Herald Business Journal A9
|
THE DAILY HERALD
|
WWW.HERALDNET.COM
|
SATURDAY, 05.09.2015
787 ‘surge line’ to close Boeing plans to build 12 Dreamliners a month in 2016. By Dan Catchpole Herald Writer
EVERETT — The Boeing Co. said it will close its second, temporary 787 assembly line here by the end of the year. The closure will mean picking up the pace on the main 787 production line and at the 787 factory in South Carolina. An initial assembly line for the 777X program will take its place in the 40-24 building. Workers on the so-called “surge line” will be moved to either
Everett’s main 787 line or to other airplane programs around metro Puget Sound, Boeing executives said Friday. Boeing has about 40,000 employees at the Paine Field site, where it produces twinaisle jetliners. The move is possible because production of the 787 is going more smoothly and more efficiently in both Everett and North Charleston, South Carolina, the executives said. “It’s a strong testament to the maturity and stabilization of the production systems both in Everett and in Charleston,” said Larry Loftis, the Boeing vice president who runs the 787 program. “The last airplane will load onto the
surge line in October and roll out of the factory at the end of the year.” Since Dreamliner assembly began in Everett, the program has been dogged by delays from supply chain kinks and design and production problems. It still costs more to build a 787 than its price tag. Analysts expect the company to break even on production costs by next year. In 2012, the aerospace giant opened a second assembly site in South Carolina. But the workforce struggled with the advanced airplane’s steep learning curve. So Boeing opened the Everett surge line that year to get airplanes to waiting customers.
Boeing has made big gains in 787 production in recent years, especially in South Carolina. “This is something that’s been maturing for a couple years now,” Loftis said. “This timing really allows us the smoothest transition from the 10 airplanes a month that we’re at now to the planned increase in rate to 12 airplanes a month in 2016,” he said. Currently, Everett assembles seven Dreamliners per month and South Carolina workers turn out three. Closing the Everett surge line means increasing production on See 787, Page A10
Microsoft excites users again The company is using its gargantuan budget in hopes of forging the next generation of tech. By Drew Harwell The Washington Post
Something very weird is happening in the tech world: Microsoft looks cool again. The guileless, style-less suburban dad of digital America — maker of Clippy, Vista and the Zune — is suddenly intriguing developers, exciting customers and building things people actually want to use. Now piloted by Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s 47-year-old dealmaker, the $390 billion tech giant is making friends with an army of developers, administrators and former antagonists who are helping strengthen its software and spread the word. Just a year into the job, Nadella, Microsoft’s third chief executive in 40 years, has pushed the tech titan into surprising territory, unveiling a free version of Windows 10 that pledges to fix the sins of its predecessors while also playing nice with start-ups and studios that once left it behind. But the Redmond-based giant is also using its gargantuan budget, including $11 billion spent last year on research and development, in hopes of forging the next generation of tech. One of its biggest, riskiest bets in years: the HoloLens, its sci-fi-style “augmented reality” goggles that project virtual objects in plain sight. “What things like HoloLens show is this is a company that
A reviewer has praised the HoloLens as “one of the most amazing pieces of tech I’ve seen.”
is still fighting very hard to produce innovative ideas,” said Brad Reback, a managing director and analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. “Some will work. Some won’t ... but everyone’s paying attention.” Within the last year, Microsoft cleaned house in its highest ranks, invested heavily in its Xbox One gaming console and spent $2.5 billion to buy Minecraft, one of the world’s best-selling video games. It also unveiled some long-awaited software, such as Office for the iPad, which helped send its stock to a 14-year high. Within the past week, the company went viral with a photo analyzer that guessed (with varying success) how old someone looked and with news that Windows 10 will be the first version with its own middle-finger emoji,
shareable in six skin tones. Even Wall Street is finding something to love. Microsoft’s shares have climbed about 15 percent since its earnings call last month and more than 40 percent since 2013. Investors who once sought to cozy up to smaller tech start-ups are suddenly praising the new leadership of one of the world’s biggest computing juggernauts. Microsoft has never had a heavily hyped, style-oozing release like Apple’s iPod or iPhone. But in the Bill Gates era, the company showed a certain verve and excitement that proved, in the early tech industry, hard to match. Twenty years ago, thousands waited in line to pay $90 for their fresh copy of Windows 95. In the years after Gates stepped
MICROSOFT
down as chief executive, in 2000, the company began to bungle releases and lose out on basically every big market-mover in tech, ceding ground to Google, Apple, Amazon and many others on smartphones, search and social networks, as well as online music, books and ads. Under the watch of Nadella, analysts say Microsoft has radically changed even its most bread-and-butter tech. It has revamped one of its dustiest offerings, Internet Explorer, and plans to unveil a new, streamlined browser, Edge, to compete with Google Chrome. And Windows 10, set for a summer release, is designed to run on nearly every device on the See COOL, Page A10
2016 Dodge Viper ACR to be the fastest yet Detroit Free Press
biz bits
DETROIT — Snake lovers, rejoice: Dodge on Friday confirmed it will make a 2016 Viper ACR and it will be the fastest Viper on the track when it goes on sale this fall. Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis unveiled the Viper ACR Friday morning during an event and tour of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ plant that hand-builds the powerful sports car. The decision to bring back the ACR is one of several actions Kuniskis has taken over the past several months to generate renewed interest in the Viper. The automaker dropped the entry level price of the Viper by $15,000
The 2015 Dodge Viper ACR.
