Boeing and Fujitsu enter into supply chain agreement

Boeing and Fujitsu have teamed together to form a new supply chain deal that will bring greater efficiency to aircraft maintenance operations, Boeing said in a statement last week.

The deal will employ Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) and Contact Memory Buttons (CMB) to permit customers to utilize these important technologies without having to retrofit their own fleets. Fujitsu has been working with Boeing "for more than five years to promote RFID implementation in the aviation industry," Mitsutoshi Hirono, a corporate vice president for the electronics maker said.

Ultimately, airlines hope to reduce business costs by decreasing inventory and manual data entry errors without having to initiate new processes. Under terms of the new deal, Fujitsu will provide Boeing with a platform that the aircraft maker will use to tailor solutions directly to its customers' needs, improving their business efficiency.

Boeing will start the service in the first quarter of 2012 and affirms that the service will be rapidly adaptable to all of its clients. Per Noren, vice president for Commercial Aviation Services at Boeing, asserts: "Our customers have told us they need these types of innovative solutions to improve operational efficiency." The partnership with Fujitsu will ensure they can help them deliver those results.