Florida MEP: Florida Manufacturing Extension Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2006

For more information please contact:
Gene Lussier
Board Chair, Florida MEP
321-939-4000

AERO ELECTRONICS’ SUPPLY CHAIN ACQUISITION RESPONSE TRAINING TAKES FLIGHT
Florida MEP Helps Technology Company Break into the Government Market
TITUSVILLE, FL - Aero Electronics, a cable and harness assembly manufacturer with expertise in the area of electronics and mechanical assembly in Brevard County continuously looks for ways to form solid partnerships and expand their relationships with customers. Recently, the company decided to extend their business dealings directly into government markets, but was unsure of how to start that process.

“Luckily for us, we are one of the companies involved in the Florida MEP’s (Manufacturing Extension Partnership) SupplyPoint®, a database that has company-supplied information about the capabilities and production capacities for over 4,500 SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), which enabled us to participate in an interactive workshop, walking us through the steps of doing business with the government,” said John Seville, an estimator at Aero Electronics, who attended the workshop.

Harsha Prakash, Defense Contracting Project Manager with Florida MEP’s Center for SupplyPoint Integration Program led the Supply Chain Acquisition Response Training workshop. With grant funding through the Brevard Workforce Development Board, the Florida MEP is offering this workshop to more than 300 manufacturers in supply chain acquisition response training and order processing with the government and prime contractors. This sustainable training helps individual companies gain insight on how to become a supplier with the government and be responsive to contract bids, which strengthens their competitive advantage. The Brevard Workforce Development Board is working with the Florida MEP to make this interactive Supply Chain Acquisition Response Training workshop available to SupplyPoint® companies to support their workforce sustainment strategy throughout the state.

“This training course is geared towards manufacturers where the program can be tailored to a specific company’s needs. In this case, the Florida MEP outreached to the company, helped identify the two individuals at Aero Electronics that would benefit most from this training, and worked with them to identify current government procurement opportunities and showed them how to place specific bids,” said Prakash. “In less than two weeks, the company placed their first bid with a defense contractor.”

“Through this workshop, we gained valuable skills that will allow us to continue to search for opportunities and place more bids,” added Seville. “Mr. Prakash and his experienced field staff have allowed us to expand our operations into the government market and will propel us to sustain long-term growth and success in the area of defense contracting.”

The Florida MEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business "coaches" whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the Florida MEP program call 321-939-4000.

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