K A N SA S W I N D I N D U ST RY S U P P LY C H A I N S U RV E Y

2009 SURVEYSUMMARY
PreparedBy ADVANCEDMANUFACTURINGINSTITUTE 510McCallRoad Manhattan,Kansas66502 DECEMBER2009

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

EXECUTIVESUMMARY INTRODUCTION PROJECTGOALS METHODOLOGY SURVEYDEVELOPMENT SELECTIONOFRESPONDENTS WEBSITE ANALYSIS REPORTORGANIZATION REPORTLAYOUTANDQUESTIONMAPPING DEMOGRAPHICANDGEOGRAPHICDETAILS DEMOGRAPHICS AWEAMEMBERSHIP CAPABILITIES INDUSTRYSERVED PRODUCTSMANUFACTURED CORECOMPETENCY CURRENTSUPPLIERS POTENTIALSUPPLIERS BARRIERSANDNEEDS CURRENTSUPPLIERS POTENTIALSUPPLIERS

I 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 7 7 9 9 11 12 12 14 17 17 20

KANSASWINDINDUSTRYSUPPLYCHAINSURVEY 2009
SURVEYSUMMARY
EXECUTIVESUMMARY
This project was undertaken to help the state ofKansasgain a betterunderstanding of current activity in the wind industry in the region and provide the state with a foundation to develop a wind energy manufacturing baseinresponsetothestatesemergingwindpowergenerationindustry.Asinterestinthisemergingindustry continues to grow, and Kansas increases its participation, there is a need to 1) identify niche market opportunities where specific Kansas manufacturers may be competitive, 2) assist interested and capable companiesinbuildingamoredetailedandobjectivebusinesscaseformarketentryandinvestment,3)facilitate marketaccessthatgivestheregionsmanufacturersaviableopportunitytocompeteonaglobalbasis,and4) develop a supply chain strategy that brings together difficult to replicate resources/partners/actions for sustainingcompetitiveadvantage. As a first step in fulfilling these stated needs, the Kansas Department of Commerce (KDOC), the Climate and Energy Project (CEP), the Blue/Green Alliance (BGA), the Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) partnered to execute a statewide manufacturing supply chain surveytoassessinterest,levelofinvolvement,andcapabilitiesofKansasmanufacturerswithregardtothewind energymanufacturingindustry. Atpresenttherearenotmanymanufacturersandserviceprovidersservingthewindindustryalthoughthereisa lotofpotentialandinterest.Atotalof227respondentsfilledoutthesurveyand210completeresponseswere includedinthefinaldataanalysis.About27%ofthesurveyresponsesreportedthattheyarecurrentlyserving thewindindustryandtheother73%ofthesurveyrespondentsarenotcurrentlysupplyingtothewindindustry butindicatedagreatinterestinthisupcomingindustry.

About 27% of the survey respondents reported that they are currently serving the wind industry,buttheother73%alsoshowedakeeninterestinenteringintothewindindustry.The survey respondents were a mix of manufacturers, service provides and construction industry companies.Thesurveywasfilledoutbycompaniesfrom49differentKansascountiesandsome outofthestatecompaniestoo.

Sixtysixpercentofthecompaniescurrentlyinthewindindustryhaveplannedfutureexpansionprojectsrelated tothewindindustryandmostoftheexpansionplansinvolveincreasingtheequipment,personnel,facilitysize andgainingentranceintonewmarkets.Further,40%oftherespondentscurrentlyinthewindindustryreported they need assistance with their future growth objective with 61% indicating accessing accurate and detailed information as their major need. While quality control was the most important factor listed for workforce training,followedbysafety,gettingintouchwiththerightpeopleandlackofproductspecificationswerethe biggestchallengesfacedbythosecompanies.Only18%ofthecompanieswereAWEAmembersbut41%have attendedAWEAswindindustryconference. Of the companies that are not currently in the wind industry, 58% indicated being in the exploratory and information collecting stage in the process of considering/entering the wind industry. Further, about 50% of thesecompaniesreportedthatgettingintouchwiththerightpeopleand47%indicatedaccessingtheindustry informationarethetwomajorthingstheyneedtomoveforwardinthisindustry. I

