 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,720 We want to do a test on an airplane. 785 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,130 Then we can send that information 786 00:35:55,130 --> 00:35:56,720 through a high-speed internet link 787 00:35:56,720 --> 00:35:58,940 through connections by Boeing to a main operating 788 00:35:58,940 --> 00:36:00,300 base on the ground. 789 00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:04,770 We've got all these great plans to use RFID on the airplane. 790 00:36:04,770 --> 00:36:09,120 That's the next logical step, but we have to get a certified. 791 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,040 AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] flight or [INAUDIBLE]?? 792 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:13,492 KEN PORAD: We're going to do it in flight. 793 00:36:13,492 --> 00:36:15,700 You'll know that there's actually a supplemental type 794 00:36:15,700 --> 00:36:19,150 certificate that was given to Savvy Technology on a Boeing 795 00:36:19,150 --> 00:36:22,510 767-300 for active tags, and they were the ones 796 00:36:22,510 --> 00:36:24,385 for the ULD monitoring. 797 00:36:24,385 --> 00:36:26,080 But their supplemental type certificate 798 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:27,910 says it has to be turned off in-flight. 799 00:36:27,910 --> 00:36:30,160 But as you know, they tested that on the United Parcel 800 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,440 Service airplane, and they did transmit continuously 801 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:34,610 for hours in-flight every day. 802 00:36:34,610 --> 00:36:37,970 So it was a very safe proposition. 803 00:36:37,970 --> 00:36:38,500 Next. 804 00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:39,000 Sir? 805 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,840 AUDIENCE: Yes, concerning the-- 806 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:45,596 STEVE MILES: Could the you use the mics, please? 807 00:36:45,596 --> 00:36:47,060 AUDIENCE: Concerning this direction 808 00:36:47,060 --> 00:36:51,730 of [INAUDIBLE] that you use RFID [INAUDIBLE] manufacturing 809 00:36:51,730 --> 00:36:53,360 [INAUDIBLE] flight [INAUDIBLE]. 810 00:37:01,980 --> 00:37:04,970 That's different from where you [INAUDIBLE] 811 00:37:04,970 --> 00:37:07,825 consider [INAUDIBLE] where you want to [INAUDIBLE] replaceable 812 00:37:07,825 --> 00:37:09,805 [INAUDIBLE]. 813 00:37:09,805 --> 00:37:18,460 So you mentioned [? that ?] 2009 [INAUDIBLE] 814 00:37:18,460 --> 00:37:24,150 different items that you use [INAUDIBLE]?? 815 00:37:24,150 --> 00:37:26,330 KEN PORAD: Yes, great question. 816 00:37:26,330 --> 00:37:28,860 What I showed was the criteria for the on-airplane part 817 00:37:28,860 --> 00:37:30,360 marking that would last for 30 years 818 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:31,770 be on the fly with the airplane-- 819 00:37:31,770 --> 00:37:33,960 fly away part of airborne equipment. 820 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,780 We're also going to put RFID tags, typically active tags, 821 00:37:36,780 --> 00:37:39,030 on large assemblies inside of our factory, 822 00:37:39,030 --> 00:37:41,880 so we can find them during our final assembly. 823 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,590 Believe it or not, this Dreamliner 824 00:37:43,590 --> 00:37:45,510 will only take three days, 72 hours, 825 00:37:45,510 --> 00:37:47,190 to put together every copy. 826 00:37:47,190 --> 00:37:48,330 Don't get nervous. 827 00:37:48,330 --> 00:37:53,060 Today, it takes up to 26 days, depending, like a 747-- 828 00:37:53,060 --> 00:37:54,960 26 days in final assembly. 829 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,115 737 is a couple of weeks. 830 00:37:57,115 --> 00:37:59,490 The Dreamliner, we have a different procurement strategy, 831 00:37:59,490 --> 00:38:01,860 a different way of building the airplane. 