Boeing Plans North Charleston Expansion Activities

New paint hangar and additional land purchase confirm Boeing's long-term commitment to South Carolina

Boeing announced Friday, December 13, 2013 that it will begin construction in the second half of 2014 on a new paint facility on its main campus in North Charleston, S.C. The company expects to begin painting fully assembled 787 Dreamliners in South Carolina in mid-2016.

The approximately 230,000 square-foot (21,368 m2) facility will be used to apply customer liveries to Boeing South Carolina (BSC)-built 787s. Today all BSC-built 787s are flown to Fort Worth, Texas, for final paint and then flown back to South Carolina for customer delivery.

"Painting our airplanes in South Carolina supports our Lean manufacturing and production optimization initiatives," said Jack Jones, vice president and general manager, Boeing South Carolina. "We can make our delivery process even more efficient by painting airplanes here in South Carolina, creating more value and convenience for our customers."

The company also announced today that it acquired access to a total of 468 acres (189 hectares) in North Charleston, S.C., to protect for potential future growth in South Carolina through a long-term lease with Palmetto Railways, a division of the S.C. Department of Commerce. In addition to the 267 acres (108 hectares) sold by the Charleston County Aviation Authority, another 201 acres (81 hectares) of land in North Charleston were purchased with state bond funds allocated to Boeing. Owned by Palmetto Railways, the land will be leased to Boeing under a long- term lease. The company has an option to purchase all of the 468 acres (189 hectares) at the end of the initial lease term at the end of 2027.

"This expansion makes future growth in North Charleston possible. While we expect to begin the permitting process immediately for this property, we have no specific plans for the land other than where we will locate the new paint facility," said Jones.

As part of the site expansion, beginning in January 2014, Boeing will construct a new 10,000 square-foot (929.03 m2) fully equipped fire station at its main campus, which is expected to be operational by late 2014. The company will add a second autoclave in 2016 to support aftbody composite fabrication for previously announced 787 program rate increases.

"We've been busy here in South Carolina this year," said Jones. "Our BSC teammates have not only been ramping to rate in component and airplane production, but they're doing it in the middle of construction zones. Our commitment to South Carolina is visibly demonstrated every day as our growth and expansion continues. I don't expect that ending anytime soon."

Since late 2012, Boeing has been expanding its main South Carolina site to create more efficiencies and capabilities in production to meet committed 787 build rates. Under previously announced expansion plans, the company is adding 391,000 square feet (36,325 m2) to its aftbody fabrication and assembly building; 42,000 square feet (3,901.9 m2) to its aft and midbody component paint facility; 67,000 square feet (6,224.5 m2) in office and meeting space to its final assembly building; and a new 94,000 square-foot (8,732.9 m2) Dreamlifter Operations Center, to be completed in the first quarter of 2014. The midbody component assembly facility is undergoing construction to add additional capacity and efficiency on the production floor.

In 2013, Boeing announced plans to establish IT Centers of Excellence and an Engineering Design Center, along with plans to build a new Propulsion facility in South Carolina. In November, Boeing broke ground on the new 220,000 square-foot (2,0439 m2) facility located in Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston (Ladson area) that will house its new 737-MAX propulsion assembly work, scheduled to begin in mid-2015.

Boeing conducts inaugural flight of 1st 787 built in North Charleston

Boeing marked another 787 milestone as the first Dreamliner built in North Charleston completed its first flight. Piloted by Tim Berg and Randy Neville, the airplane successfully conducted a five-hour test flight. More than 5,000 Boeing South Carolina employees watched a live broadcast of the airplane as it took off from Charleston International Airport.

"This is a proud moment for our Boeing South Carolina team and for Boeing," said Jack Jones, vice president/general manager, Boeing South Carolina. "In April, we gathered on the flightline to watch this airplane roll out of final assembly. Today, we watched as this airplane successfully completed its first production flight - one step closer to delivering our first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner to our customer."

Today's production flight test profile tested the airplane's controls and systems in a series of scenarios designed to verify the airplane operates as designed. The tests occurred in all stages of flight beginning prior to taxi, through final landing and taxi.


