Electronic Commerce – Application Case:
Boeing’s spare PART marketplace
1. What motivated Boeing to create PART?
Boeing, the world’s largest maker of airlines was disposed to deliver a good customer service, especially for maintenance needs and spare parts. Before Boeing established the PART marketplace, it was a very complex and costly process for customers to get a specific part they needed. These parts were ordered by telephone or fax, that’s why Boeing had to install a lot of labor to manage about 600 phone calls a day. This complex process caused a lot of administrative mistakes and wrong deliveries, which in turn meant more costs for Boeing. First, the largest airlines established EDI connections with Boeing over VAN’s, but this system was also very complex and costly and the majority of the airlines didn’t use it. With the use of the Internet, Boeing saw a huge potential to achieve even more customers in a cheaper and more efficient way. The good-working PART system may even encourage customers to buy Boeing aircrafts because of the good service quality.

2. What motivated the move from EDI to the Internet?
Until 1992 only 10 percent of the largest customers were using EDI to order parts from Boeing. The main reasons for this weak performance were high costs and the complexity of VAN-based EDI. The internet itself is characterized by a very easy and cheap access, and Boeing saw the opportunity to encourage more of its customers to order parts electronically. Not only the largest airlines ordered their parts via the internet but also the smallest airline or company was now able to participate in PART. Consequently Boeing was able to increase the order volume in a very short period and could save money at the same time, because more than 600 phone calls per day were eliminated. Boeing was able to satisfy their customers on the one side, and work more