Boeing titanium problem shows risks of outsourcing

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Zeynep Tufekci / The New York Times

In yet another airliner scandal, Boeing and Airbus jets have been manufactured using titanium sold with forged documentation. The problem was uncovered after a parts supplier found small holes in the material from corrosion. Whether the parts are usable despite the faked paperwork is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Why did this happen? The companies outsourced their manufacturing to China, and what manufacturing remains in the United States has been subject to intense cost-cutting. Outsourcing and cost-cutting often mean lower quality, more errors and more cover-ups.

The parts in question are handled by Spirit AeroSystems, which was a division of Boeing until 2005, when it was sold to investors as a separate company. Right before that move, an internal report by John Hart-Smith, a Boeing engineer, questioned “whether or not a company can continue to operate if it relies primarily on outsourcing the majority of the work that it once did in-house,” according to The Seattle Times.

Problems caused by outsourcing aren’t exclusive to the airline industry.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/tufekci-boeing-titanium-problem-shows-risks-of-outsourcing/

[captain queeg]

1. This is a problem everywhere but when you are talking about aviation it gets scary

The trend has permeated every business. Profit drives everything and while the idea might have really started in the US we’ve exported it to the world. Some have instituted a version of capitalism that’s less extreme, others go all out. The US seems to have embraced it fully.

For an example I always remember doing some testing at a state dept of transportation over 20 yrs ago. They still had what I’d call a “busting lab” with a big hydraulic press. It could treat both tension and compression. While there for a couple days I got to know the old tech that ran the lab. He said we could make roads that lasted 50 yrs if we would pay for them but over the years business lobbied for ever looser standards. To increase profits. Ok, I’m starting to go off on a tangent but the point is certain things are inheritantly government responsibility and the profit motive needs to be kept in check. Oversight in the case of aviation.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. I spent a year of my working life helping a company sort out problems related to outsourcing

It was the medical industry, but FDA regulations are no less stringent than those required by the FAA. Before my gig was over, I ‘camped out’ at a supplier location for several months, basically helping write their Quality program from scratch. I even had to arrange training for a technician so he could operate a piece of measuring equipment. At least I got mileage and per diem.

I’m cynical, I know, and I often wonder how anything works at all, given the loss of control when companies outsource their operations. I was hardly the Lone Ranger, except at the very end, on the gig mentioned above. I was the lead and had as many as three additional people with me during the course of this job. I believe two other suppliers required direct intervention as well, each comprising roughly the same number of people. Back at our client’s facility, perhaps 60 other people worked through our contractor as well. I spent a couple of months there , and it was a real grind. Production at our client’s facility were halted for the duration of my time on that project. All those other workers I mentioned were from out of town. If they lived far enough away, they got to fly home twice a month at company expense. We definitely weren’t a cheap date.

[FakeNoose]

3. They didn't have to outsource to China, or anywhere else

Their products can all be made in the USA. And they USED to be made here.