Aerospace & Defense — Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing · Source-to-Pay Procurement Platform Rollout · Boeing
Source-to-Pay Procurement Platform Rollout Project Manager Simulation — Boeing
Deploy SAP Ariba Buying & Invoicing across Boeing Commercial Airplanes — 11,200 requisitioners, 18,000 suppliers, $34B of annual spend. Boeing Defense stays on a separate Coupa instance the Pentagon requires for export-controlled work, and your programme is scoped to stop at that line. The line is drawn on an org chart. Nobody has ever checked whether the supplier data agrees. Gain hands-on project management experience over 27 days of real decisions, stakeholders, and PMO deliverables — no prior experience required.
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The scenario
Boeing Commercial Airplanes buys roughly $34B a year from about 18,000 suppliers, and almost none of it moves through a modern system. Indirect and services procurement — tooling, facilities, engineering services, IT, MRO consumables — runs on SAP ECC transactions, email attachments and a requisition process that Finance measured at eleven days from request to purchase order across fourteen sites. The programme deploys SAP Ariba Buying & Invoicing and Supplier Lifecycle & Performance to 11,200 requisitioners, onboards 450 strategic suppliers in a first wave, and leaves ECC as the system of record for the supplier master until the S/4HANA programme reaches it in 2029. What makes this different from every other Ariba rollout is the other half of the company. Boeing Defense, Space & Security procures on a separate Coupa instance, segregated because export-controlled technical data cannot sit in a commercial supplier portal. Boeing settled with the State Department in 2024 over export control violations and operates under compliance measures that make any finding reportable rather than merely fixable. So the programme scope was written to stop cleanly at the commercial boundary: Ariba does not touch defense procurement, does not integrate with Coupa, and does not carry controlled technical data. Trade Control holds an absolute veto over any change to that line. The boundary exists on an org chart and in one slide in the business case. It has never been expressed as a rule that supplier data, part numbers or catalog content could be tested against. Your predecessor left a clean RAID log after four months and no explanation for why the dual-use flag on the supplier master is blank for 11,400 of 18,000 records. Everyone will tell you the boundary is simple. Your job is to find out where it actually runs before an auditor does.
What you'll do as the project manager
- →Deploy Ariba Buying & Invoicing and SLP to 11,200 BCA requisitioners across 14 sites by the end of the programme.
- →Onboard 450 strategic suppliers through Wave 1, covering 78% of addressable indirect spend.
- →Reduce indirect requisition-to-PO cycle time from 11 days to 3.
- →Hold a documented and testable boundary between BCA Ariba and BDS Coupa, with zero export-controlled technical data reachable from the commercial supplier portal.
- →Export-classify 100% of Wave 1 catalog content before it loads to the portal.
Project management skills you'll build
The challenges you'll navigate
- •The BCA/BDS boundary is documented as an organizational split, not as a data rule. The supplier master's dual-use flag is blank on 11,400 of 18,000 records, so no query can currently tell you which suppliers serve both divisions.
- •About 2,300 suppliers have no EDI or cXML capability and must transact through the portal by hand. Roughly 600 of those are sole-source and can refuse onboarding without commercial consequence.
- •Deloitte's statement of work carries an assumption that commercial catalog content requires no export classification screening. It was accepted at signature and has never been tested.
- •Boeing operates under State Department compliance measures following the 2024 settlement. A finding on this programme is reportable, which changes the cost of being wrong.
- •The prepaid subscription means schedule slip converts directly into sunk licence cost, and the Investment Council has already refused contingency twice.
Technology & stakeholders
You'll manage 7 stakeholders, including Delia Quiñones (SVP, Supply Chain & Operations — Boeing Commercial Airplanes), Owen Kraczyk (Sr. Director, IT — Procurement Platforms & PMO), Tarek Bensalem (Lead Enterprise Architect, Procurement Platforms), and more.
What you'll walk away with
A verified, shareable record of a completed enterprise project — plus the PMO deliverables you produced along the way (charter, project plan, SteerCo deck, closure document). It's real, demonstrable project management experience you can put on your resume and speak to in interviews.
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Build real PM experience by leading this enterprise project from initiation through phase gates.
The Eddie System Live PMO Membership
$99/month. Cancel anytime.
- ✓This complete enterprise project simulation
- ✓Access to 75+ realistic PM simulations
- ✓PM templates and real PMO deliverables
- ✓Live PMO phase-gate sessions with feedback
- ✓Community access, replays, and training
- ✓Resume-backed project stories you can speak to in interviews
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Frequently asked questions
Do I need project management experience to start?
No. This simulation is built for aspiring and practicing project managers alike — you learn by doing. You make real decisions and get feedback, with no PMP or prior PM job required.
How long does this simulation take?
It runs over 27 days, roughly 25 minutes per day, covering the full project lifecycle from initiation to closure.
What will I learn?
You practice the core of project management — stakeholder management, budget and schedule control, risk, scope, and PMO governance — in the context of source-to-pay procurement platform rollout in aerospace & defense — commercial aircraft manufacturing.
What does it cost?
This simulation is included in The Eddie System Live PMO Membership: $99/month, cancel anytime. One membership unlocks this project plus the full simulation library, PM templates and deliverables, live phase-gate sessions, replays, and community access.
What happens after I join?
Your platform access is instant: log in with the email you joined with and start Day 1 of this simulation. Your invite to the private community (Skool) arrives shortly after joining, included in your membership.
Is this based on the real Boeing?
No, and The Eddie System is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Boeing. It is a realistic training scenario inspired by Boeing and the Aerospace & Defense — Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing sector. Details, names, and events are fictionalized for training. It is a simulation, not a record of any actual project.
What do I get at the end?
A verified project completion plus the PMO deliverables you produced (charter, plan, SteerCo deck, closure) — proof of hands-on experience you can show employers.
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Boeing and related marks are trademarks of their respective owners. The Eddie System is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Boeing. This simulation is a fictionalized training scenario inspired by publicly known context; it is not a record of any actual project.