832 00:38:01,860 --> 00:38:02,970 So we have to stage them. 833 00:38:02,970 --> 00:38:06,120 You can imagine, coming from Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, and Fuji 834 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,280 [? have ?] industries in Japan, they make about 35% 835 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:09,810 of the airplane. 836 00:38:09,810 --> 00:38:11,310 Different parts of the airframe come 837 00:38:11,310 --> 00:38:12,720 from all over-- stuff sections. 838 00:38:12,720 --> 00:38:15,760 And we're putting the airplane together like a LEGO set. 839 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,938 And so we have to stage them, so active RFID 840 00:38:17,938 --> 00:38:19,230 will be all over that airplane. 841 00:38:19,230 --> 00:38:21,120 But it won't fly on the airplane. 842 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,250 Today, it's these passive tags with that criteria. 843 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,940 There was one other question. 844 00:38:30,940 --> 00:38:31,650 Thank you 845 00:38:31,650 --> 00:38:35,620 AUDIENCE: So given that Boeing is adopting RFID technology, as 846 00:38:35,620 --> 00:38:38,230 well as your mention of Boeing and Airbus 847 00:38:38,230 --> 00:38:42,130 sharing some of their manufacturer supply chains, 848 00:38:42,130 --> 00:38:45,230 how do you see the NTSB and some of the safety boards reacting 849 00:38:45,230 --> 00:38:45,730 to it? 850 00:38:45,730 --> 00:38:47,772 What kind of changes do you foresee in the future 851 00:38:47,772 --> 00:38:50,895 where I, as an individual, speculate 852 00:38:50,895 --> 00:38:53,020 more stringent requirements on aircraft maintenance 853 00:38:53,020 --> 00:38:53,920 and safety? 854 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,070 But I'm curious what you as the Boeing 855 00:38:57,070 --> 00:39:01,000 think tank would feel about lawmakers reacting 856 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:02,762 to these changes as well. 857 00:39:02,762 --> 00:39:05,080 KEN PORAD: The FAA is very pleased 858 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:06,760 that we're going to have maintenance 859 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:09,610 history on the part, as opposed to in a database. 860 00:39:09,610 --> 00:39:11,630 But I want to mention, it'll also be redundant. 861 00:39:11,630 --> 00:39:13,960 It will be duplicate in a synchronized database that's 862 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:15,640 encrypted and secure. 863 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,148 So in case a tag is damaged in service, it can be replicated. 864 00:39:19,148 --> 00:39:21,190 That's one of the things Alan's team at Cambridge 865 00:39:21,190 --> 00:39:22,390 is helping us with. 866 00:39:22,390 --> 00:39:25,270 What's the most efficient way to get this every day 867 00:39:25,270 --> 00:39:27,547 when information around the world 868 00:39:27,547 --> 00:39:30,130 is added to these tags about a serviceable [? incorporated. ?] 869 00:39:30,130 --> 00:39:32,590 How does it get back to Boeing? 870 00:39:32,590 --> 00:39:35,028 And so the information will be in a separate database. 871 00:39:35,028 --> 00:39:37,570 And to your question about the National Transportation Safety 872 00:39:37,570 --> 00:39:40,870 Board, they're excited that it helps communicate. 873 00:39:40,870 --> 00:39:44,170 Anything to help communicate is what they're interested in. 874 00:39:44,170 --> 00:39:45,760 And they're not legislating this. 875 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:49,490 This is an initiative pushed forward by Boeing and Airbus. 876 00:39:49,490 --> 00:39:51,190 We're not being mandated to do this. 877 00:39:54,178 --> 00:39:56,668 AUDIENCE: Could I ask one more? 878 00:39:56,668 --> 00:39:58,660 How is [INAUDIBLE]? 879 00:40:03,660 --> 00:40:09,464 How is your experimentations going to affect your suppliers? 880 00:40:09,464 --> 00:40:12,460 KEN PORAD: The suppliers of the affected 2,000 parts, 881 00:40:12,460 --> 00:40:15,850 and that affects about 65 different suppliers to Boeing. 882 00:40:15,850 --> 00:40:18,880 Out of our 2,500, it's about 65 suppliers. 