TAL Manufacturing Solutions To Supply Floor Beams

Boeing announced Wednesday it entered into an agreement with India-based TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd., for manufacturing structural components for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

Under the agreement, TAL Manufacturing Solutions will build floor beams for the 787 using new technology with advanced titanium and composite materials. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Boeing is proud to welcome Tata into its family of world-class aerospace suppliers and we are confident that this partnership will help Boeing and Tata leverage mutual best-value capabilities," said Carolyn Corvi, vice president and general manager of Airplane Programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "This partnership between Boeing and Tata will further increase the value of the 787 to our customers, helping make it the world's leading commercial airplane."

The floor beams for the 787 will be produced at TAL's new facility in Nagpur, India, and then transported to Boeing partners in Japan, Italy and the United States for further assembly.

"The production of Boeing's structural components by TAL indicates technical and manufacturing excellence within the Group," said Ravi Kant, chairman, TAL and managing director, Tata Motors Ltd. "We believe that this agreement has the potential to develop into a more broad-based alliance that would enable both organizations to utilize the best and most competitive resources within themselves and thereby offer greater value to customers."

Boeing's problems with suppliers to its 787 program are well-documented, and are usually cited as the primary reason for the now-nine-month delay to the program. It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether Boeing has scrapped an existing supplier to make room for TAL, or if the India-based company will supplement Dreamliner production.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.tata.com/tal/index.htm