Northwest Aerospace News — Issue 49 February | March 2026 | Page 22

Ship Access Stairway
“ If a customer comes with a concept, they bring it to reality, meeting all requirements and standards.” JLI offers necessary and trustworthy engineering support. He also shared that, because of Jeff’ s extensive network of contractors, he can point Nguyen to the right engineering subcontractors for projects.
Nguyen said that JLI’ s biggest service is engineering.“ We have a common goal of getting the customer what they need.” He appreciates JLI’ s ability to be both flexible and supportive of the customer’ s time and needs. He said they are approachable and willing to work with the team and the end customer. He said Jeff is both knowledgeable and an adept communicator.
While JLI conducts engineering work for the space industry, Jeff said they haven’ t yet sent any products into space. But in commercial aerospace, they have had several direct projects with Boeing and with Tier 1 Boeing contractors. Currently, they are working on process improvements and equipment-related projects with Boeing. He cited that much of their equipment needs to be updated or
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Tube Access Platform & Covers
refreshed. One item in particular, a jack tester, was built in 1998 and contains an old programmable logic controller( PLC)—“ It is five stories tall and thousands of pounds,” he said. But they’ ve also looked at a dozen projects with Boeing, focusing on quality and repeatability in manufacturing.
Due to the flexibility of the JLI workforce, they can review the project scope and determine whether they will be a direct contractor or manage subcontractors on the project. Jeff said he has a modest manufacturing facility and that they can conduct manufacturing there. But through their network of over 90 contractors, they can also manufacture at different locations. He said sometimes he bids on the project, manages staffing, and has purchase orders go through him; in others, he plays a direct role in designing and manufacturing. He said,“ No matter the project, you must build trust and understanding. I spend a lot of time on the phone.”