Boeing South Carolina is an airplane assembly facility built by Boeing in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Located on the grounds of the joint-use Charleston Air Force Base and Charleston International Airport, the site is the final assembly and delivery point for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing opened the site in July 2011, after purchasing the facilities of suppliers Vought and Global Aeronautica in 2008 and 2009. The final assembly building covers and opened on November 12, 2011. As of September 28, 2017, the site employs 6,943 workers and contractors. History Sub-assembly site The site is located on the southern portions of the joint-use Charleston Air Force Base and Charleston International Airport located in the city of North Charleston, South Carolina. The site was initially established in 2004 to build components for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Instead of conventionally building the 787 from the ground up, Boeing assigned subcontractors to do more assembly work, delivering completed sub-assemblies to the Boeing Everett Factory where workers would join them and integrate systems. This approach was intended to result in a leaner, simpler assembly line and lower inventory, with pre-installed systems reducing final assembly time by three-quarters to three days. The South Carolina site was used by two of these subcontractors: Vought Aircraft Industries and Global Aeronautica, a joint venture of Vought and Alenia Aeronautica, to build sections of the fuselage out of composite materials. Global Aeronautica would receive mid-fuselage sections from an international supply chain including Alenia factories in Italy, and aft fuselage sections from the Vought factory next door. Global Aeronautica would then assemble these sections and then ship the more than 60 percent complete fuselage to Everett onboard the Boeing Dreamlifter, a fleet of converted 747s. The facility broke ground in February 2005 and was completed in late 2006. Subcontractors had difficulties finishing sub-assemblies on schedule, and for many including Alenia, the work proved unprofitable. Amid these issues, and in an effort to gain more control over the supply chain, Boeing purchased Vought's share of the Global Aeronautica joint venture in June 2008, Vought's standalone operations in July 2009, and Alenia's share of Global Aeronautica in December 2009. Final assembly site Now controlling a large site of land in South Carolina, where 60 percent of 787 assembly was already taking place, Boeing announced in October 2009 that it would build a new 787 Dreamliner final assembly and delivery line