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

K A N S A S W I N D I N D U S T R Y S U P P LY C H A I N S U R V E Y 2009 SURVEYSUMMARY

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

INTRODUCTION
This project was undertaken to help the state ofKansasgain a betterunderstanding of current activity in the wind industry in the region and provide the state with a foundation to develop a wind energy manufacturing base in response to the states emerging wind power generation industry. Due to the transportation logistics within the manufacturing supply chain, wind turbine OEMs are seeking to locate their assembly plants and supplychainsincloseproximitytothenationsmajorwindfields.Currentlyseveralotherstatesthroughoutthe Midwesthavestatelevelinitiativestocultivatethisemergingmanufacturingindustry,includingIowa,Ohio,and Oklahoma.Asinterestinthisemergingindustrycontinuestogrow,andKansasincreasesitsparticipation,there isaneedto1)identifynichemarketopportunitieswherespecificKansasmanufacturersmaybecompetitive,2) assistinterestedandcapablecompaniesinbuildingamoredetailedandobjectivebusinesscaseformarketentry and investment, 3) facilitate market access that gives the regions manufacturers a viable opportunity to compete on a global basis, and 4) develop a supply chain strategy that brings together difficult to replicate resources/partners/actionsforsustainingcompetitiveadvantage. As a first step in fulfilling these stated needs, the Kansas Department of Commerce (KDOC), the Climate and Energy Project (CEP), the Blue/Green Alliance (BGA), the Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) partnered to execute a statewide manufacturing supply chain surveytoassessinterest,levelofinvolvement,andcapabilitiesofKansasmanufacturerswithregardtothewind energymanufacturingindustry.

PROJECTGOALS
1.

IdentifyqualifiedKansasmanufacturerswhichhaveneworongoinginitiativeswithinthewindenergy manufacturingsector. IdentifyprospectiveKansasmanufacturerswillingandcapableofproducingcomponents/assemblies withinthewindenergymanufacturingsector. Collectpreliminaryinformation,aspartofthesurvey,fromqualifiedandprospectivemanufacturers thatwillassistthesurveyssponsorstoproperlyrepresentthecapabilitiesandreadinessofselected Kansasmanufacturerstoprospectivehighertiermanufacturingcompanies.

2.

3.

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

METHODOLOGY
Thissectionbrieflydescribesthemethodologyfollowedforthepresentproject.

SURVEYDEVELOPMENT
Thesurveyforthepresentstudywascreatedbasedonadraftsurveyprovidedbythesponsors.Thesurveywas changedtoincluderelevantquestionsrequiredtoachievethestudyobjectives.Thefinalsurveyusedbranching totargetdifferentrespondentswithdifferentquestionssothatmostrelevantinformationisreceivedfromeach group, the first group being the companies who are currently supplying to the wind industry and the second group being the companies who are interested in entering this industry. The survey was webbased and Zoomerangwasusedtouploadandlaunchthesurvey.

SELECTIONOFRESPONDENTS
AlistofcompanieswasgeneratedbasedontheindustryclassificationNAICScodesusingcommercialdatabases andalistfromKDOC,ofcompanieswhohavealreadyshowninterestintheindustry.TheNAICScodesusedfor thelistwerebasedontheNAICSidentifiedintheREPPreportaspotentialmanufacturersforvariouspartsofa windturbineandalsobasedonthestaffknowledgeoftheindustryanditssupplychain.Theinitialsurveywas mailedoutto896Kansascompanies,followedbytworeminderemails. Apartfromthedirectmailssentout,alltheprojectpartnerspromotedthewebsiteandencouragedcompanies tofilloutthesurveyatvariouseventsheldinthestate.

WEBSITE
Awebsitewascreatedfortheproject,toprovidemoreinformationonthewindindustry,theinvolvedpartners and a link to the webbased survey. The website was referenced in the introduction letter by KDOC and also businesscardswereprintedandgivenouttopromotethewebsite.Thewebsitecontainsinformationaboutthe industry,anatomyofawindturbine,linkstousefulresources,alistofupcomingeventsandalinktothesurvey.

