A little more than two weeks ago, reports surfaced regarding Boeing's refocused effort on closing the plane maker's shadow factories, sites where some of the company's top talent fix, maintain and update planes instead of building new ones.
The company had two sites still working on some 115 aircraft, one that services 737 MAX jets in Moses Lake and one that was working on 787 Dreamliners in Everett, Washington.
On Friday, the Seattle Times reported that Boeing is already closing up shop in Everett.
Mechanics wrapped up work on the remaining 787 Dreamliners, waiting for small gaps at the fuselage joins to be repaired.
It's big news for the troubled plane maker. Boeing had to fix 122 Dreamliners that had these paper-thin gaps. The work stole time from hundreds of mechanics, pulling them from regular production work.
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A whistleblower brought the gap issue to light, saying it could lead to catastrophe. Boeing, however, said the gaps didn't pose any risk. Still, they were out of spec and needed to be fixed.
Now, the aircraft can be delivered, and the many workers can move on to new projects. The 787 project has chewed up nearly five years with rework. The workers in Everett will be reassigned, many to Boeing's 777/777X program.
The shadow factory in Moses Lake is still working on 737 MAXs. As of early last month, about 55 planes still needed attention.
While the company continues to face many challenges, like the 787s in South Carolina still waiting for parts and the 777Xs parked in Washington waiting for certification, it looks like Boeing is closing the gap.
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A little more than 2 weeks ago, reports
surfaced regarding Boeing's refocused efforts
00:05.239 --> 00:10.789
on closing the planemaker's shadow factories,
sites where some of the company's top talent
00:11.039 --> 00:15.550
maintain, fix, and update planes instead of
building new ones.
00:15.680 --> 00:20.389
The company had two sites still working on some
115 aircraft,
00:20.799 --> 00:25.993
one that services.
737 Max jets in Moses Lake and another that was
00:25.993 --> 00:29.423
working on 787 Dreamliners in Everett,
Washington.
00:29.603 --> 00:35.143
On Friday, the Seattle Times reported that
Boeing is already closing up shop in Everett.
00:35.312 --> 00:40.833
Mechanics wrapped up work on the remaining 787
Dreamliners that were waiting for small gaps at
00:40.833 --> 00:46.386
the fuselage joints to be repaired. It's.
Big news for the troubled plane maker Boeing
00:46.386 --> 00:51.355
had to fix 122 Dreamliners that had these paper
thin gaps.
00:51.666 --> 00:56.335
The work stole time from hundreds of mechanics,
pulling them from regular production work.
00:56.506 --> 01:00.655
A whistleblower brought the gap issue to light,
saying it could lead to catastrophe.
01:00.986 --> 01:04.335
Boeing, however, said the gaps didn't pose any
risk.
01:04.585 --> 01:07.980
Still.
They were out of spec and needed to be fixed.
01:08.169 --> 01:12.860
Now the aircraft can be delivered and the many
workers can move on to new projects.
01:13.050 --> 01:16.839
The 787 project has chewed up nearly 5 years of
rework.
01:16.970 --> 01:22.800
The workers in Everett will be reassigned many
to Boeing's 777 and 777X program.
01:22.970 --> 01:27.739
The shadow Factory.
Moses Lake is still working on 737 maxes as of
01:27.739 --> 01:31.309
early last month, about 55 planes still needed
attention.
01:31.540 --> 01:36.699
While the company continues to face many
challenges like the 787s in South Carolina
01:36.699 --> 01:42.209
still waiting on parts and the 777 X's parked
in Washington waiting for certification,
01:42.699 --> 01:45.769
it looks like Boeing is closing the gap.
01:46.339 --> 01:47.449
I'm David Manti.
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This is manufacturing now.
