How They Did it: Pratt & Whitney’s Ramp Up

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the May-June 2016 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

May-June 2016

The procurement function is at an inflection point.” So begins “The reinvention of procurement," an article by Jonathan Hughes and Danny Ertel, partners at the Boston-based consulting firm Vantage Partners. The authors argue that while many leading companies have transformed their procurement organizations into a linchpin of their enterprise strategy, far too many others remain trapped by procurement models that are out of date in today’s fastpaced economy, where the acquisition of innovation, collaboration, services and solutions is more important than transactions based on the lowest cost per unit. Reinvention is a fitting theme for…

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“This changes everything.” So goes Pratt & Whitney’s tagline for the PurePower PW1000G family of geared turbofan jet engines. Pratt invested $10 billion and 20 years of R&D into the development of the new engine, which relies on a state-of-the-art gear system that separates the engine fan from the low pressure compressor and turbine. The design allows each of the modules to operate at their optmum speeds: The fan rotates at a slow speed while the low pressure compressor and turbine operate at high speeds, increasing engine efficiency and delivering significantly lower fuel consumption, emissions and noise, according to company reports.

How much lower? The new design,considered revolutionary in the industry, boasts double-digit fuel burn reduction, a 50% reduction in noise and low emissions.

With orders in hand from Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer and Mitsubishi for some 7,000 engines totaling more than $18 billion, Pratt & Whitney’s business is about to ramp up in an unprecedented way. Production is forecast to double by 2020 — indeed the project to meet this demand is known internally as the “Ramp Up”.

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