ANALYSIS
ThedatainthisreportiscurrentasofNovember17,2009.Thewebbasedsurveyisstillopenandwillbekept openforatleastninemoremonths(tilltheZoomerangmembershipexpires),andmightbeextendedifsurvey sponsorsdecideso.Thedatacollectedsofarfromthesurveyresultedin227completeresponsesandatotalof 210validresponsesareincludedinthisreport.

REPORTORGANIZATION
Thisreportisdividedintothreesections.SectionIdescribesbrieflythedemographicandgeographicdetailsof therespondents.SectionIIdescribesthecapabilitiesoftherespondents.Thissectioncontainsinformationon capabilities of both the current and potential suppliers for the wind industry. Section III gives out a brief descriptionofthebarriersfacedbycompaniesintheindustryandtheneedstheyhavetofurtherexpandtheir businessintothewindindustry.Thissectionoutlinesthebarriersfacedandtheneedsofboththecurrentand potentialwindsuppliers.Thesurveycontainedafewquestionsthatwerecommontoallrespondentsandthen thesurveywasdividedintotwoparts,withdifferentquestions,tobeaskedtotherespondentswhosaidthey aresupplyingtothewindindustryandtherespondentswhowerenotsupplyingtothewindindustry.Basedon theirresponsetothequestionareyoucurrentlysupplyingtothewindindustry, Iftheyansweredyestheyarereferredtoascurrentsupplierinthereport Iftheyanswerednotheyarereferredtoaspotentialsupplierinthereport. 2

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

Thequestionsinthesurveyaremappedtodifferentsectionsofthereportbasedonthereportlayout(sections) andquestionmappingchartdescribedonthenextpage.Thequestionnumberisfollowedbyayesorno, indicatingifthatquestionwasaskedtothecurrentorpotentialsuppliers,respectively.

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

REPORTLAYOUTANDQUESTIONMAPPING
Demographics Q15.Yes&Q10.NoWhichcategorydoyou thinkbestdescribesyourcurrentbusiness? Q13.YesAreyoucurrentlyamemberof AmericanWindEnergyAssociation(AWEA)? Q14.YesHaveyoueverattendedthe AWEAswindindustryconference? GeneralInformation CompanyName HarrisDatabase Location Employees Sales NAICS Capabilities Q1.Whatindustriesdoyoucurrentlysupplytoor provideservicesto? Q2.Whatspecificproducts/servicesdoyou manufacture/provide? Q3.Whatisyourcorecompetency? Q5.YesWhatspecificcomponents/servicesareyou providingtothewindindustry? Q6.YesForwhatsizeofturbinesareyoucurrently supplyingtheparts? Q7.YesHowmanyemployeesinyourcompany supportthewindindustryrelatedprocesses? Q8.YesWhatpercentageofyourtotalbusinesssales comesfromthewindindustry? Q7.NoIfyouareamanufacturer,whatmajor assemblies/subassemblieswouldcontainparts manufacturedbyyourorganizationforthewind industry? Q8.NoIfyouareaservicesprovider,whatservicesdo youenvisionbeingabletoprovidetothewindindustry? Barriers&Needs Q9.Yes Doyouhaveanyplannedfutureexpansion projectsrelatedtowindindustry?Ifyes,whatareas youhaveplannedexpansion. Q10.YesDoyouneedassistancewithyourfuture growthobjectives?IfYes,whatkindofassistancedo youneed? Q11.YesWhattypeofworkforcetrainingdoyou thinkisimportanttosupportyourworkinthewind industry? Q12.YesWhatchallengestogrowthdoesyour businessfaceinthewindindustry? Q5.NoAtwhatstageintheprocessof considering/enteringthewindindustryisyour company? Q6.NoWhatinformationand/orassistancedoyou needtodecidetomovetothenextstep? Q9.NoWhatareyourcurrentbarrierstoentering thewindindustry?

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

SECTIONI

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

DEMOGRAPHICandGEOGRAPHICDETAILS
MapshowingsurveyrespondentsacrossKansas

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

DEMOGRAPHICS
This section briefly describes the demographics and geography of the survey respondents. The section describesthecompaniesandtheindustrytheyserveandarecurrentlyin.Therespondentstothesurvey were companies both from Kansas and outside Kansas who are interested in capturing a part of the emergingwindindustryinthestate.ThemajorityoftherespondentswereKansascompanies. Around 27% of the survey respondents (57 companies) reported that they are currently supplying either some components or providing services to the wind industry. The remaining 73% (153 companies) of the respondents are not currently supplying to the wind industry, but showed a great amount of interest in getting involved. Out of the total respondents from Kansas who responded to the survey, 93 were manufacturers, 62 service providers and 17 from the construction industry,otherswerefromoutsideKansas.