last year, launched a new website that allows Viper customers to custom order their own Viper and opened the plant to a tour for the media Friday for the first time
The third annual Health & Fitness Expo is from 9 to 11:30 a.m. May 16 at the Edmonds School District Stadium at 7600 212th St. SW, Edmonds. This free event is open to the public and will include more than 45 interactive health and wellness booths, activities and free health screenings. For more information, visit www.
in several years. ACR is a performance trim level of the Viper that denotes that it is track ready. ACR is short for American Club Racer.
HFExpo.edmondswa.gov. The Nile Shriners plan a Golf Ball Drop to benefit Shriner’s Hospitals for Children at 2 p.m. July 26 at the Nile Golf Course in Mountlake Terrace. The balls will be dropped from a helicopter at the course at 6601 244th St., Mountlake Terrace. Their goal is to sell 3,000
golf balls. Tax deductible tickets are $5 each. Winners need not be present. Tickets can be purchased in the Nile office or from any participating Shriner. After the Nepal earthquake, state officials and the Better Business Bureau urge consumers to be on guard for charity scams. Fake charities
“This is the fastest street-legal, track car we’ve ever built — bar none,” Kuniskis said. The top speed of the Viper ACR is 177 mph, which is technically less than the Dodge SRT Viper at 204 mph. But Dodge officials say the aerodynamics and highest downforce to date, combined with more powerful brakes, allow the car to complete a lap on the track faster than any other Viper. The 2016 Viper has an 8.4-liter V-10 gasoline engine rated at 645 horsepower — up by 5 — and 600 pound feet of torque. While the new ACR has more horsepower and torque than the model that preceded it, Kuniskis said most of See VIPER, Page A10
may look and sound legitimate online or even hijack the names of well-known organizations. Scammers will often pose as official charity agents pressuring for donations over the phone. Go to Give.org or the Secretary of State’s website for details. Biz Bits runs Monday through Saturday.
BRIEFLY
BNSF reopens rail line after oil train blaze BNSF Railway resumed shipments Friday along a track in North Dakota two days after an oil train derailed and caught fire, and cleanup continued on an undetermined of crude that was spilled. The mainline through the town of Heimdal reopened after six derailed tank cars were removed and a section of track that was damaged during the accident was repaired and inspected, BNSF said. The 109-car train was hauling crude from the Bakken oil patch in western North Dakota when the tank cars filled with about 180,000 gallons of oil went off the tracks and caught fire about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. No one was hurt but the 20 residents of Heimdal were forced from their homes for about a day.
37.2 million to travel on Memorial holiday Travel group AAA is forecasting 37.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. That’s a 4.7 percent increase from the 35.5 million people who traveled for the holiday in 2014, and the highest volume of travelers in 10 years for a Memorial Day holiday weekend, AAA said. The majority of travelers, 33 million people, will travel by car for the holiday, which this year is defined as May 21 to May 25. Travel by air is expected to climb 2.5 percent to 2.6 million travelers this year, AAA said. The good news for drivers is that most will probably pay the lowest Memorial Day gas prices in at least five years.
Black unemployment falls to 9.6 percent The unemployment rate for black Americans fell to single digits in April for the first time in nearly seven years. At the same time, the jobless rate among Asian-Americans rose for the first time in six months. The black unemployment rate in April was 9.6 percent, the lowest level since June 2008. During the recession, the rate had risen as high as 16.8 percent. Despite the improvement, the employment gap by race remains wide. The jobless rate for blacks is more than twice that of whites. The AsianAmerican unemployment rate climbed to 4.4 percent from 3.2 percent in March. It was the first such increase since October.
Malaysia Airlines gets a new CEO The new CEO of Malaysia Airlines said its financial situation is more challenging than anticipated and it will shrink in size as it tries to overcome a tarnished image with the travel industry and the public. Malaysia Airlines was battered last year by double jet disasters. Its government owner has brought in a new CEO, former Aer Lingus chief Christoph Mueller, to oversee a $1.7 billion turnaround. The airline, Mueller said, is “suffering badly from a heavily damaged brand reputation” in key markets with many people avoiding the carrier because “they are frightened.” From Herald news services
Amazon . . 433.69 6.81 Boeing . . . 145.46 3.97 Costco . . . . 145.88 1.32 Crane . . . . . 59.95 0.28 FrontierCom . 6.00 0.05 HeritageFin 17.10 0.16 Microsoft . . 47.75 1.05 Nordstrom . 77.27 0.49 Paccar . . . . . 66.49 0.81 Starbucks . . 49.78 0.43 WshFederal 21.96 0.11 Zumiez . . . . 31.57 0.41 Market report, A10