Boeing Outsourcing 7E7 Wing Work

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. have agreed to supply a composite material to make the wings and to underwrite several billion dollars of related research and development costs, though Boeing officials won't reveal a number on those costs.

Although some observers say Boeing's move makes sense financially and from a manufacturing standpoint, others contend the company is taking a huge gamble sharing its wing technology with outside suppliers.

Why would you give your most prized technology away for a just a couple of billion dollars?" asked David Pritchard, a researcher at the State University of New York at Buffalo, who has studied deals between Boeing and foreign suppliers since the 1970s. "One has to protect core technology. What's stopping them [the Japanese] from developing their own airplane?"

Boeing rejects such notions. "The idea that any single part of the plane is the golden key to an airplane is inaccurate," said Lori Gunter, spokeswoman for the 7E7 program.

Although Japanese suppliers will have access to detailed specifications related to 7E7 wings, the overall designs for the plane, Boeing's first launch of a new model in more than a decade, will be drafted on in-house computers and controlled by Boeing engineers.

Although the 7E7 will be assembled in Everett, Wash., the home of Boeing's commercial jet production line, some unionized workers there consider outsourcing of the 7E7 wing more controversial than when Boeing decided to have the 777 fuselage built in Japan. The workers fear that with the wing technology, government-subsidized Japanese companies will have a critical piece needed to build their own airliner.

What's your opinion? Should Boeing outsource this work to a foreign supplier, or any outside supplier for that matter? Let's hear your thoughts on this issue.

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