Northwest Aerospace News June | July 2019 Issue No. 9 | Page 33

“U ltimately, I think it was a matter of biting off more than they could chew,” said Stewart. “It’s very complicated to sell into the aerospace supply chain. The quality standards are tougher, the paperwork requirements are tougher and the customer expectations are tougher. Trying to do all of that correctly became overwhelming for them. “That’s a storyline I see a lot in this business — I look at one or two businesses a month that are either publicly for sale or looking for people to bail them out — and when they’re in aerospace, it’s often people throwing up their hands because it’s so complicated. That’s not a bad thing; every aspect of the aviation supply chain needs to be held to a higher standard.” Stewart described the requirements for selling directly to Boeing and Airbus as onerous, requiring companies to become AS9100 certified, a challenge few are prepared to meet. “For me, the investment play was pretty simple,” Stewart recalled. “As bad as things were for Color Craft in that moment, they still had that relationship with Boeing. It takes time and energy and knowing the right people to become a Boeing supplier — it can literally take years. “Those relationships are really the secret sauce. Other people look at a company’s balance sheet and they think that determines the value of the company. When I look at a company, it’s really about the existing relationships. People don’t tend to view those as assets, but I can purchase equipment and hire people easy enough. The one thing I can’t buy is those relationships.” JUNE | JULY 2019 ISSUE NO. 9 33