Meeting Notices - National Online Forum

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am Pacific Time, Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am Pacific Time on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 when Erik Novak, General Manager, 4D Technology Corporation and Kramer Lindell, Application Engineer, 4D Technology Corporation, will discuss how A&D companies can easily and accurately measure the surface features of interest to enable control of process and optimize yield.

Surface quality of aerospace components is critical for part longevity and performance. Small surface defects, corrosion events, and radii and chamfers are more tightly controlled every year, making pass/fail assessment of parts impractical for traditional measurement methods. Burrs, welding cracks, and other small features are of additional concern. Even part marking via dot peening or laser marking must be controlled for depth and volume. Imperfections that only affect the appearance of parts can needlessly increase rejections and cause delays while waiting on new parts or rework.

Unfortunately, no single metrology system is suitable for all key parameters. Differing resolutions in lateral and vertical precision prevent it–as well as differing requirements in terms of operating environment and user skill level. In this webinar we’ll examine a selection of measuring technologies capable of measuring features from micrometers to millimeters, where tolerances are increasingly tightening.

We’ll see a 3D surface gauge at work in a live demonstration with real turbine blades, fir trees, gears, and shaft parts. You’ll be able to ask questions and see the kinds of measurements that are hardest for you.

In the live demonstration we’ll explore what is possible:
— Instant measurement of burrs, scratches, nicks and dents on gears, blades, fir trees, and other machined parts
— Coping with different part reflectivity and shape, including tight corners
–The fastest, most accurate method of measuring edge break and chamfer geometries you’ve ever seen
— Radius of curvature of rods and rounded parts
— The simplest, best method to get a true measurement of pits and scratch depth

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofsep21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am Pacific Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 when Craig Lammlin, Tax Senior Manager, and Peter Henderson, Partner, both of Moss Adams, will discuss how A&D companies can increase cash flows by taking advantage of the many credits and incentives available to them.

This will include both long-standing incentives, such as the R&D tax credit, cost segregation studies, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). It will also include new incentives stemming from the COVID-19 rescue bills, such as the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) and the Aviation Manufacturing Payroll Support Program (PSP).

Other topics will include various state incentives, such as the Washington State B&O Aerospace incentives, the California Competes Tax Credit, and various favorable accounting options (accrual to cash, treatment of inventory, NOL carrybacks, etc.). We encourage you to invite your company’s CFO or other financial leaders to join.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofmay21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am Pacific Thursday, April 29, 2021

Modern marketing mix stems from the concept of the Four P’s of Marketing created by E. J. McCarthy (1960) in his book Basic Marketing – Managerial Approach. The concepts are the basic building blocks of marketing strategy utilized around the world. In the last 20 years, different authors have altered or built upon McCarthy’s work, but the four “P’s” (Price, Product, Place, and Promotion) have remained the mainstay of modern marketing theory.

In this presentation, the original four “P’s” remain the basic building blocks of marketing strategy. They are augmented by six new “P’s” to amplify the impact of today’s complex market approaches. The 2021 Marketing Mix includes the original Price, Product, Place, Promotion, and adds Personal, Presence, Persistence, Perceptions, Pathology, and Proportionality.

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am Pacific Time on Thursday, April 29, 2021 when Frank Nichols, Founder, CEO, and President at Silicon Forest Electronics will speak to all ten elements and give ideas and guidance around creating a successful marketing mix.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofapr21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The webinar is sponsored by Moss Adams

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am pacific Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Aerospace manufacturers follow the AS9100 Quality Management System to organize their operations and demonstrate their reliability to customers. Hundreds of thousands of smaller companies are now adopting a company Operating System for similar reasons – to organize the management of their company and demonstrate to their customers that they are operating on a solid foundation. This presentation will explain:
• What a company Operating System is and how it impacts performance
• Why SME (small to medium-sized enterprises) hit the ceiling at various points in their lifecycle
• Top frustrations SME owners report about managing their companies
• Which leadership skills are particularly important for SME (hint: they are different from skills needed for start-ups and multinationals)
• The tools that all Operating Systems include
• Costs of implementation (many SME implement an Operating System with zero third party costs)
• How a solid Operating System impacts company valuation

