Kaci King

Kaci King l CEO, West Ohio Tool Co. l Space Manufacturing & Critical-Material Resilience Advocate

Kaci King is the CEO & Owner of West Ohio Tool Co. and an emerging thought leader at the intersection of space manufacturing, advanced tooling, critical-mineral resilience, and the American industrial base.  Her work examines questions facing the growing space economy: Can America scale space manufacturing without first strengthening the industrial base and criticial-material supply chains behind it?

As space exploration accelerates, Kaci is asking a question that reaches far beyond cutting tool: Can we build the future of space if the materials and manufacturing infrastructure required to produce it aren't resilient?

Her work focuses on one of the less visible vulnerabilities within advanced manufacturing - the industry's dependence on critical materials such as tungsten and the carbide required to manufacture the precision components behind aerospace, defense and space systems.

Rather than simply accepting material volatility, rising costs, and supply-chain risk, Kaci advocates for engineering a different answer: extending tool life, reducing raw-material consuption, designing for reuse, and challenging manufacturers to measure productivity by total manfuacturing impact rather than the price of an individual tool.

Under her leadership, West Ohio Tool has demonstrated what that thinking can accomplish, including a drilling application that advanced from approximately 25,000 holes to 1,000,000 holes on a single tool - dramatically changing the coversation around productivity, carbide consumption, and manufacturing resilience.

Kaci brings a unique perspective to the space conversation as a second-generation manufacturing leader who stepped up to lead the company following the unexpected passing of her father and has since expanded its vision beyond traditional markets and into the industries building America's future.

She is passionate about connecting the space industry with the often-unseen manufacturing ecosystem behind every mission: the machinists, engineers, tooling companies, material suppliers, and small and midsized manufacturers whose innovations ultimately determine what can be built - and how quickly.

Her message challenges the industry to think differently:

Space resilience begins long before launch. It begins on the manufacturing floor. 

Kaci believes strengthening America's space future will require more than extraordinary spacecraft. It will require an equally extraordinary, innovative, and resilient domestic supply chain capable of building them.