Yes

27%

No

73%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

PercentofRespondents

AWEAMEMBERSHIP
Only 18% (10 companies) of the respondents who are currently supplying to the wind industry are membersoftheAmericanWindEnergyAssociation(AWEA)but42%ofthesamegroup,24companies, hadattendedatleastoneAWEAconference.

AWEAMember

AWEAConferenceAttended

Yes

18%

Yes

42%

No

82%

No

59%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

PercentofRespondents

PercentofRespondents

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

SECTIONII

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

CAPABILITIES
This section provides a brief description of the capabilities of the survey respondents. The section first describes the industry being served by the survey respondents, the products they currently provide to these industries and their core competency. Next the section first describes the capabilities of current suppliers to the wind industry in terms of the products being supplied to the wind industry, size of turbinestheysupplypartsto,employeesinthecompanysupportingwindrelatedprocessesandpercent ofsalescomingfromsaletothewindindustry.Thelastpartofthesectiondescribesthecapabilitiesof potential suppliers by listing the assemblies/subassemblies that could contain parts manufactured by themandtheservicetheycanprovidetothewindindustry.

INDUSTRYSERVED

Thewordcloudabovegivesanoverviewofthekindofindustriesbeingservedbythesurveyrespondents. Thewordcloudwasgeneratedbytaggingtheanswersandthemostrepeatedwordbeingshowedasthe biggest one here. The industries mostly served by the respondents are energy, manufacturing, construction,aviationandagriculture.

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

CURRENTSUPPLIERS
The respondents who reported to currently serve the wind industry serve industries like aerospace,construction,agriculture,etcalong with the wind industry. An overview of the responsesofthecurrentsuppliersofthewind industryisshowninthiswordcloud .

Thecompaniesreportingthewindindustryasoneoftheindustriesbeingservedbythem currently,alsoservetheconstruction,aerospace,automotiveandagricultureindustries.

POTENTIALSUPPLIERS
The respondents who are not currently supplying tothewindindustrybutareinterestedinentering intothewindindustryserveavarietyofindustries like construction, automotive, aerospace, transportation,etc.

The companies not in the wind industry are serving industries like construction, automotive,aerospace,aviation,andagriculture.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

PRODUCTSMANUFACTURED
The word cloud below provides an overview of the kind of products manufactured and/or services providedbythesurveyrespondents.Themajorityoftherespondentsmanufacturesmallcomponents,do fabricationandmachining.

Thecompaniescurrentlysupplyingtothewind industrydealinproducts/serviceslikeelectrical supplies, steel, CNC work, fabrication, machining parts, manufacturing small parts, etc. The companies interested in supplying to the windindustrycurrentlyhaveproducts/services like fabrication, metal cutting, design services, welding services, manufacturing small parts, steelparts,etc.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

CORECOMPETENCY

Mostoftherespondentstothesurveyreportedbeinggoodatfabrication,CNCmachining,manufacturing small parts (made from sheet metal and/or steel), welding and cutting, designing and engineering consulting.

CURRENTSUPPLIERS

PRODUCTSMANUFACTURED/SERVICESPROVIDEDTOTHEWINDINDUSTRY
Thewordcloudgivesanoverviewoftheproductsmanufacturedand/orservicesbeingprovidedbythe current suppliers to the wind industry. Current suppliers to the wind industry provide a variety of components,servicesandconstructionrelatedproductsandservices.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

SIZEOFTURBINES
Large (over660 kW) Intermediate (10 660kW) Small (<10kW) 0 19 10 20 NumberofRespondents 30

21 25

Therespondentswhoarecurrentlysupplyingto thewindindustrysupplytoallturbinesizes.The majority of them, 25 respondents, supply to intermediatesizeturbines(10660kW).Someof the companies supply to more than one particularsizeofturbines.