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am pacific time on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 when Peter Hammond, Aerospace Manufacturing Executive, will introduce company operating systems without focusing on any particular system – different systems cover similar ground just like different ERP systems perform similar core functions. He will provide insights for SME owners, larger companies looking for better, reliable performance from their SME suppliers, and service providers who benefit when their SME clients grow.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofmar21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am pacific Wednesday, February 24, 2021

This 1-hour webinar will have presentations followed by Q&A

1. Trends and Technologies fueling the convergence
2. Making it happen – engineering, testing and regulatory considerations
3. Preparing the industry through associations – An introduction to efforts at the SAE
4. Investment trends, opportunities for aerospace industry and automotive industry as the space evolves
5. Open Q&A

Please join us at 8:00-9:00am pacific time on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 when Ravindra Kondagunta (CEO, Traction Labs LLC), Mark Van Horck (Principal, MvH Development), and Michael McNair (Vice President – Aerospace, SAE Industry Technologies Consortia) will discuss these and other issues regarding vertical transport.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members.  For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnoffeb21.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

The webinar is sponsored by Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP.

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am pacific Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Over the last decade and especially in the last few years, a number of global trends have forced the US Air and Space Forces to rethink the way that we research, develop and acquire new technologies and systems. These three trends include:

1. The share of Global R&D from the US and from the US DoD has decreased from ~36% in 1960 to ~3% in 2020. In response, we must find ways to use our defense budget to leverage the technological gains made outside the DoD.
2. The defense industrial base has been consolidating and shrinking at all levels (Large Primes and Small and Medium Enterprises), providing less of an impetus for competition and innovation. We must consider how to build the 21st century industrial base for defense rather than the 21st century defense industrial base. What this means in practice is that we must develop ways to work with companies whose primary customer is not the DoD.
3. The rise of China and other adversaries have created a new battlefield of ‘technological influence’ where large commercial technology companies can have significant national security effects (i.e. Huawei and DJI). This leads to the question of how can the US encourage and catalyze the growth of technology companies from the US and our allied countries.

In response to these three trends, the Department of The Air Force (DAF), which includes the US Air Force and the US Space Force has set up AFWERX with the mission of leveraging commercial technologies and private R&D funding to deliver solutions to increase national security. You can learn more about AFWERX here: https://www.afwerx.af.mil/

One of the key programs of AFWERX is AFVentures, which is a new way of bringing companies to work with the DAF. The program leverages the Small Business Innovation Research funding to lower barriers to entry for working with the DAF and increase the opportunities to scale for successful products and programs. In order to do this, AFVentures employs an investment strategy of ‘Many Small Bets, and Scale the Winners’. What this means in practice is a three stage program: Feasibility, Prototype, and Scale.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 when Major Steve Lauver, Co-Founder and AFVentures Deputy Division Chief, AFWERX, will talk about how to begin working with the DAF in as little as 60 days.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofjan2020.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

National Online Forum webinar on 8-9:00am pacific Wednesday, January 13, 2021

We have entered a new era of great power competition and U.S. A&D businesses must answer a key, existential strategic question that is just as big as sustainability and climate change: should they be involved in China and if so, why, how, and at what risk? This question will not be answered right away – we are only at the beginning of the inquiry; one that will face our industry for a long time. By the end of this decade, the answer could mean everything, as illustrated by the questions that we will suggest be addressed.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, 8:00-9:00AM pacific time, when our panelists will raise and uncover some of the questions and topics US A&D companies need to consider when evaluating whether and how to do business with, in, or in competition with China. We’re not going to try and answer them all – there’s way too many and some may be the focus of future webinars. However, we’ll try to describe the lay of the land and identify some of the key issues that you should start thinking about.

The presentations will start with the big picture with Captain (Ret.) Scott Tait (Executive Director, SD Catalyst, and formerly a strategic pol-mil planner on the Joint Staff) discussing the strategic landscape; then Michael Bruno (Senior Business Editor, Aviation Week Network, who has written extensively on the US-China question for A&D companies), will talk about the general business framework, and finally David Conrad (Director Business Development, PTI Technologies, who formerly worked in China and has extensive, practical experience “on the ground”) will address some of the specifics within the aerospace industry.

