Boeing grounded by supply chain woes

According to Procurement News’ latest analysis,  Richard Nixon, of KPMG's advisory practice, sounded a note of caution in March when he claimed that the inward focus necessitated by the worst economic conditions in a generation had caused a number of companies to neglect the health of their supply chains. At the time, the majority of attention was centred on the woes of an increasingly forlorn looking automotive industry, but events this week have retrained that focus on the aviation industry which is still searching desperately for green shoots.

Boeing, the company whose long-awaited ground-breaking Dreamliner 787 aircraft has filled more column inches than any other plane in history (with the possible exception of Concorde) has often been the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons. ?The first test flight of the 787 should have taken place in August 2007. It finally took off in December 2009 and a plane that was due to enter service in May 2008 is still to take to the skies. 

Many of these delays have been attributed to issues within Boeing's supply chain and, more pertinently, the company's decision to outsource a large chunk of the development work to external suppliers. The 787's troubled history was highlighted again recently, when the latest series of test flights had to be halted due to some improperly installed parts on the aircraft's horizontal stabiliser - a smaller wing on the plane's tail. What makes the Dreamliner's troubled history all the more remarkable, however, is that Boeing appears to have learnt little from previous experience.

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