How my World became Flat in the last 25 years - Part 3
by George Eby Mathew, Head of Infosys Solutions Consulting, Canada
Flatness is not about outsourcing and off shoring to India or any place under the sun, it is about access, crumbling of boundaries, ensuring that anyone in the world can build products and services any part of the world and sell it in any part of the world where he/she can get maximum value. For example, my friend’s South African neighbor who lives in Bangalore has set up a company that cleans the windows of India’s emerging high rises. He’s the best I have heard of because he is a trained mountaineer, a skill rare in India and so he has a flourishing business.
The heights to which one can take the flattening story is this one describing the making of the Airbus A380. The 555 seat, double deck Airbus A380 is the most ambitious civil aircraft program ever. Key design included modifications of existing airport infrastructure, direct operating costs per seat 15-20% less than competition, 49% more floor space, 35% more seating 10-15% more range than competition. It achieves lower fuel burn, emissions, and less noise using the most advanced technologies. It is one of the finest examples of the use of composite materials. By revolutionizing long haul flights, the Airbus A380 has brought in an inflexion point in the airline business challenging hub-and-spoke system.
Guess how was it achieved? The 10-year, $13 billion A380 project involved financial, political, legal, industrial and technical collaboration of over 50 countries and 6000 people across the world. The A380 was built with the help of industrial partners in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United States for the final assembly in Toulouse, France, with interior fitment in Hamburg, Germany.
So what do you think? I see my world flattening. I feel it every day. And I guess it will become inevitable part of my everyday life.
