By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

Like other Lowcountry business owners, Rebecca Ufkes, president of UEC Electronics in Hanahan, is eager to do business with Dallas-based Vought Aircraft Industries.

However, those opportunities appear to be few because Vought has already awarded all “major” contracts on the 787 program. These contracts concern the production of the fuselage assemblies, and none of the contractors are based in the Charleston area. As for non-production supply needs, “minimal opportunities” exist for local small machinery, tube assembly and wire harness assembly businesses, Vought spokeswoman Lynne Warne says.

In December, Vought teamed with Italian aeronautics company Alenia Aeronautica to form the forthcoming Global Aeronautica manufacturing center adjacent to Charleston International Airport. At the center, Vought will assemble fuselage sections for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner passenger jet. In the center’s Global Aeronautica facility, those fuselage sections will be integrated with other 787 fuselage sections shipped from Alenia plants in Italy. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2006, and first deliveries are slated for 2008.

Ufkes says she believes her company can help supply Vought with electronic components and by testing equipment used in the 787’s production. Getting in Vought’s door is the trick, she says. “We want to get on their radar screen now so that six months from now we can become a valued supplier.”

UEC Electronics’ 40 employees perform a variety of design and manufacturing services, from creating customized wire and cable assemblies to developing equipment that tests circuit panels. Among the 10-year-old company’s customers is the Space and Naval Warfare Systems center in Goose Creek and Cummins Marine in North Charleston.

Ufkes contacted Vought’s Supplier Diversity Office in Dallas. Her company was placed in Vought’s database along with 208 other potential suppliers, she says.

“Potential suppliers are grouped according to commodity and referred to the appropriate contract for any potential opportunities,” explains Warne.

Vought awarded one of its top contracts to IGC Commerce, a third-party supply contracts provider based in King of Prussia, Pa. IGC Commerce is procuring the goods and services contracts for the production of the Vought plant’s fuselage assemblies.

Vought awarded its plant construction contract to Greenville-based Suitt Construction Co., which built the BMW North America facility in Greer, S.C.

Perot Systems Corp., a technology consultancy based in Plano, Texas, won the Vought contract to help manage the new Vought facility’s production cycle. Perot Systems helped Lufthansa Cargo develop an electronic booking system so that customers could order the airfreight company’s services over the Internet. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, Lufthansa Cargo’s air fleet consists of Boeing planes.   

Vought’s last major 787 contract went to Warren, N.J.-based GMAC Global Relocation Services to help Vought managers and other key personnel relocate to Charleston.

Local companies see potential in doing business with Vought. James Johnson, operations manager for Welded Tube-Berkeley, a steel pipe and tube manufacturer in the Cainhoy area, says a Vought deal could lead to more hiring at his already expanding facility.

“If we landed a Vought contract that would mean a significant amount of tonnage, we’d put another shift on at the mill,” Johnson says. However, in the past few weeks he has been unsuccessful contacting Charles Newton, Vought’s project manager overseeing the construction of the Vought and Global Aeronautica facilities in North Charleston. Johnson acknowledges that Newton “is a busy man.”

Ufkes says a Vought contract would lead to an expansion of her Hanahan facility.

There are no contract submission deadlines for local companies seeking to do business with Vought, Warne says. Companies will be selected from Vought’s database.

Dennis Quick covers economic development for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@crbj.com. 

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