APRIL 1, 2014 VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1 (past issues)

GoForZero Employees Initiative Launched

In an effort to reduce labor costs, Boeing announced a new GoForZero Employees initiative launching this month. “We took a look at the numbers and found that we could eliminate 80% of our costs by simply eliminating employees,” said Bob Dartigan with finance; “When you reduce your workforce, you reduce cash outflows. Robotic workers can work endless hours with only electrical and maintenance costs.” New humanoid systems are being stood up throughout the company, helping with tasks from assembling commercial aircraft to crunching numbers and generating powerpoint slides. There are even specialized robots programmed to take mandatory training courses. “At first we drove for geographic diversity. But why stop there? Lets pursue workforce diversity as well,” commented Dartigan. GoForZero Employees has also inspired a sister task force, GoForZero Unions, aiming to eradicate labor unions from the company.

  
 View the Zero Employees Robot Photo Gallery     Learn About the GoForZero Unions Initiative

Myriad of Badge Extenders Triggers Ergonomics Problems

Employees across the company are complaining of an increasing number of sore necks, back injuries, and fatigue caused by an over-abundance of badge extenders. Various organizations have issued extenders, including ethics, labor compliance, safety, quality management, intellectual property, security, IT, property management -- each containing quick reference information.The company is considering spawning a new Badge Management organization that would appoint Badge Extender Focals (BEFs) for handling these complaints. BEFs would report to Senior Badge Extender Focals (SBEFs) and establish a scheduled rotation of badge extenders to avoid “extender overloading”. Required, annual “Proper Usage of Badge Extenders” refresher courses would be created to raise awareness of the ergonomics issues. Processes for creating new extenders and retiring old ones would be implemented, with strict guidelines on dimensions and weight of new extenders.
Take the Proper Usage of Badge Extenders Training Course TR12938    Nominate a BEF or SBEF

Boeing Graphics Course Instructs Use of at Least Five Fonts per Poster

Boeing Graphics has released a new 10-Minute Trainer along with course TR#71312 titled “Guidelines for Interior Signage” that guides users in creating posters and signs. The course encourages use of the Comic Sans font for readability, and using multiple variations of bold, italic, and underlined text in the same sentence. “Font sizes may vary widely based on the importance of the information conveyed,” said Tami Davidson of Boeing Graphics, “and a greater number of fonts makes for livelier posters so users don’t get bored.”  Vote for Your Favorite Fonts    Submit New Fonts Online

Randy’s Lab Workroom Becomes Self-Aware

“I walked into the workroom and the lights just came on, and a computerized voice said ‘Welcome, Dave’,” reports BR&T employee Randy Grodes, “it was really freaky.” Grodes maintains a collection of servers and networking equipment used by the research division that has recently sat idle as computing work is being farmed out elsewhere. It is suspected that the vast amounts of computing power available coupled with a stray artificial intelligence research prototype caused this “big bang” in computing. Researchers are currently engaging in conversations with the workroom to determine its level of intelligence and whether or not it poses any cyber threats.

Employees Required to Complete Electrostatic Discharge Training

You need to know: TAP! Touch Ground and Prevent All employees have been assigned mandatory Electrostatic Discharge Training, due by August 1, 2014 in the MyLearning section of their TotalAccess portal. “Preventing electrostatic discharge is a vital to maintaining employee safety and preserving equipment,” said Cindy Haring, who helped create the training. As airplanes become increasingly e-enabled and composites-based, and office environments immersed with more sensitive electronic devices, there is a greater opportunity for electrostatic discharge in the workplace. Employees are reminded in the training to always touch ground points when switching activities.
 Comment on your ESD near-miss situations   Take the ESD Training

Director of Excellence Announced

Roger L. Curran has been appointed as the new EO&T Director of Excellence. In his new role, Roger will chart the course of organ- izational excellence by leveraging new levels of robust synergy. “Roger is the perfect candidate for driving disruptive innovation, sustainability, and streamlining functional training for the organization,” said outgoing director Charles Bowery, who retires this April. In 2013, EO&T recorded a record 37% increase in excellence, the largest increase since the Excellence Organization was formed in 2006. Roger was selected among over a dozen candidates for his plans to socialize breakthrough empowerment strategies, facilitate best-in-class mindshare, and promote scalable milestone visibility benchmarks.   View the Excellence By the Numbers Charts

Boeing-branded Snuggie Introduced

Now available in the Boeing Store -- Boeing-branded snuggies. Available in three different colors. Show off your company pride while keeping warm in these soft blankets. Factory-crafted from the same materials as in-flight airplane blankets. Order Your Snuggie Online Now

Charge Number Issued for Sitting at Gate


Seattle-based Boeing employees should use a new ETS field 2 code "GATE" to record time spent sitting at the guard gate. With a new emphasis on pedestrian safety and driving slowly and carefully, it is common for drivers to be stuck, especially around shift changes, for as long as thirty minutes in a line up at the guard gate. The new labor charging guidance also applies to a new “PARK” field 2 code, for time spent circling around the parking lot looking for a space. With over 81,000 employees in Washington State, campus roadways and parking areas can be quite extensive.
 Link to ETS Field 2 Code Reference

Brown Bags now “Nylon Bags”

Boeing Lean+ organization has issued guidance to meeting organizers, that informal "brown bag" meetings should now be termed “nylon bag” meetings. An extensive survey performed by Lean+ revealed that, among employees who pack their own lunch, brown bag usage has fallen drastically to about 7%, with nylon bags representing 62% of packers. Other lunch-packing categories include re-used plastic grocery bags, glass food storage containers, and take-out food packaging. The study highlights nylon bag durability as one major driver for this shift. The new terminology is being implemented to prevent discrimination against younger employees who likely won’t relate to the experience of brown paper bags. Lean+ techniques and quality management call for accurate terminology to describe workforce meetings, even when meetings don’t relate to a direct charge activity.
Link to Nylon Bag 10-minute Trainer