Interesting podcast of an interview with Christopher Tang, distinguished professor in UCLA’s department of business administration, on IEEE Spectrum here:
Are Boeing's Battery Difficulties Part of a Much Bigger Problem? - IEEE Spectrum (don't know if it requires a login).
Besides dealing mostly with Boeing's outsourcing business model, he also mentions some concerns with the composite construction, along the lines of:
In the long run, I think Boeing needs to pay close attention to the issue of inspection and maintenance at different airports for the 787 program. This is because they’re utilizing a lot of carbon fiber. They need to find easy ways to inspect for cracks on the aircraft. Unlike an aluminum plane, you can check for cracks. For carbon fiber, based on my understanding, they need either X-ray or ultrasound to check for cracks on the composite material. Then the question is, how can they utilize X-ray and ultrasound in different airports around the world? Can they actually do the maintenance and the inspection effectively?