Included in the questions and topics needed to be addressed, some of which we will discuss, are:
• What do you need to know to have a comprehensive view of China before you get involved?
• What is the US-China competition now, where it is going and what does that mean to US businesses?
• What are the geopolitical considerations and long-term risks that you’re may face as an industry from our national government?
• Is there business for you to have with China? Do they really need your help? Why do you want to be in China? What’s there for you?
• Is there really the business you think there is, or is China moving to become independent and make their own planes? What are the big three China airlines going to do when the C919 comes along? Are they going to take that in preference to an A320 family or the 737Max? Would you be building a new competitor in Comac?
• Do you try to make money with China or do you avoid the market all together?
• If you want to get involved with China, how do you go about doing that? Because for many Western companies China is a total foreign territory, what are all the things you got to understand and realize to do business there?
• How do you make money with China? Who’s going to buy?
• Do you need to set up a local factory and if so how do you do this?
• Do you need to set up a new office and if so, how do you do this?
• How do you deal with issues like cyber protection, IP threats, and WTO disputes?
• China and the West will highly likely form two different economic blocks, increasingly divided by lack of interoperability. How do you deal with standards and interoperability and all those other lower-level things that build to a system?
• What are Airbus and Europe doing regarding China?
• How can you anticipate, plan for, detect, and deal with a failing China?
• With a Biden Presidency, how will things be different and the same as the past?
• What is a hybrid war, do we have this now, what is the status and what could be the future?
• What does China’s End Game, winning, look like to them? What does winning look like to you?

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofjan1320.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

This webinar is sponsored by Bolton & Company.

National Online Forum event on Thursday, December 17, 2020

The year 2020 has been especially challenging for A&D. The 737Max grounding and COVID-19 pandemic have created disruptions within the A&D industry unlike any other year. Many have experienced hardships and unexpected transitions. At the same time there have been positive events within private industry. For example, the restart of America’s human launch capability to the ISS after 11 years.

During this past year, the A&D Forum has experienced its own challenges. We transitioned from in-person meetings to events based on Zoom. With that transition, we lost the pre- and post-meeting networking time that we all appreciate. That networking has been a foundational element of the A&D Forum since its inception. In an attempt to re-establish the in-person networking experience we are hosting the A&D Forum’s First Ever Holiday Networking Event on Thursday, December 17, 4:00–5:30pm pacific time

No speaker, just networking in small groups. And to keep it interesting, we’ll do multiple group sessions with Zoom mixing up the groups randomly. Obviously, we still can’t meet in person and no one really knows when we’ll be able to do so, but by using Zoom breakout rooms we can recapture the ability to connect with our colleagues.

Each small group session will last 15 minutes and contain no more than 4 people. We would also like the discussion to be something that lifts people’s spirits since this has been such a challenging year. Please pick one of the following discussion questions for the sessions you’ll be in:
• What good thing happened to me this year that I’m grateful for?
• Is there anything different you did this year that you never would have considered doing before?
• What was the most significant thing you learned this past year?

PLEASE NOTE: this will be an afternoon event, so feel free to bring your favorite “adult beverage” if you so desire, but no smoking please. Our plan is to have up to 3 or 4 small group networking sessions.

This event is open to both members and non-members, no recording, no cost to non-members and we’ll share your contact information if you allow us to do so.

The meeting is free for all. For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofdec20HolidayEvent.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

We look forward to seeing you on December 17!

National Online Forum meeting on December 10, 2020

Please join us on Thursday, December 10, 8:00–9:00am pacific time, when Jeff Korzenik, Chief Investment Strategist, Fifth Third Bank, will share his thoughts and economic assessment for COVID and beyond:
• Current state of the U.S. economy: differences and similarities with past downturns
• The impact of monetary and fiscal intervention
• Health risks and unintended consequences
• The impact (or, non-impact) of the election
• The post pandemic economy: disrupted industries, disrupted geographies, and other trends.

The meeting is free for members and $25 for non-members For more information and to register to attend the meeting go to https://adfnofdec20.eventbrite.com.

Information about joining The A&D Forum is at https://aerospacedefenseforum.org.

This webinar is sponsored by Moss Adams.