EMPLOYEES
Survey respondents were asked how many employees in their organization support wind related processes. The majority of the respondents have less than five employees supportingwindrelatedprocesses.Thisreflects andsupportsthefactthattheindustryisstillin itsinfancystage.
25+ 25Oct 10May 05 Noresponse 0 1 5 10 15 20 NumberofRespondents 25 11 12 12 21

SALESFORWINDRELATEDBUSINESS
Morethan25% 1025 510 15 Lessthan1% Don'tknow 0% 16% 10% 20% PercentofRespondents 30% 11% 12% 18% 16% 28%

Themajorityofsurveyrespondentsreportedthatonly a fraction of their total sales (less than 1%) comes from wind related activities. This is again expected given the infancy stage of the industry in Kansas.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

POTENTIALSUPPLIERS
Thissectiondescribesthecapabilitiesofthepotentialsuppliersforthewindindustry.Oftherespondents who are interested in getting involved in the wind industry, 24 have the capability to provide electronic/electrical components, 80 machined/fabricated parts, 78 are service providers, 20 construction,13distributorsandacompositeprovider.

MAJORASSEMBLIES/SUBASSEMBLIES
Thissectiondescribesthemajorassembliesand subassemblies that could contain parts being manufactured currently by the companies interested in supplying to the wind industry. These could also be the assemblies or sub assemblies that they have the capability to undertake. Themajorityofrespondentsreportedthatthey could manufacture parts for Nacelle Cases and Nacelle Frames (27 respondents each), Shafts andGearBoxes(24respondentseach). Most of the respondents selected the other category for the question, which may reflect their lack of knowledge about the components of a wind turbine and information about the specifications required to manufacture the parts. The word cloud below shows the major responses from the other category, withmost of the respondents reporting they could do fabricationormachiningwork. The next table summarizes the response of the survey respondents about the assemblies and sub assemblies that could contain parts they manufacture. Component Bearings BladeExtender Brakes CoolingSystem Coupling Electronic Controller GearBox Generator Hub NacelleCase NacelleFrame PitchDrive PowerElectronics RotorBlade SensorsandData Logging Equipment Shafts TowerFlange Bolts Towers YawDrive Other,pleasespecify Numberof Respondents 13 14 14 9 15 19 24 7 18 27 27 12 14 10 11 23 24 19 16 18 15 65

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

SERVICES
Thissectionbrieflydescribesthemajorservicesthatsurveyrespondentssaidtheycouldpotentiallyprovidetothe wind industry. This represents the services they are providing currently to other industries or they could potentiallystartprovidingtothewindindustry. The table below summarizes the services respondents reported that they could potentially providetothewindindustry. Component ComputerSoftware Construction ConsultingServices FinancialServices HybridSystemIntegrator Insurance LegalServices Operations&Maintenance ProjectDeveloper/Operator Safety Service Transportation WindForecasting/Assessment Other,pleasespecify Numberof respondent 8 21 30 1 6 0 1 22 5 9 17 9 0 31 Alargenumberoftherespondents(30respondents) reportedthattheycanprovideconsultingservicesto the wind industry followed by operations & maintenanceservices(22respondents).Twentyone respondents reported they could provide construction related services to the wind industry. For this question a lot of respondents (31 respondents) marked the other category, which couldbeduetolackofinformationaboutthewind industry.

The word cloud above provides an overview of the other category responses. The majority of the respondents here again said they could provide machining services, fabrication services, and warehouse services to the wind industry.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

SectionIII

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

BARRIERSANDNEEDS
This section provides a description of the barriers to growth faced by current suppliers in the industry and by potentialsupplierstoenterthewindindustry.Thesectionalsodescribestheneedand/orassistancerequiredby currentsupplierstoexpandandbypotentialsupplierstoenterthewindindustry.

