Commercial Aircraft Projects: Managing the Development of Highly Complex Products

A manager at Airbus in Toulouse, France, Altfeld explains that projects as complex as designing and building a commercial transport airplane cannot be controlled with standard project management techniques, but requires a wider approach that is perfectly adapted to the project's complex nature. Any management approach for complex, commercially-driven product developments, he argues, should seek to integrate the strengths of state-of-the-art management disciplines while limiting their applications to some basic essentials. His overall themes are basics in project managing aircraft development, integrative people management, managing requirements and risks, and integrative project architectures. Among specific topics are how information technologies have shaped aircraft development, getting development priorities right, managing risks, controlling configuration change, and integrated project monitoring and control. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr Hans-Henrich Altfeld, FRAeS, is VP of the Airbus Center of Competence Project & Programme Management in Toulouse, France. His objective within this role is to improve project and programme management culture across Airbus, developing and delivering lean, efficient and pragmatic processes, methods and tools. Dr Altfeld's previous roles within Airbus included setting up and leading the Project Management Office for the development of the Airbus A380 wing, which achieved on-time delivery, and VP at the Airbus Hamburg plant. He received his PhD in 1989 and has since held positions with several aerospace industry organisations, among them Messerschmitt-BA?lkow-Blohm, the European Aerospace Industries Association and Dornier Satellite Systems. In 1999 he joined Airbus as Director for A380 Strategic Issues and Organisation Development where he was in charge of developing the 'design-build team'-based organisation for the 5,000 employees involved in the development of the Airbus A380. Dr Altfeld is a member of the German Engineers Society, former Chairman and now Honorary President of the Royal Aeronautical Society Hamburg Branch and during the term 2007/2008 was also a member of the RAeS President's Council.