Boeing scours idle 737 MAX plant for industrial snags

Weeks after halting production of the 737 MAX, which has been grounded for almost a year, Boeing is seizing on the lull to conduct an overhaul at its Seattle-area factory to curb inefficiency, improve quality and ease the plane's re-entry to the market, people familiar with the matter said. Backed by engineers from roughly a dozen suppliers such as fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems and robot maker Electroimpact, Boeing is fixing inventory management, upgrading automated tooling, and addressing "high-defect" areas. While Boeing has long said the Renton plant is already the most efficient in aviation, such longstanding problems were viewed as too risky to address during years of helter-skelter production to meet record jet demand. <br/>