Loosely coupled SME network in manufacturing industry: A challenge in Niigata Sky Project

As the emerging nations add influence to the state of global economy, the new demand in air logistics is expected to catapult the increase in aircraft production, introducing a new horizon for potential suppliers to enter into the supply chain regime. This scenario may capture the attention not only from the industry institutions, but also from the public entities, that are in interest of plotting the economic viability of underlying jurisdiction. In such objective, the aviation cluster incubation project of “Niigata Sky Project (NSP)” which is implemented by “the City of Niigata, Japan”, implies a new perspective of implementing a sustainable industry cluster. Present commercial aircraft production is configured under the fundamental of securing a high standard of quality assurance. This prevalence has embedded a structure that requires highly competitive supplier selection policy, which public case can be observed through Germany. Niigata in this regard, demonstrates a lenient non-competitive attribution, and where the suppliers´ competency is developed through their collaborative participation in the project. This case can be represented as “collaboratively institutionalized” versus the German case of “competitively institutionalized” cluster formation. Defining these distinctive practices´ character and finding its applicable phases in the cluster´s lifecycle, shall provide a new view for the cluster managers and SMEs in developing their organizational strengths for regional development.