CURRENTSUPPLIERS

FUTUREEXPANSIONPLANS
Sixtysixpercentofthecurrentsuppliershaveplannedfutureexpansionprojectsrelatedtothewindindustry.The major areas of planned expansion are equipment, personnel, new markets and facility expansion. The figure belowshowsthemajorareasofexpansionandthenumberofrespondentsforeach.
NewMarkets Yes 65% Facility Personnel No 35% Equipment 60% 80% Other 0 9 5 10 NumberofRespondents 15 6 9 11 10

0%

20%

40%

PercentofRespondents

Thewordchartbelowprovidesanoverviewoftheareasinwhichtherespondentshaveplannedfutureexpansion.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

ASSISTANCEREQUIREDWITHFUTUREGROWTHOBJECTIVES

Forty percent of the survey respondents (23 respondents) indicated that they need assistance withtheirfuturegrowthobjectives.Themajorityof these respondents (61%) indicated that they need more information. The figure below shows the kind of assistance required by the respondents to help themwiththeirfuturegrowthobjectives.
TrainedManpower Networking Information Finance Other 0 2 5 10 15 6 4 9 14 Yes No 0% 20% 40%

40% 60% 60% 80%

PercentofRespondents

NumberofRespondents

Of the respondents who indicated need of assistance, the majority of those (14 respondents) reported getting moreinformationabouttheindustryastheirmainrequirement.Thiswasfollowedbynetworkingwithkeyplayers intheindustry,gettingintouchwiththerightpeopleandcapitalrequirements.Availabilityoftrainedmanpower wasanotherrequirementlistedbythem.

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KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

WORKFORCETRAININGREQUIRED
Quality control is the most important field for workforce training to support the work in the wind industry, according to the respondents. Safety, general mechanical, electrical & hydraulic maintenance and lean manufacturingareotherimportantfieldsforworkforcetraining.Thefigurebelowshowsthedifferentworkforce trainingareasconsideredimportantbytherespondents.

GeneralMechanical,Electrical Airfoils&CompositeRepair EuropeantoUSConversion(Drawing LeanManufacturing Safety QualityControl Other 0 10 10 20 4 13

21

21 23 34

30

40

NumberofRespondents

RespondentshadlistedworkforcetraininginareaslikeSales,BusinessSystems,IT,Machining/Fabricating,etcin theothercategory.

CHALLENGESTOGROWTH
The majority of the respondents cited lack of networking and non availability of specifications as the biggest challengestheyfaceinthewindindustry.Lackofcapitalandinformationwereothertopchallengesbeingfaced. Thefigurebelowshowsindetailthechallengesbeingfacedbythesuppliersinthewindindustry.

Specifications Market Manpower Information Networking Capital Other Don'tKnow 0 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 3 10 5 9 6

12

12

14

NumberofRespondents

19

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

POTENTIALSUPPLIERS STAGEINTHEPROCESSOFCONSIDERING/ENTERINGTHEWINDINDUSTRY

BusinessPlantoenterwindindustry Businessplantoenterwindindustry Uppermanagementdiscussingoptions Exploratory&informationcollectiononly Havenottakenanyactiontodate NoResponse

5% 15% 23% 38% 16% 3%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% PercentofRespondents

Oftherespondentswhoarenotcurrentlysupplyingtothewindindustry,themajorityareintheexploratoryand information collection stage in the process of considering/entering the wind industry. Only five percent of the respondentshaveabusinessplanreadytoenterthewindindustry.

INFORMATIONAND/ORASSISTANCEREQUIREDTOENTERTHEINDUSTRY
Almosthalfoftherespondents(71respondents)reportedthattheyneedcontactsandnetworksinordertomove to the next step in the process of entering the wind industry. More information about the industry is another majorrequirementfortherespondentstomovetothenextstage.

Information Capabilites Equipment Specifications Networking NotSure 0 11 20 40 60 NumberofRespondents 8 43 27

67

71

80

20

KansasWindIndustrySupplyChainSurvey2009

CURRENTBARRIERSTOENTERINGTHEWINDINDUSTRY
Lack of product specifications and lack of knowledge & expertise are the major barriers for potentialsupplierstoenterthewindindustry.Lack ofcontactsandnetworksandinformationaboutthe industry are other barriers being faced by the respondents. The figure below shows the major barriersfacedbytherespondents.
Competitiveness CapacityBuilding Qualification Information Networking Productspecifications Availabilityof trainedworkers Technologynot available Lackofknowledge/expertise Finance 0 7 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 4 3 56 1 2 4 17 27 62

NumberofRespondents

21