Boeing lagging on border contract

Boeing Co. has fallen behind schedule in delivering functioning border-security towers under a contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

There are flaws in the towers, which are equipped with motion sensors, cameras and radar to track people trying to cross the Mexican border into the U.S., said Brad Benson, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Washington.

“They did get all the equipment in place and turned on by June 13, the original projection,” he said. “But it wasn’t all integrated. . . . I’m not sure if it’ll be done in two weeks, four weeks, six weeks.”

The towers are part of a Department of Homeland Security initiative under which Boeing won a three-year contract with a projected value of $8 billion for work along the 6,000 miles of border with Mexico and Canada. Boeing said Thursday that it changed the management of the project, appointing Dan Korte to oversee it effective Aug. 1 in the place of Jerry McElwee.

The change wasn’t related to the delay, Boeing spokeswoman Deborah Bosick said.

Korte, a former vice president of supplier management and procurement, “has an extensive background in supply-chain management, which is invaluable in a program like this where components from several partners and suppliers are integrated into a system of systems,” Bosick said.

Shares of Chicago-based Boeing fell $1.25 on Thursday to $96.74.

The flaws in the towers, which were placed along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz., center around software and integration issues, Benson said, adding, “We have some capability, but we’re not yet where we want to be. We have every expectation we’ll have a working system.”

Bosick declined to comment on the status of the project, and referred all questions to Customs and Border Protection.

The management transition was conducted under Boeing’s new business process, which appoints one team to bid for and secure the contract and another to deploy the system.