883 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:20,980 We've already informed them that we 884 00:40:20,980 --> 00:40:23,440 intend to deploy RFID-enabled smart labels 885 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,533 on these significant airplane parts, 886 00:40:25,533 --> 00:40:27,700 and that this would be a condition of doing business 887 00:40:27,700 --> 00:40:28,900 with us. 888 00:40:28,900 --> 00:40:30,610 And there's obviously some resistance, 889 00:40:30,610 --> 00:40:32,652 and there's what they call cost assertions, where 890 00:40:32,652 --> 00:40:34,120 they want us to pay them. 891 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:36,520 And they want some non-recurring engineering money 892 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,630 to be given back to them. 893 00:40:38,630 --> 00:40:43,210 So the cost aside, they're all for promoting new technology 894 00:40:43,210 --> 00:40:45,167 when there's a business case for them. 895 00:40:45,167 --> 00:40:46,750 We're helping them actually understand 896 00:40:46,750 --> 00:40:49,690 how this will help them reduce their cost of building products 897 00:40:49,690 --> 00:40:52,030 and maintaining them in the aftermarket. 898 00:40:52,030 --> 00:40:54,770 Some of our suppliers, they get it. 899 00:40:54,770 --> 00:40:56,110 They understand. 900 00:40:56,110 --> 00:40:58,780 Some of them are not going to be early adopters, 901 00:40:58,780 --> 00:41:02,260 and they won't be dragged unwillingly. 902 00:41:02,260 --> 00:41:06,950 But we have a big enough stick, we can do that. 903 00:41:06,950 --> 00:41:09,660 So thank you for-- one more. 904 00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:12,190 AUDIENCE: One quick one. 905 00:41:12,190 --> 00:41:16,390 How many times a day will you read this data? 906 00:41:16,390 --> 00:41:18,280 You said that-- 907 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,120 KEN PORAD: Daily if it's updated. 908 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,870 It'll need to be brought back the same day to us. 909 00:41:22,870 --> 00:41:26,200 Some of these tags will not be touched for months. 910 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:28,960 They'll only be touched in the event there's a failure. 911 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:30,550 If there's a no-fault found, there's 912 00:41:30,550 --> 00:41:33,008 an indication of failure, the part is removed and replaced. 913 00:41:33,008 --> 00:41:36,070 If there's a mandated inspection from the FAA, 914 00:41:36,070 --> 00:41:37,900 or if an airline is doing an inventory, 915 00:41:37,900 --> 00:41:40,870 they might read the tag, but not write to it. 916 00:41:40,870 --> 00:41:43,150 Typically, if they do a service bulletin or a mod kit, 917 00:41:43,150 --> 00:41:45,733 or if there's a failure, would be the two most important times 918 00:41:45,733 --> 00:41:47,480 they would touch this tag. 919 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:49,250 May go for months. 920 00:41:49,250 --> 00:41:50,750 A lot of things on the airplane have 921 00:41:50,750 --> 00:41:54,470 a mean time between removal of over 10,000 flight hours. 922 00:41:54,470 --> 00:41:57,290 A typical jet airplane only flies 3,000 flight hours 923 00:41:57,290 --> 00:41:58,310 a year. 924 00:41:58,310 --> 00:41:59,930 Based on your quantity per airplane, 925 00:41:59,930 --> 00:42:02,750 the mathematical model would say that some items won't 926 00:42:02,750 --> 00:42:06,230 be visited very often, and some items like coffeemakers 927 00:42:06,230 --> 00:42:09,860 have a mean time between removal of every 80 flight hours. 928 00:42:09,860 --> 00:42:14,430 And on a 747, there's, like, 12 coffeemakers on an airplane. 929 00:42:14,430 --> 00:42:18,650 So you do the math and they'll be visited frequently, 930 00:42:18,650 --> 00:42:20,990 depending on the commodity. 931 00:42:20,990 --> 00:42:22,140 Thank you for inviting me. 932 00:42:22,140 --> 00:42:23,015 It's been a pleasure. 933 00:42:23,015 --> 00:42:24,490 [APPLAUSE]