Government auditors are questioning how thoroughly aerospace companies are vetting their overseas suppliers, whether giants like Fairfield-based General Electric Co. or relatively small manufacturers like Radial Bearing Corp. of Danbury.
The U.S. Department of Transportation interviewed both companies in preparing its report, as well as the East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies Corp. GE Aviation is based in Cincinnati.
Both Pratt & Whitney and GE supply engines for helicopters made by UTC”™s Stratford-based unit Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., the largest employer in Fairfield County, which was not listed in the Department of Transportation [DOT] report.
Other major aviation companies in the report included Boeing Co., Rolls Royce plc and Bombardier Aerospace.
Of 21 parts and system suppliers reviewed by DOT, the agency found 20 had “widespread discrepancies” in their international supply chain, including inadequate oversight of their suppliers; incomplete records; tools with outdated calibration schedules; and problematic training procedures.
In 2002, the Federal Aviation Administration launched a manufacturing oversight system that today relies on 200 inspectors to patrol more than 1,700 FAA-approved manufacturing facilities in the United States; an FAA manufacturing-inspection district office in Windsor Locks was contacted for the new DOT report.
In the five-plus years since the system was implemented, however, aerospace companies have come to rely increasingly on offshore suppliers that lie outside the purview of U.S. regulators.
While not mentioned in the DOT audit, Sikorsky itself has been seeking to outsource some of its capabilities amid a boom in business, as well as acquiring or opening installations overseas in Poland and India. The latter company is experiencing an aviation boom, with passenger counts up more than 20 percent in each of the past three years.
“Whether we are talking about airplanes, helicopters or engines, multinational partnerships for product design and construction are the norm rather than the exception,” said Marion Blakey, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, addressing a conference last week in Arlington, Va. “We have heard a lot about the expanded global supply chains for the marquee new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, but there are plenty of other examples. The Sikorsky S-92 helicopter has partners that literally span the globe, including Japan, China and Taiwan in the East, Spain in Europe and Brazil in South America.”
According to a 2005 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce, outsourcing some manufacturing overseas has opened foreign markets for future aircraft sales.
DOT made general recommendations regarding stiffened audits, but did not suggest specifics. Until the extent of any audit oversight becomes clearer, it remains to be seen whether Connecticut”™s historic cluster of aerospace machinists might benefit from any reluctance on the part of manufacturers to risk federal wrath from a substandard part imported for use in an aircraft system.
The vast majority of Connecticut”™s aerospace cluster is located near Pratt & Whitney”™s East Hartford base, but Fairfield County has several industry players. Besides Radial Bearing Corp., Fairfield County businesses and plants producing aerospace components include:
Ӣ DRS Power & Control Technologies Inc. in Danbury;
Ӣ Goodrich Corp., which has an optics and sensor division in Danbury;
Ӣ Northrop Grumman Systems, which has a Norwalk radar facility;
Ӣ Rotair Industries Inc., a helicopter parts maker in Bridgeport; and
Ӣ Hexcel Corp., a materials engineering company based in Stamford.
