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FACTBOX: Global supply chain for Boeing's 787

Mon Sep 8, 2008 7:12am EDT

(Reuters) - A strike by machinists at Boeing Co almost certainly means that the troubled 787 Dreamliner will fall further behind schedule. The project, which is key to Boeing's financial future, is already around 18 months behind the original delivery plan, due to a series of problems with suppliers and shortages of parts.

The U.S. plane maker is pioneering a new way of making its latest carbon-composite aircraft, outsourcing most of the structure and components to companies around the world and assembling the pieces at its plant in Everett, Washington.

A prolonged strike would seriously hurt 787 development and ripple through a global aerospace industry already strained by project costs, currency volatility and a faltering global economy.

The following is a list of some of the biggest suppliers on the 787, where they are based and what they are producing.

UNITED STATES

General Electric (engines, electronics via Smiths UK)

Spirit Aerosystems (forward fuselage, flight deck, nose)

Honeywell International (flight control electronics)

Rockwell Collins (flight deck display)

Hamilton Sundstrand, a unit of United Technologies (internal power systems)

Vought Aircraft Industries, owned by Carlyle Group (aft fuselage)

Goodrich Corp (wheels, brakes)

Moog Inc (flight control actuators)

Hexcel (composite materials)

BRITAIN

Rolls-Royce (engines)

Ultra Electronics (wing ice protection)

GKN (composites)

FRANCE

Latecoere (passenger doors)

Messier-Dowty, part of Safran (landing gear structure)

Thales (in-flight entertainment system)

GERMANY

Diehl (cabin lighting)

ITALY

Alenia Aeronautica, part of Finmeccanica (horizontal stabilizer, central fuselage)

JAPAN

Toray Industries (carbon composite fiber)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (wings)

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (forward fuselage)

Fuji Heavy Industries (centre wing box)

Bridgestone (tires)

Matsushita (cabin services system)

SOUTH KOREA

KAL-ASD, a unit of Korean Air (raked wing tips)

SWEDEN

Saab Aerostructures (cargo doors)

Sources: Boeing, supplier companies.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby, Tim Hepher)


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