Cherokee Nation Industries

Small- and medium-sized manufacturers employ 152,000 Oklahomans. Manufacturing extension agent Connie Cunningham assists small manufacturers in Adair, Cherokee, McIntosh, Muskogee, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties. She is one of 20 manufacturing extension agents across the state working to provide services and assistance to make companies more productive and successful.

Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation Industries operates as a government contractor in the aerospace and defense sector of manufacturing and distribution. The company, which manufactures electrical wiring harnesses for military aircraft, recently worked with the Manufacturing Alliance to streamline operations through the Lean Manufacturing program. This process helps manufacturers reduce wasted time and energy and operate more efficiently.

The Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance also helped coordinate a partnership between Cherokee Nation Industries and an Alabama-based company through the Department of Defense Mentor Protégé program. Building on the strengths of each company, the two manufacturers are now able to work on projects that would have been out of reach for them individually.

CNI manufactures electrical wiring harnesses for military aircraft.