On October 13th, WIRE-Net partnered with Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI) to present a lunch forum for manufacturers interested in entering the aerospace supply chain. 85 participants got the chance to hear from and meet representatives from the Boeing Company, Brush Wellman, and Goodrich Corporation on the expectations of the top tiers and Prime Contractors. Here is just some of what they heard:

• New supplier opportunities for manufacturers near $10M and above do exist.
• However, if a company is looking for an immediate cure for lack of cash flow, aerospace is not the answer.
• Nearly 24 months from start of certifications to payment of first aerospace invoice may be expected.
• The time and money requirements to consider then decide if aerospace is a good new market choice for a company is very similar to the process required to evaluate other markets.
• AS9100, NADCAP, ITAR, and DDTC are important to becoming part of the supply chain.
• Brush Wellman SPADE division does a lot of sourcing for steel and aluminum alloy parts, coatings and testing along with pure beryllium. Some limited opportunities exist for ISO 9001:2008 certified suppliers.

After the general session, 17 companies, who were pre-screened to Brush Wellman and Goodrich Corporation criteria, met in one-on-one interviews with the prime contractors. Strong positive feedback and invitations to continue in the supplier evaluation process were the upshot of the day.

This is the story: a great many companies must look to enter new markets and gain new customers. WIRE-Net continues to support those efforts—from company assessments to AS quality systems improvements for those companies that don’t yet meet the market’s requirements to referrals to prime contractors for those companies that do!

If your manufacturing company is interested in exploring the aerospace market, contact Ty Haines at 216.588.1440 ext. 106.