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Boeing overcharged the U.S. Air Force 8,000% above market for soap dispensers

(www.reuters.com)
152 points lr0 | 2 comments | 21 Nov 24 04:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.416s | source
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cjensen ◴[21 Nov 24 06:40 UTC] No.42201750[source]▶
The US has 222 C-17 Aircraft. A single C-17 costs over $300 million.

If you ask Boeing for soap dispenser parts for these, what should they cost? Boeing charged $149,072 for the dispensers. That's $671 per plane. Is that too much?

If you had to make these dispensers, make sure they conform to rules for aircraft parts and Air Force parts, provide formal responses to bids, etc., how much could you make them for?

It seems high to me. The article says 8000%, which is less than $10 per plane. So while it seems high, it's definitely not 8000% high.

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bagels ◴[21 Nov 24 07:03 UTC] No.42201842[source]▶
Can you imagine even being a one-man shop making 222 bespoke soap dispensers to some absurd spec AND jumping through all the documentation hoops that are required for only $150k? I wouldn't take that job. Sounds awful.
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hackernewds ◴[21 Nov 24 07:55 UTC] No.42202083[source]▶
the article believes they should cost $10 though
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1. Maxion ◴[21 Nov 24 07:57 UTC] No.42202092[source]▶
They probably would if they were made in china, and sold in Walmart by the millions.
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2. blitzar ◴[21 Nov 24 08:11 UTC] No.42202162[source]▶
tbh the only solution to the problem is to spend the $250,000 it would probably cost in tooling etc and fill the Boeing ~1,000 order and sell another 99,000 to the public. At $10 each and without paying yourself anything you would probably just about break even.