I have always been a fan of Boeing, but I think they screwed the pooch on the 787. In an effort to reduce costs and put the screws to their own labor unions, they lost complete control of their supply chain. They outsourced not only production, but development of many components. Some of the subcontractors can handle it, some could not.
I think they will solve this battery problem fairly quickly, but I also believe it is just the tip of the iceberg.
I hope I am wrong about this last part, but I don't think so. The 787 has many features never tried before on a commercial aircraft. Maybe the B2 or F22 have some of the same stuff, but those aircraft were low production run, VERY low flight time airframes. They will never be put through the same number of cycles that 787s will in 2-3 years, let alone 20-40 years that the 787's will be in service.