这是2006年夏天，波音梦想飞机787仍然只是一个梦想，我正在采访波音的商业发展副总裁787年。“我们不仅仅是一家飞机公司，”他告诉我。“我们是全球运输系统的关键要素。”

为此，波音公司决定专注于它据说最佳的任务：大规模的系统集成;精益和有效的全球设计和生产;使用钛和复合材料如同异国金属;解释航空业的需求。

One thing it did not plan on doing was getting its hands dirty building things like wings and fuselage sections. Apparently this was no longer one of the company’s “core competencies.” Why bother with drilling holes and running wires, when you could just as easily have somebody do the job for you in Italy, China or Japan?

快进至2008年 - 转出建筑翅膀和机身部分比它看起来更加艰难，同样用于管理复杂的全球供应链。首先有紧固件短缺。之后，来自南卡罗来纳州南卡罗来纳州的供应商的一系列机身部分，尚未正确准备在埃弗里特，沃雷特的植物中的最终组装。现在波音已经发现了很多 3％的紧固件 in a number of the 787’s major subassemblies are being installed incorrectly. Apparently the company is going to have to find, remove and then put every one of those fasteners back in again.

在最近的机械师在波音袭击时，外包是争论的主要骨头。联盟的立场是，它的工人值得他们命令的更高工资，因为他们知道他们在做什么。在纸上授予它似乎更便宜，让某人在海外或非洲大陆另一边的非联盟商店工作。但后来，有一些东西可以被说经验。正确做事第一次可以最终最终节省大笔资金。

在组装杂志,我们坚定proponents of companies doing whatever it takes to be competitive-that includes outsourcing. However, we have also cautioned companies to be sure and look at the “big picture” before shipping their work elsewhere in the interest of easy “cost savings.” Just because the actual process of assembling a product is easy for you, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for everybody. Just because they’re less glamorous, that doesn’t mean tasks like running wire, installing rivets and, oh yeah, quality assurance, are any less important than all that headwork being done by the guys in the fancy suits.