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Boeing's 787 Dreamliner due to make its first test flight - - almost two and a half years late due to distributed manufacturing model
By Finfacts Team
Dec 15, 2009 - 3:59:45 PM
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is due to make its first test flight on Tuesday - - almost two and a half years late due to a distributed manufacturing model.
It has been hit by production delays that have mainly resulted from a distributed manufacturing model.
The mid-range fuel efficient aircraft has won about 840 orders with a value of $140 billion at list prices, but some have been cancelled because of the delays.
It has a lightweight design and is made of carbon and titanium.
The design aims to make the plane nimble and able to fly long distances without refuelling.
Boeing termed itself a systems integrator rather than an manufacturer as it has been viewed as remarkable for the degree to which Boeing has outsourced production around the world. Boeing itself is responsible for about 10 per cent by value - - tail fin and final assembly. The rest is done by 40 partners, with the wings built in Japan, the carbon composite fuselage in Italy and the US and the landing gear in France.
In return for investing more upfront and taking on a share of the development costs, suppliers had been given major sections of the airplane to build. The wing sections are made in Japan, while factories in Italy, South Carolina and Wichita, Kansas, assemble the bulk of the fuselage. The parts are flown aboard modified 747 cargo planes to Everett, Washungton, for final assembly.
Boeing said in 2007 that when the system was up and running, it would eventually be able to snap together Dreamliners in as little as three days, in a manner not unlike how plastic model airplanes are assembled.
Boeing officials said the system has reduced the company's upfront development costs by billions of dollars. The downside, they acknowledged, was that Boeing has less control over the day-to-day progress of the Dreamliner program than it has had for any new airliner in its history.
Originally planned to fly in August 2007 and reach customers in May 2008, Boeing delayed the plane five times because of unexpected problems with new composite plastics and the supply chain that stretched to 135 sites around the world.
The 787 completed high-speed taxi tests over the weekend and Boeing says the plane will take off at 10 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday from Paine Field next to the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington, weather permitting.
Weather permitting, Boeing plans to finally get its new 787 jetliner into the air Tuesday, more than two years after it had intended. CNBC's Phil LeBeau and Alex Hamilton, of Jesup & Lamont, share their insight:
