[quote]boguing
Whether it's the Engineer or the person that pours the glue, there have been so many failures of composites in 'high end' racing yachts that are all due to being unable to properly inspect the finished product. [quote]
Having had some composite experience in motorsport ( not at current F1 level ) boguing raises many valid points. When one sees the protocols and clean room conditions that are used for manufacturing of motorsport components ( which do not have the life cycle expectations of a commercial aircraft, nor the dimensional mass of 787 components ) the probability of issues related to non-compliance of the manufacturing protocols, tooling and material problems, human error and unforseen problems are high in a 787 sized project. Added to this are commercial pressures to delivery schedules and the requirement to be profitable.
No doubt there are very high levels of automation in the 787 manufacturing process, but it's unlikely there are no areas that do not require manual processes to completition. Which raises the question of the experience/training levels of the production staff, again dictated by keeping manufacturing costs to a minimum.
Prototyping is one thing, productionizing is a serious challenge.