Who – the protagonist
Gabriela Rodrigues, Executive Vice President of the externals and controls systems business unit at Rolls-Royce.
What?
Rolls-Royce was a British aero engine manufacturing company that spearheaded cutting-edge technologies that delivered clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet the planet’s vital power needs.
The company was structured as four businesses: civil aerospace, defence, power systems, and new markets.
Civil aerospace was a major manufacturer of aero engines for the large commercial aircraft, regional jet, and business aviation markets, which contributed to 40% of the company’s revenue.
Why?
Gabriela was responsible for the largest operations business unit within civil aerospace, and was facing a major challenge.
Critical supply chain issues led to significant schedule and quality problems on a key component that her business unit was responsible for.
Gabriela tried to come up with a straightforward way to explain the context of the problems and offer solutions to her customers, suppliers, and senior managers, but she was struggling to find a clear way to communicate this.
When?
It was in the middle of 2022 when Gabriela’s business unit ran into supply chain issues that threatened to derail the completion schedule of the latest multi-billion-dollar, cutting-edge business jet engine.
Where?
The externals and controls systems business unit had around 1,200 employees across Europe, North America, and Asia.
The castings were produced in the US, and then machined in China.
What next?
Gabriela faced two questions when it came to the supply chain issue: Could this problem have been spotted sooner? And what needed to be done to fix the issue as soon as possible?
Gabriela and her team did not see a quick solution to the quality issue based on the available data. However, they needed to learn from this issue to improve their future work. Specifically, they needed to review the supply chain strategy used in the product development phase to prevent Rolls-Royce from facing the same problem in the future.
On the reasons for writing the case…
Gunnar said: “A combination of having been taught cases (some better, some worse) and my own experience in supply chain management made me think that my experience in leading the supply chain team for new product introduction in Rolls-Royce’s business aviation division could make for an interesting case in the classroom that is relevant and based on recent events.”
On the case writing highlights…
Gunnar continued: “Operating in an academic setting is quite different to operating in industry. Not just thinking about the case, the problem within it and the solution, but also about how to use it to convey different concepts that may be unfamiliar to the audience was a challenge. Working with Feryal provided me with that academic perspective. We spent a lot of time discussing upfront how to structure the case, how it can be taught and how to structure the teaching note.”
On teaching the case…
He added: “It has been really positive as students get engaged easily, people from non-operations backgrounds, like financial services, offer great insights in addition to those with some operations backgrounds. However, having students in class that do have an operations background can lead to a really deep conversation on various aspects of the case.”
On how students react to the case…
He commented: “Jet engines is quite a niche sector in many ways and it is always positively surprising to see the curiosity of the students with regards to that sector and the associated supply chain challenges. They are really engaged and offer good insights from other industries.
“Furthermore, Rolls-Royce is a known brand, one that almost everyone recognises. Nonetheless, people connect it with different things, such as jet engines, the business model in the aftermarket (taking revenue per engine flying hour) or even still with the cars (which Rolls-Royce plc has not been involved with in a long time). These connections always make for an interesting conversation.”
On case writing tips…
Gunnar explained: “Focus on one or only a few key issues and then apply different concepts to that. It is easy to get carried away by a lot of detail, things that distract managers in reality, but would be detrimental if added to a teaching case. Keep in mind that the purpose of the teaching case is to address certain concepts and subjects, not to accurately reflect real life.”
Final word…
Gunnar concluded: “Writing a case and being engaged in the teaching is a really rewarding experience. Not just because of the interesting exchange with the students, but it also helps to reflect on the problem in a structured way and with some distance to the actual problem.”
The case
Who – the protagonist
Gabriela Rodrigues, Executive Vice President of the externals and controls systems business unit at Rolls-Royce.
What?
Rolls-Royce was a British aero engine manufacturing company that spearheaded cutting-edge technologies that delivered clean, safe and competitive solutions to meet the planet’s vital power needs.
The company was structured as four businesses: civil aerospace, defence, power systems, and new markets.
Civil aerospace was a major manufacturer of aero engines for the large commercial aircraft, regional jet, and business aviation markets, which contributed to 40% of the company’s revenue.
Why?
Gabriela was responsible for the largest operations business unit within civil aerospace, and was facing a major challenge.
Critical supply chain issues led to significant schedule and quality problems on a key component that her business unit was responsible for.
Gabriela tried to come up with a straightforward way to explain the context of the problems and offer solutions to her customers, suppliers, and senior managers, but she was struggling to find a clear way to communicate this.
When?
It was in the middle of 2022 when Gabriela’s business unit ran into supply chain issues that threatened to derail the completion schedule of the latest multi-billion-dollar, cutting-edge business jet engine.
Where?
The externals and controls systems business unit had around 1,200 employees across Europe, North America, and Asia.
The castings were produced in the US, and then machined in China.
What next?
Gabriela faced two questions when it came to the supply chain issue: Could this problem have been spotted sooner? And what needed to be done to fix the issue as soon as possible?
Gabriela and her team did not see a quick solution to the quality issue based on the available data. However, they needed to learn from this issue to improve their future work. Specifically, they needed to review the supply chain strategy used in the product development phase to prevent Rolls-Royce from facing the same problem in the future.
Author perspective
On the reasons for writing the case…
Gunnar said: “A combination of having been taught cases (some better, some worse) and my own experience in supply chain management made me think that my experience in leading the supply chain team for new product introduction in Rolls-Royce’s business aviation division could make for an interesting case in the classroom that is relevant and based on recent events.”
On the case writing highlights…
Gunnar continued: “Operating in an academic setting is quite different to operating in industry. Not just thinking about the case, the problem within it and the solution, but also about how to use it to convey different concepts that may be unfamiliar to the audience was a challenge. Working with Feryal provided me with that academic perspective. We spent a lot of time discussing upfront how to structure the case, how it can be taught and how to structure the teaching note.”
On teaching the case…
He added: “It has been really positive as students get engaged easily, people from non-operations backgrounds, like financial services, offer great insights in addition to those with some operations backgrounds. However, having students in class that do have an operations background can lead to a really deep conversation on various aspects of the case.”
On how students react to the case…
He commented: “Jet engines is quite a niche sector in many ways and it is always positively surprising to see the curiosity of the students with regards to that sector and the associated supply chain challenges. They are really engaged and offer good insights from other industries.
“Furthermore, Rolls-Royce is a known brand, one that almost everyone recognises. Nonetheless, people connect it with different things, such as jet engines, the business model in the aftermarket (taking revenue per engine flying hour) or even still with the cars (which Rolls-Royce plc has not been involved with in a long time). These connections always make for an interesting conversation.”
On case writing tips…
Gunnar explained: “Focus on one or only a few key issues and then apply different concepts to that. It is easy to get carried away by a lot of detail, things that distract managers in reality, but would be detrimental if added to a teaching case. Keep in mind that the purpose of the teaching case is to address certain concepts and subjects, not to accurately reflect real life.”
Final word…
Gunnar concluded: “Writing a case and being engaged in the teaching is a really rewarding experience. Not just because of the interesting exchange with the students, but it also helps to reflect on the problem in a structured way and with some distance to the actual problem.”