By Liz Segrist lsegrist@scbiznews.com Published May 1, 2012

The aerospace industry faces major shortages in the supply chain and labor force, said Jason Premo, co-founder and co-owner of ADEX Machining Technologies LLC.

Our customers need more of us to step up the plate, Premo said during an aerospace forum Tuesday at Embassy Suites in Greenville.

Industry leaders and company owners spoke about the growing aerospace industry in South Carolina following Boeings decision to put a facility in North Charleston, creating opportunities for suppliers throughout the state.

The manufacturing hub and engineering base in the Upstate could capitalize on the growing sector.

The aerospace industry has a very complex supply chain, said Sherry Pittinger, a government procurement specialist with the S.C. Business Development Center. We saw it with BMW and now were seeing it with Boeing. Tier one and two suppliers are moving to South Carolina.

As baby boomers prepare to retire, some S.C. aerospace suppliers put an emphasis on in-house training. ADEX, an AS9100 certified supplier that produces components for the Boeing 747 and 777 commercial passenger jet lines, already implements a training program for employees.

Lean manufacturing continues to become increasingly important in the aerospace industry as well, speakers agreed.

Spain-based Carbures plans to create a training center to offer a lean manufacturing system to the Southeast supply chain, said Ivan Contreras of Carbures USA.

Carbures moved its R&D, innovation, engineering and manufacturing services into its first North American facility at the S.C. Technology and Aviation Center in Greenville last year to supply for its customer Airbus.

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Aerospace sector faces supply chain challenges, experts say