Aerospace Supply Chain

The aerospace supply chain with the co-founder and CEO of a manufacturing startup, the Airbus A350 production outlook, GE Aerospace Catalyst turboprop certification, a Senate bill to boost the ATC workforce, a call for retired controllers to return to the job, and KC-46 tanker cracks. Guest Vishal R. Sanghavi has been a leader in the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry for nearly two decades. He co-founded Jeh Aerospace in 2022 with his long-time colleague Venkatesh Mudragalla. This US-based company manufactures aerospace and defense components. Vishal describes the reasons for the current aerospace supply chain problems and the demand/supply gap. He notes structural issues such as the difficulty obtaining and retaining workers, inflation, and lack of supply chain transparency. Easing these problems can partly be addressed by viewing supply relationships strategically rather than transactionally. Vishal tells us why OEMs don’t vertically integrate more than they do, and how quality is assured throughout the supply chain. Vishal is on a mission to build Jeh Aerospace into a technology-driven manufacturing company that will deliver quality parts 10x faster, better, and cheaper. Jeh looks to transform the field with talent and technology creating a digitally native organization that provides data for advanced analytics. Vishal explains factors that influence geographic locations for manufacturing facilities, such as access to talent, cost efficiencies, where the large markets are. Vishal’s entrepreneurial journey began at the Indian business conglomerate Tata Group, where he built and led large multimillion-dollar businesses and became one of the youngest Chief Experience Officers for the group. He spearheaded numerous aerospace businesses during his tenure, including the Tata Boeing Joint Venture (JV), Tata Sikorsky JV, and Tata Lockheed JV, which manufactures large and comp