Table of Contents

AWEA Supply Chain Workshop Wrap Up

Looking for Wind Industry Customers?

Timken Announces Another Expansion in the Wind

Supply Chain Workshop Wrap:
Component Producers Eye Industry

If you were at AWEA's Wind Power Supply Chain Workshop in Cleveland, Ohio, this week, you might never have known that a financial crisis is sending shockwaves through virtually every sector of the economy, including manufacturing.

Approximately 850 attendees participated in the event, generating a buzz of excitement in a city that is a historical manufacturing hub, but one that has been hard hit in recent years by various shifts in that sector. Governor Ted Strickland (D) addressed attendees, highlighting Ohio's manufacturing infrastructure and urging the wind power industry to tap its capabilities.

In spite of the energy at the event, however, participants, from session speakers to component producers interested in entering the industry, were not shy about discussing and asking hard questions about the effect of the recent financial woes on wind energy.

GLWN's Matt Garran addresses conference participants on how to transition into, and capitalize on, the wind power industry with his presentation, "Entering the Wind Industry: Funding, Contracts, and Re-Tooling"

One of the conclusions from those discussions: with supply-chain constraints and component shortages having challenged the rapidly growing industry for a few years, wind energy remains one of the brightest long-term opportunities in manufacturing. As the industry catches its breath over the next few months due to short-term factors such as the weakened value of the production tax credit (the industry is urging a near-term fix) and the lack of credit availability, component producers entering the wind power space should take advantage of the time to build both manufacturing infrastructure and relationships within the wind industry, AWEA Membership Director Britt Theismann told attendees. In fact, relationship building was one of the prime uses of the Supply Chain Workshop itself.

The energy at the event was characterized by an interesting mix of excitement and optimism along with an eagerness to face acknowledged challenges. In one session, Ed Weston, director of the Great Lakes WIND Network, outlined what he saw as the six primary challenges for suppliers: scale (wind turbines are getting larger), precision (what turbine assemblers are looking for in their components "is beyond aerospace precision"), capacity (sizing plants appropriately and making them expandable), reliability (on-time delivery to turbine producers), competitiveness (the need to compete against global pricing), and connections with turbine producers, which are often referred to as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, within the supply chain and manufacturing context. Weston pointed out that in spite of their need for components to feed their hungry businesses, "OEMs are very busy." Thus, as OEMs have sweated to keep up with demand during the last few years, many potential suppliers have often struggled with even getting their phone calls returned—in spite of the turbine manufacturers' need to expand their supply base.

Given the heightened interest in the topic, the WINDPOWER 2009 Conference & Exhibition, which takes place May 4-7 in Chicago, will include a supply chain pre-conference event. For more information, go to www.windpowerexpo.org.

Reprinted with permission from the Wind the Wind Energy Weekly, a publication of the American Wind Energy Association.

Lining Up Potential Customers in the Wind Industry

How do you meet more potential customers in the wind industry?

Exhibit at a trade show. And, the biggest is the American Wind Energy Association's annual WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition. Last year's event in Houston ran for three days, attracted 14,000 people, and was the biggest event of its kind anywhere in the world in 2008. Every major OEM from North America and Europe was there, as well as dozens of first and second tier suppliers—over 700 exhibitors.

This year's WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition on May 4-7, 2009 is expected to be even larger, and AWEA has selected Chicago's McCormick Place. If you are interested in exhibiting and haven't yet reserved a booth, now is the time to act because space is almost gone. You can get details on prices and availability from AWEA.

Another option for exhibiting at WINDPOWER 2009 is to join forces with the Great Lakes WIND Network. Our organization has reserved a large booth and will be setting up a special Supply Chain Pavilion focused on Component Manufacturing to enable more manufacturers to participate. For more details, contact Pam Holmes at 216.588.1440 ext. 104.

Timken Expands Wind Capacity

To meet the growing demand of the North American wind market, the Timken Company has announced that it is expanding production at its Tyger River facility in Union, South Carolina. This plant is a key supplier of ultra-large bore bearings for main shafts of wind turbines and positions the company to keep pace with domestic requirements. This is Timken’s second wind-related investment in recent months. The first was announced last fall as a joint venture with Chinese firm XEMC to build a $38 million facility in Xiangtan, Hunan Province to provide similar highly-engineered bearings for the Chinese market.