Revving up on rivets for 787

Alcoa, the world's biggest maker of aerospace fasteners and a contractor on Boeing's 787, said supplies of the rivets used to assemble the plane are tight and will get worse.

Acquiring fasteners for the 787 Dreamliner is "a big challenge," Michael Bair, Boeing's 787 program manager, told analysts earlier this week.

Assembly of the new 787 and Airbus' superjumbo A380, plus increased production of existing models, will push fastener demand up as much as 20 percent, outstripping supply, said Alcoa Executive Vice President Bill Christopher. The industry cut capacity when sales fell after the Sept. 11 attacks, and companies haven't rebuilt as fast as anticipated.

"It's already tight," Christopher, head of Alcoa engineered products and solutions, said Thursday. "With the new programs coming online and production-rate increases on other models, it's going to continue and get a little worse."

Alcoa is working with Boeing to complete design work and get the nine different fastener types to Boeing's Everett factory, where they will replace temporary rivets now being used in 787 assembly. Official rollout of the plane is set for July 8. Boeing is still scheduled to deliver the first 787 in May 2008.

Boeing engineers have been sent to Alcoa's fastener facility in Carson, Calif., and are now making scheduling decisions at the plant, where the world's biggest aluminum maker is dedicating additional capacity for the 787 program, Christopher said.

"We are taking our lead from them," he said. "Will they get the issue resolved? I'm absolutely confident of it."

Dreamliner wings and fuselage sections with temporary fasteners began arriving this month from Japan and Italy onboard Boeing's Dreamlifter freighter for final assembly in Everett.

Alcoa is hiring back workers after the Sept. 11 downturn forced the company to cut almost 40 percent of its fastener work force. It's also adding manufacturing capacity to plants in Acuna, Mexico, and Nemesvamos, Hungary.

A new plant in Suzhou, China, will open next year after three years of construction, Christopher said.