Northwest Aerospace News April | May Issue No. 2 | Page 32

A company that manufactures equipment for both the aerospace and coffee industries? Sounds like it must be in Seattle, right? But AccraFab says its location just east of downtown Spokane suits it just fine. Spokane is the hub of a cluster of advanced manufacturing and engineering firms, said AccraFab CEO Greg Konkol. “It’s really a great area – a bit of a high- tech community,” he said. “There are a number of small manufacturing and ser- vice-related firms to manufacturing.” Konkol said his company’s location in Liberty Lake – east of Spokane, close to the Idaho border – is close enough to Spo- kane International Airport to allow for easy shipping. The location also allows AccraFab to recruit workers from all across the Interstate 90 corridor that links Spo- kane and Coeur d’Alene. Local community colleges do a good job of training highly skilled machinists and aerospace workers; Gonzaga and nearby Washington State universities do a good job producing engineers. A t the same time, competition is a concern, Konkol said. “We’re reading about aerospace manufacturing capacity being developed in Asia, certainly Chi- na. That could change the landscape dramatically if those folks move along at an accelerated rate.” And even before President Trump proposed tariffs on imported metals, AccraFab and other suppliers were keeping a close eye on raw materials pricing, Konkol said. “We’re seeing metals pricing going up, particularly the aluminum alloys. We’re seeing some cost pressures.” That begs the question of at what point do the OEMs decide they’d rather have composites instead of metals. “How far are the composites going to go and are we going to see some substitution there? What kind of shift is going to happen?” In this environment, being a diversified supplier to a number of industries makes good business sense. AccraFab had considered moving, but in 2016 decided to stay and expand in Liberty Lake. The companies in the Inland Northwest work well together, Konkol said, who is the past chairman of the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium, which represents aerospace suppliers from eastern Washing- ton, northern Idaho and western Montana. “We’ve got some great small suppliers and service providers locally,” he said. “We end up sending business each other’s way, and work in both a supplier and customer relationship. We end up working together collaboratively a lot.” “It’s real important,” Konkol said. “It’s part of our strategic plan.” But whether they’re building micro-roasters for the coffee industry or faceplates to house stand-alone modular cockpit controls, AccraFab’s customers tend to have this in common, he said. “We’re looking for sophisticated customers with above-average type require- ments and demands, who demand a high level of engagement from their suppli- ers and engineering support,” Konkol said. “The aerospace industry is right in the middle of our strategic plan and our strategic focus.” 32 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS AccraFab 23201 East Appleway Drive Liberty Lake, WA 99019 [phone] (Office) [email protected] https://accrafab.com