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Suppliers' Voice
October 2001
Volume 2, No. 5
Supplier Support: Communication, Cooperation, and Comradeship
By Bill Lewandowski, AIA Vice President, Supplier Management
"Suppliers are most vulnerable to any change," AIA President John Douglass points out when speaking to suppliers about what they face in doing business in the aerospace industry.
In the aftermath of the terrorist horrors of September 11, changes in the aerospace industry will be dramatic, especially the loss of airline business due to fear of flying and the inconveniences of increased airport security.
As airlines lose passengers and billions of dollars, their need for new aircraft vanishes along with the capital to buy them. This produces a ripple effect on manufacturers, major subcontractors, and suppliers.
If suppliers in the past have felt as vulnerable as the wagging tail on a dog, today they’re the tail on an elephant that’s about to sit down.
The best hope for aerospace suppliers, if they expect to survive, is to act.
The spirit of the aerospace supplier has been built on entrepreneurship, a dislike of delegation, internal focus, tactical thinking, and caution.
Like New Yorkers have done, suppliers need to lose their edge and cooperate, delegate, focus, think strategically, leverage resources and information, and act quickly.
For the future, the SMC hopes to be a paradigm change agent for associate members through the three Cs: Communication, Cooperation, and Comradeship.
As things happen in government and AIA members act and react, the SMC will keep its members advised so that informed decisions can be made.
Communication is a two-way street, and AIA needs to hear from SMC members so that their concerns are included in the national agenda. Effective communication inspires cooperation, and the SMC will find a cooperative audience within our association.
Fortunately an important tool for suppliers is already in place — the Presidential Commission on Aerospace.
The SMC began last March to organize supplier issues for commission consideration and in July defined eight priority topics:
- Attracting and retaining technical talent and a skilled workforce.
- Adverse financial risk in DoD/NASA programs.
- Imbalance of U.S. international policies and regulations.
- Access to government R&D.
- Government implementation of electronic business.
- Need for a visionary aerospace goal that inspires.
- Non-competitive government regulations in the marketplace.
- Lack of government policies to encourage innovation.
The door is still open for identifying new issues and prioritizing them at the upcoming SMC meeting Nov. 6-9.
AIA companies recommended candidates for SMC membership who are best suppliers. That makes the SMC an elite group who have dined, discussed, argued, laughed, networked, and golfed together. That’s comradeship.
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First Soaring Eagle to Rep. Harman
AIA’s Supplier Management Council (SMC) recently presented Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) with the first aerospace suppliers Soaring Eagle Award.
The award recognizes government and industry leaders who have strengthened small aerospace manufacturers through public policy.
Bill Lewandowski, AIA’s vice president of supplier management, commended Harman for her "tremendous support of programs that serve a large base of aerospace suppliers and subcontractors."
Lewandowski said that Harman helped contractors develop products with commercial as well as defense applications through her support of the Technology Reinvestment Program.
He noted that she also backed a Commerce Department initiative to help suppliers learn new manufacturing techniques, prepare business plans, and use audits and surveys for their own benefit.
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CII Technologies Supports JSF
SMC Member CII Technologies, Inc., is supplying 270 VDC contactors for the revolutionary "power by wire" flight control subsystem package of the new Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
The flight control subsystem was designed to help reduce takeoff weight and cost and increase survivability. Previously, hydraulic flight control actuators were used.
CII Technologies provides advanced control electronic solutions in high-performance relays, contactors, general-purpose relays, transformers, and EMI/RFI filters for aerospace, defense, communications, HVAC, and commercial/industrial equipment.
The company is headquartered in Asheville, N.C., and has operations in Germany, India, Mexico, and China, along with a global network of distributors and sales offices.
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First Regional Meeting an SMC Success
A delegation of Supplier Management Council representatives from the Northeast region participated in AIA’s first-ever regional meeting last month in Connecticut.
The genesis of this meeting was a desire of AIA President John Douglass to visit each association member company. Because of increasing schedule demands, including his recent appointment to the Presidential Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, a plan for regional meetings emerged.
Possibly as many as four regional meetings a year of AIA and SMC members could be scheduled to more efficiently meet members and discuss issues that affect them on a regional basis.
Frank "Skip" Kundahl, president of Teleflex, Inc./TFX Sermatech Mal Tool & Engineering, hosted the first regional gathering, a two-day event.
Douglass and AIA staff discussed issues and concerns with some 20 AIA and associate member companies represented at the Hartford meeting.
The first day’s session included a lively discussion of recent AIA initiatives and important issues concerning AIA members, such as aerospace research and development, federal legislative priorities, and the budgets of various agencies.
Rep. John Larson, whose district encompasses several aerospace manufacturers in Central Connecticut, encouraged smaller companies to use the political process to influence legislation and policies in Congress.
On the second day, discussion centered on suppliers and the many issues they face with primes and the competitive challenges in business. This discussion included a review of AIA’s top 10 issues as well as the SMC’s top four.
The following topics were a starting point for discussion and will be refined to identify systemic issues that the Presidential Commission on Aerospace can consider:
- Entering international markets.
- E-business.
- AIA suppliers directory.
- Defining competitors.
- Inequity in offset policies.
- Engineering, technical, and manufacturing talent.
- Aerospace-only statistics.
- R&D flow down to sub-tiers.
- Expansion of Mentor Protégé and SBA programs.
- Long-term agreements and funding.
- Lean manufacturing.
- Third party certifications.
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Compass Expands Its Capabilities
Compass Aerospace, an SMC member, has expanded its precision machining capabilities with the order of a state-of-the-art, three-axis, high-speed machining center.
The Hypersonic 1400L Linear Motor High Speed Vertical Machining Center was delivered in September by Mazak Corporation, the same firm that provided Compass Aerospace with its five-axis vertical machining centers.
Compass Aerospace’s manufacturing capabilities include precision machining of aluminum, titanium, and steel. In addition, the company engages in fabrication, metal bonding, and minor assembly.
Headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., Compass has facilities in Washington, Kansas, and the United Kingdom. Customers include Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Vought, British Aerospace, CASA, Saab, Bell Helicopter, Canadair, Lockheed-Martin, and U.S. military services.
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