Expanding Supplier Diversity in Aerospace Conference

Presented by PNDC and AFA, the day highlighted Boeing’s commitment to expanded supplier diversity and working with their supply chain.

“It’s hard to turn a production system off,” said conference keynote speaker Teresa Olympio, VP of Boeing Commercial Aviation Supply Chain Readiness. “It’s even harder to turn it back on.” Olympio kicked off today’s Expanding Supplier Diversity in Aerospace conference with insight on current supply chain challenges, what Boeing looks for in Tier 1 suppliers, and how Boeing can instill resilience across their supply chain.

In Olympio’s 16 years with Boeing she has worked her way up from Finance Analyst to VP, giving her multifaceted insight into Boeing’s work and the work of tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers. She shared her thoughts in a 30-minute keynote that highlighted the vastness of Boeing’s supply chain. The company currently has suppliers across 34 countries, with around 1200 tier 1 suppliers and an annual spend of $16 billion. “Supply chain makes 65% of total spend on an airplane.” 

Olympio used much of her keynote to focus on the performance issues she sees on the quality side of her work. “Most of our challenges tend to be with suppliers in the United States and Mexico,” she said, noting that work has been moving to Mexico at an increased rate in recent years, and not entirely successfully. “Where the real challenges lie are with tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers.”

With many suppliers under great financial stress post-pandemic, Olympio noted an uptick in mergers and acquisitions. Part of her team’s remit is to move work when suppliers go out of business. Olympio tied the challenges suppliers face generally to the great workforce needs of both Boeing and suppliers. “It’s hard to hire the right skills,” Olympio said, with many companies losing supply chain skills in recent years. “The skill set is not there, so we have to supplement with our own supply chain teams. It’s hard to get manufacturing skills these days. We sometimes have to send our own mechanics to suppliers to get parts out the door.”

While Olympio outlined the workforce challenges we hear regularly across education and partner organizations, she also stressed that it will take 1-2 years to see stability in Boeing’s supply chain. “This year and next year we are going up in rate for the 737. The capacity and equipment is there. It comes down to the people and the skill sets available.” The need from airlines for new aircraft is growing, and with it will come continued stress for the supply chain. 

“How do we bring in engineering and quality to help remove roadblocks?” Olympio concluded. “Talented and skilled teams, are they working on the right things?” 

The conference concludes this afternoon with business-to-business meetings.