Northwest Aerospace News October | November Issue No. 5 | Page 38

A change in the cluster to be service-oriented and adaptive
Both McKay and Merluzeau ref-
erenced the pending importance of
aerospace maintenance and repair op-
erations (MROs) within the aerospace
original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs). Merluzeau also noted that the
supply chain, now and in the future,
would continue to be under pressure
due to significant production demand.
Supply chain stress is at its highest
since World War II.
Aircraft manufacturers and suppliers
need to produce faster at a higher
quality, while adapting to disruptive
technologies such as adding increased
automation to the factories.
Clusters could bring
about more international
partnerships
Jack Cowan, executive director of the
French-American Chamber of Com-
merce in the Pacific Northwest, was on
hand to engage with participating or-
ganizations. He’s worked with PNAA
and other aerospace organizations
for many years. He is experienced in
working with clusters in Europe. He
said that in Europe the clusters are
government financed and can seem
more organized. Also, “Government
support helps with the infrastructure.
Here we are all non-profits and have to
get members or go through fundraising
to cover our costs.” He wanted to meet
some of the other organizations and
noticed that there could be a few other
groups that were not in attendance.
Cowan even suggested that more of an
international partnership should have
attended the meeting. He said that
there is a large aerospace presence,
Safran, and there is an increase in
French companies who want to supply
to Boeing.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
Jack Cowan
French-American Chamber of Commerce
Beth Hacker
Joint Center for Aerospace Innovation (JCATI)
Beth Hacker with the Joint Center for Aerospace Innovation (JCATI), is inter-
ested in groups statewide to leverage each other’s expertise and knowledge for
overall benefit in the state. “I think collaboration is key — the aerospace industry
is so complex — we have the space industry and UAVs emerging. It is great to
have contacts at all levels.” In future cluster meetings, JCATI can benefit from
having a broad range of companies being aware of their link to the universities.