Latest / The Operations Podcast with Fexingo: Process, People, and Profit in Modern Business / How GE Used the GE90 to Reinvent Jet Engine Operations
Transcript
- Lucas: When you board a long-haul flight, you probably don't think about the engine. You might not even know which company made it. Luna: Right. It's just a tube of metal that goes whoosh. But the operations behind that tube are mind-boggling. Lucas: Exactly. And I want to talk about one engine in particular today: the GE90. That's the engine that powers the Boeing 777. It entered service in 1995, but the operational story starts years earlier. Luna: What makes it interesting from an operations standpoint? It seems like just another engine. Lucas: Well, first, it's the most powerful jet engine ever built. It produces over one hundred thousand pounds of thrust. And it's massive — the fan alone is over ten feet in diameter. That's about the height of a one-story building. Luna: Okay, that's impressive. But how does that change the operations compared to, say, a smaller engine? Lucas: Good question. The size forced GE to rethink nearly every step of production. For example, the fan blades are made of a carbon-fiber composite, not titanium. That was a first for a commercial engine. And they're huge — each blade is about four feet long. Luna: So you can't just machine them out of a block. You have to lay up layers of composite, cure them in an autoclave, and then do precision finishing. That's a completely different process from a metal blade. Lucas: Exactly. And GE had to build an entirely new factory for that. They set up a facility in Evendale, Ohio, which became the heart of GE90 production. But the real operational challenge was the supply chain. Luna: Because you can't just order a ten-foot fan blade off the shelf. You need suppliers who can handle that scale. Lucas: Right. GE actually co-located some key suppliers right on site. They brought in experts from Safran, the French aerospace company, to help with the composite technology. And they built a dedicated testing facility where they could run engines at full thrust — which, by the way, is incredibly loud and requires massive concrete bunkers. Luna: I've read that the testing facility had to be designed so the sound wouldn't damage nearby structures. That's a whole other layer of operations — infrastructure planning. Lucas: Absolutely. And it's not just about building the engine. It's about maintaining it over a thirty-year lifecycle. The GE90 has a maintenance schedule that involves borescope inspections, fan blade replacements, and module swaps. GE had to create a global network of service centers. Luna: That's a logistical challenge. You have to have parts and trained technicians available at airports around the world. And the GE90 is on the 777, which flies everywhere. Lucas: Precisely. And this is where the operations get really interesting. GE didn't just design an engine — they designed a system of production, maintenance, and supply chain that could scale. They also invested heavily in digital monitoring. Modern GE90s have sensors that transmit data in real time. Luna: So you can predict failures before they happen. That's predictive maintenance, which is a huge operational advantage. Lucas: Exactly. Airlines can schedule maintenance during downtime instead of reacting to an emergency. That saves millions of dollars per aircraft over its life. And GE charges for that service, by the way — they sell 'power by the hour' contracts. Luna: Interesting. So the operations themselves become a revenue stream. Not just building the product, but managing its performance. Lucas: Right. And that's a lesson that goes beyond aerospace. Any company that makes complex equipment — think medical devices, industrial machinery, even data-center hardware — can learn from how GE structured the GE90 program. Luna: But there's a trade-off, isn't there? The GE90 is so specialized that it's hard to adapt to other aircraft. It's really only on the 777. Lucas: That's the catch. GE put all their eggs in one basket. They invested roughly two billion dollars in development. If the 777 had flopped, it would have been a disaster. But it didn't. The 777 became a best-seller. Luna: So the operational bet paid off. But it required a level of commitment that most companies can't stomach. Lucas: Right. And that's what I find fascinating. The GE90 story is a case study in operational courage. They didn't just tweak an existing design. They reinvented how you make jet engines. Luna: And the operations people had to figure out how to do it safely, reliably, and at scale. It's a reminder that great products are built on great processes. Lucas: Exactly. And speaking of building on great processes — I want to take a quick moment to talk about how this show itself operates. You might have noticed there are no ads. Luna: Yeah, that's intentional. We keep it ad-free because a small group of listeners supports us directly. Lucas: Right. If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. And that's literally what funds making this many episodes. Luna: It's true. No corporate sponsors, no pressure. Just people who find value in what we do. Lucas: So if that's you, thank you. And if not, no worries — the next episode will be here either way. Now, back to the GE90. Luna: So we've covered the production and maintenance. But what about the people side? How did GE find and train workers for this new process? Lucas: That's a great angle. GE actually retrained a lot of their existing workforce. They set up a dedicated training center where employees learned composite layup and autoclave operation. It was a huge investment in human capital. Luna: Because you can't just hire experienced composite blade makers off the street. That skill didn't exist at that scale. Lucas: Exactly. And it's a lesson that applies to any industry undergoing a technology shift. The companies that win are the ones that invest in training, not just hardware. Luna: So the GE90's legacy isn't just a powerful engine. It's a blueprint for how to build a new manufacturing ecosystem. Lucas: I think that's the right takeaway. Whether you're making jet engines or software, the operational choices you make early on determine whether you can scale. Luna: And the GE90 shows that sometimes you have to bet big and build the system from scratch. Lucas: Yeah. It's a reminder that operations isn't just about efficiency. It's about enabling the impossible.