Boeing to provide dual-sourcing for 787

In a move that could upset an already anxious Puget Sound workforce, Boeing has decided to set up a second 787 supply chain in Charleston, South Carolina, which is also the home of the second 787 production line.  This means that even some of the more complicated components of the Dreamliner, such as the vertical tail-in (currently manufactured in a state-of-the-art composites-manufacturing center in Frederickson, Washington), will also be manufactured in Charleston.  According to Boeing brass, this would allow the Charleston production line to operate independently and without interruption in the event that another Union strike affects the Puget Sound area.  Boeing has insisted that they are not replacing any work in Puget Sound, but rather than they are simply adding additional sourcing options.  But for the IAM, this is just more evidence of the writing of the wall that all Boeing production work will inevitably head down South to Charleston.

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