[a_square_peg]

The way the project was structured, it was in the interest of everyone to succeed since everyone paid for their own development cost and only made money when the planes were sold. Not the easiest client to work for mind you - I've been told that many companies flat out refuse to work with them, but again, thinking back, I think that's what made the project a success, although extremely stressful.

[jacquesm]

Some customers you can't afford to have and some you can't afford to lose, especially not the ones that help you to perform at (or even above, by educating you) your potential.

[a_square_peg]

Yep - certainly lessons learned through painful experiences.

Supply chain management is incredibly challenging and it's interesting to see one school of thought moving away to vertical integration as an alternative solution and another doing just as well with suppliers (Airbus, Apple, ASML, etc).