from a Seattle Times article
Still, to win its key launch order, Boeing had to convince All Nippon Airways' chief engineer, Shinsuke Maki.
In October 2003, Maki told Boeing's sales team that going with composite plastics was a mistake. With the new material, he thought the dings and dents typical on airplane loading ramps would be a nightmare to repair.
Months of shuttling composites experts to Tokyo failed to convince All Nippon Airways (ANA) of the material's viability.
"We just weren't closing the credibility gap," said Joe McAleer, Boeing's sales director for ANA. "Something else was needed."
So in February 2004, Boeing flew a 6-foot by 3-foot composite panel over to Tokyo and invited a team of ANA engineers to beat on it with hammers as hard as they wanted.
They barely managed to scratch the panel. Then Boeing offered a live demonstration of how to repair the minor damage.