SPEEA (Latest 787 Slide Shows Failure of Boeing's Global cha

[Midnight Mike]

SPEEA Says Latest 787 Slide Shows Failure of Boeing's Global Supply Plan

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080409/20080409006149.html?.v=1

Relying on a network that brings wings from Japan, fuselage sections from Italy, rudders from China and thousands of other parts from around the globe is a failure, according to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001.

“Boeing outsourced everything it could to lower costs and it’s hurting this program and the company,” said Ray Goforth, executive director of SPEEA. “Employees are performing heroic efforts to get the 787 back on track and they are getting no help from corporate leaders in Chicago who consistently ignored the truth coming from employees in engineering offices and factory floor.”

The technical workers’ union predicted the failure in 2002 in a report prepared by SPEEA Researcher Stan Sorscher, Ph.D. The 12-page document “Challenge in Aerospace Leadership” describes how Boeing’s emphasis on “large-scale systems integration” would fail because it put more value on snapping a plane together than on the expertise needed to design, engineer and manufacture a highly complex aircraft. Visit the SPEEA website at http://www.speea.org to download the report.

According to the union, while the 787 is the latest and most prominent failure of the Boeing business model, it is not the first. The 767 tanker, Joint Strike Fighter, Future Combat Systems and the Wedgetall were all heavily outsourced programs that are now major disappointments for Boeing.

“We have to go back to the 777 to find a program that met or exceeded customers’ expectations,” Sorscher said. “The challenge going forward is formidable for Boeing. In the next 10 years a large number of engineers and technical workers will be eligible to retire.”

[Matt Molnar]

They conveniently leave out how one of the biggest problems was with the fuselage sections made right here in the US of A. :)

[T-Bird76]

I think its foolish to call the project a failure this early on. Like the A380 a new plane like this is bound to have its growing pains.

[cancidas]

I think its foolish to call the project a failure this early on. Like the A380 a new plane like this is bound to have its growing pains.

see the funny part about all that is the A380 is metal airplane designed in catia, meaning it was designed and built in the same was as the 777 and A330 for example. the 787 on the other hand is going to be an airplane that is built out of carbon fiber, a material that hasn't been used to make fuselages of transport airplanes to this day. tommy's right, there are bound to be issues with implementation of those new technologies.