View Flight path of the maiden voyage of the 1st North Charleston-made Boeing 787 in a larger map

During the flight, the crew checked the functionality of onboard systems at high and medium altitudes. They also checked backup and critical safety elements including cabin pressurization, avionics, and navigation and communications systems. In addition, they shut down and re-started each engine during flight.

"First flight of this South Carolina-built airplane is a significant achievement and our teammates did a great job working together to make this happen," said Berg. "The airplane performed exactly as we expected."

The airplane will be flown to Ft. Worth, Texas to be painted with Air India's livery before returning to Boeing South Carolina for a mid-2012 delivery.

COLUMN by Councilman Ron Brinson: Boeing brings out the best in South Carolina

Boeing-North Charleston's first 787 Dreamliner rollout Friday was quite a show.

But now it's over, and this project that shaped different grades of excitement in Greater Seattle and Greater Charleston is reality.

Boeing is producing planes in South Carolina!

And we South Carolinians love it!

This project is now beyond the economic-development achievement cycle and on to the most important objective — building great airplanes and making a profit for Boeing shareholders.

That's what it's all about, right?

One thing's for sure — Boeing brings out the best of South Carolina.

Consider that its massive brand new production campus at North Charleston evolved from a standing start in 2009 to completion six months early, with nary a construction accident.

This $775 million complex is a world-class, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, laced with large and small environmental features, like a roof covered with solar-energy panels. Hundreds of permits were required, scores of government and intergovernmental actions were necessary. The requisite interagency bureaucracy seemed to flow flawlessly.

For economic-development prizes like a Boeing assembly plant, we rise above our inertial temperament and make things happen. And Boeing-North Charleston is a very big prize. With the "Great Recession" peaking in 2009, Boeing gave South Carolina a 9,000-job boost into the aerospace industry — and its presence in our community.

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said it best: "To have our nation's No. 1 exporter in our state ... this is the game changer of my lifetime!"

Folks in Boeing's Seattle-Everett enclave might forever doubt that South Carolina can build a plant or a plane. And folks in South Carolina will forever remember that Boeing workers' unions and President Obama sicced the National Labor Relations Board on South Carolina and our right-to-work laws.

And what about the gratuitous insults? Like the jokes and the David Horsey cartoon depicting South Carolinians as incapable of producing anything but a backward reputation. In this vacuous truth, South Carolinians can't build airplanes because nobody can, unless the assembly line is in Washington state!

We tend to laugh at such misinformed ignorance. Idiots are idiots, but thoughtful detractors might have checked the record.

We're proud to say our state's greatest market asset is a trainable, scalable workforce and a landscape of beauty and lifestyle that attracts the skilled and talented.

Sort of like Washington state, right?

And we're very proud to note our statewide technical-education system is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Its mission is simple — nimbly train workers for new and expanding companies. In 2012, as the United States steadily regains manufacturing jobs, that means training for high-tech production jobs. South Carolina committed a $45 million training package to Boeing. Some might argue that's an excessive public expenditure — and subsidy. Hugh Leatherman, state Senate finance committee chairman, sees it through a marketing prism: "Training is a key to economic development ... it's an investment in our people that pays the biggest of dividends."

South Carolina is a business-friendly state, for sure, and, yes, those right-to-work laws are attractive to some companies. But the biggest of all these business-friendly assets is a trainable workforce — and a statewide training program with a proven record.

South Carolina thrives in the fiercely competitive foreign-investments markets. Last year, BMW announced yet another expansion of its Greenville-Spartanburg plant. This one will push production to 200,000 vehicles annually. Last month, Michelin announced a $700 million expansion in our state. Over the past 40 years, international firms invested more than $38 billion in South Carolina and created more than 150,000 jobs.

It may take time for Everett and upstart North Charleston to become best friends forever, but North Charleston is now part of the Boeing family. Maybe the two municipalities can become brother or sister cities, or something.

As an aerospace-industry player, we South Carolinians know we have a lot to learn — and we're willing. One thing we clearly understand, though, is that Boeing, wherever it operates, is a big deal! Seeing a brand new Boeing plane flying gracefully over Greater Seattle or Greater Charleston should never become routine for any of us.

Ron Brinson, a North Charleston city councilman, served as president/CEO of the American Association of Ports Authorities from 1979 to 1986 and president/CEO of the Port of New Orleans from 1986 to 2003.

