The battery investigation underway in Japan could take longer than thought and even force jet-related factories to temporarily halt their production lines while waiting for the results of the safety checks.

The market expects the probes into the Boeing 787 will cause a blow to the Japanese jet manufacturing industry as well as hurting investor confidence.

After the battery fire on a Boeing 787 passenger jet operated by Japan Airlines earlier this month, Japanese and US aviation authorities have launched a joint investigation on the dreamliners' safety, including battery checks.

The process will be complicated, and might take the 787 fleet away from the sky for quite some time. As a consequence, Japanese jet-related manufacturers are feeling the pinch, like battery maker, GS Yuasa, and other component makers, such as Fuji Heavy, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toray and Bridgestone.

The problem is that the investigation is progressing only at a slow pace.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi, aviation consultant, said, "The overheating of the lithium ion battery..is it the problem of the battery? Or of the wiring? Or the charge? Or even the controlling software? These are the key points of the investigation."

Some experts say that investigators will have to conduct a series of tests to find out what triggered the battery fire, but that could bring the 787 flights to a standstill for at least three months.

This is too long for many jet parts makers. Some factories saw a high-flying business with the Boeing 787 and even opened additional production lines. But the investigation causes a huge blow to their expansion plans.

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