Is the 787 a failure ?

|
| Company engineers blame the 787's outsourced supply chain,
| saying that poor quality components are coming from
| subcontractors that have operated largely out of Boeing's
| view.
|
| "The risk to the company is not this battery, even though
| this is really bad right now," said one 787 electrical
| engineer, who asked not to be identified. "The real problem
| is the power panels."
|
| Unlike earlier Boeing jets, he said, the innards of the 787
| power distribution panels -- which control the flow of
| electricity to the plane's many systems -- are "like Radio
| Shack," with parts that are "cheap, plastic and prone to
| failure."
| ...
| "The supplier management organization (at Boeing) didn't
| have diddly-squat in terms of engineering capability when
| they sourced all that work," he said.
| ...
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020275838_boeingoutsourcingxml.html?prmid=4939

--bks

|
| Boeing has deployed hundreds of engineers to fix the
| battery-related trouble that grounded the 787.
|
| But what about its 10 supposedly independent directors, who
| serve on the board chaired by Chief Executive James
| McNerney?
| ...
| Taken together, it's a cozy board largely of elite
| professional managers and political movers. The risk of
| living in a bubble is significant. There's no shareholder
| activist. No union member. No cantankerous John Smale to
| ask tough questions and demand change. Not one aircraft
| engineer.
| ...
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020268550_biztaltoncol03xml.html

--bks