Boeing opens Interiors Fabrication Facility in North Charleston

Interiors Facility under construction, taken in March 2011

Facility will supply Boeing South Carolina with 787 interior components.

Last week, Boeing celebrated the opening of its new Interiors Fabrication facility in North Charleston.

The Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina team will manufacture 787 interior parts including stowbins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stowbins used by flight attendants, overhead rests for flight-crews and flight attendants, video control stations and attendant modules for Boeing South Carolina.

Elected officials and representatives from community and business groups and local construction companies joined hundreds of Boeing employees to commemorate the opening.

"As part of today's celebration we acknowledge and thank you all for welcoming us into the community, and showing us your support as we bring our facility on line," said Lane Ballard, Boeing Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina director. "We look forward to delivering our first set of interior components to Boeing South Carolina in 2012."

Boeing's Site Services Group, BRPH and Pattillo Construction were recognized at the ceremony for completing the facility on schedule. Pattillo's crew worked more than 500,000 labor-hours without a lost-time accident. 

The 300,000 square foot (27,871 square meters) facility includes state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, and employees will use the latest Lean processes and tools to efficiently produce interior components to match 787 production rates at Boeing South Carolina.

North Charleston High School students tour Boeing facility

On Friday, November 11, 2011 North Charleston High School Logistics Students earned the privilege of being the FIRST school group to tour the new Boeing facility.

Boeing has partnered with the Charleston County School District to create a new major in Logistics. North Charleston High School has one of only two Logistics programs in the state of South Carolina. After an introduction to the company and a welcome from Boeing Senior Managers, students were taken on a tour of the campus. They were able to view the production line and see first-hand the logistics involved in building an entire airplane.

The highlight of the tour took them through the 787 Final Assembly building, which is the size of 12 football fields. Inside, the first 787 is to be entirely assembled in the North Charleston facility was being finished. The tour ended at the new visitor’s center where the students were given Boeing 787 t-shirts for participating in the Logistics program at NCHS.

Logistics is a class that will prepare students for a successful career in Materials Handling.  Other local businesses such as Piggly Wiggly, CGI, Pearlstine, and Trident Technical Institute have partnered with this program to ensure its success.  All of these businesses hire high school graduates in this area and are committed to hiring NCHS students that successfully complete the Logistics Major.

The Logistics Class is designed to provide students with the fundamentals of Warehousing and Distribution.  It is an introductory course in Material Handling within a warehouse environment. Students will learn the concepts of warehousing and material logistics, as well as, how materials are handled, moved, stored, controlled and protected within a warehouse.

Boeing South Carolina Ranks in the Top 15 on EPA's Fortune 500 List of Green Power Purchasers

Courtesy of Mike Tiffee

Boeing's South Carolina 787 fabrication and assembly facility in North Charleston, SC ranks 14th on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Fortune 500 list of the largest renewable power purchasers in its Green Power Partnership, according to the agency's most recent ranking released Oct. 24. The North Charleston, S.C., site ranks 33rd overall among green energy consumers, including local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities.

Boeing South Carolina purchases nearly 130 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable power annually from South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), enough to meet 100 percent of the site's energy needs. A percentage of that power will be generated onsite by a thin-film solar laminate installation on the roof of the Boeing South Carolina 787 Final Assembly building.

"This shows our commitment to drive environmental thinking into the way we operate our company," said Mary Armstrong, Boeing vice president of Environment, Health and Safety. "Boeing South Carolina's commitment to renewable energy, coupled with its zero waste to landfill program and LEED certification targets for all new construction, demonstrates that what's good for the environment is also good for business."

The site's solar generation system, owned and maintained by SCE&G, is the largest in the southeastern U.S. by production capacity and by itself could power approximately 250 residential homes.
"EPA's Green Power Partners consistently raise the bar for using clean, renewable electricity," said EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy. "Boeing South Carolina's commitment to using green power serves as an example of leadership for others to follow."

Boeing’s trial against the NLRB; Mayor Summey & Rep. Scott discuss on FOX Business

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey and Rep. Tim Scott, (R-S.C.), discuss Boeing’s trial against the NLRB with Tracy Byrnes on the Fox Business Channel.

Boeing breaks ground on North Charleston assembly plant

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