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By Vince Hrenak, Chairman of AIA Supplier Management Council  I am honored that the Supplier Management Council Executive Committee has asked me to once again lead the Supplier Management Council as chairman for 2007. Due to his reassignment as Boeing's F/A-18 program manager, Bob Gower was unable to continue in that role.
The Executive Committee asked me to fill the remainder of Bob's term because I could provide the continuity and experience needed to maintain the positive momentum SMC has developed during the last several years. Council members have told me that the subject of my article in the January 2004 Suppliers' Voice concerning evolution of the integrated supply chain is still a good idea. After reflection, I want to continue that concept, only boil it down to one theme — relationships among customers, primes, and suppliers. I want to blend relationships with Bob's ideas. During my previous term, we began to let supplier issues drive our agendas through workshops and actions in order to eliminate or reduce their impact on associate members. As Bob reviewed the issues, he categorized them into five areas:
In this way we'll be able to get into a routine of familiarity with what to expect at each meeting. Another initiative that we will pilot is a program to enhance customer-supplier relationships. The issues in this category will be addressed by individual primes in a supplier advisory council format where suppliers who have a customer-supplier relationship will meet in a closed forum to talk about improvements with the prime's representative. The first group of sessions will be hosted by Steve Sargeant of Boeing and myself. I participated in AIA's first organized trade mission to India and saw first hand the real benefits of trade missions for suppliers who want to participate in the global marketplace. At the SMC meeting in San Antonio in March, we discussed other trade mission destinations to visit. My goal is to prepare associate members to be the most prosperous and efficient suppliers in our industry, capable of participating with customers in supplier integration for all to be successful. SMC: 10 Years and Counting AIA's Supplier Management Council in 2007 is celebrating 10 years of leadership on behalf of America's aerospace suppliers. Formed with 20 pioneering members, a decade later the council is a mature body of strength and influence in the aerospace and defense industry, bolstered by a dynamic roster of 172 AIA associate members. Welcome to the newest associate members:
Emhart Teknologies. Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc. 2007 Associate Member/SMC Events 47th Paris Air Show, June 18-26, Le Bourget Airport Summer 2007 SMC Meeting, July 24-27, Colorado Springs, Colo. Fall 2007 SMC Meeting, Oct. 16-18, Atlanta, Ga Northeast Regional Meeting, Sept. 20-21, East Hartford, Conn. Host: Pratt & Whitney For more information, contact Leonora Hansford at leonora.hansford@aia-aerospace.org or Peggy Boyd at peggy.boyd@aia-aerospace.org. Raytheon Hosts First Regional Meeting of Year Nearly 70 representatives of AIA member companies participated in the first regional meeting of 2007 in late February, hosted by Raytheon Company. The meeting included a tour of Raytheon's Network Centric Systems and Space and Airborne Systems facilities in McKinney, Texas. Raytheon Chairman and CEO Bill Swanson, who also is chairman of AIA's Board of Governors this year, opened the meeting with a discussion of three of AIA's top issues for 2007:
"We've got to help develop the next generation of engineers when they are still in their formative years in middle school," the Raytheon chief executive stated, "and make sure they sustain their interest in the gating fields of science and math through high school, college, and graduation." Go to aia-aerospace.org and click on News & Events to read the full text of Swanson's welcoming remarks.  Cherokee Nation Distributors Vice President Marcus Hendricks gets eye-to-eye with a Raytheon instrument.  An engineer at Raytheon Company's Network Centric Systems near Dallas briefs a group of AIA visitors touring the facility during a recent regional meeting. From left are Celestica Corporation Vice President Mike McGuire, AIA President and CEO John Douglass, Celestica's Rafael Marcano, and Perillo Industries President Mary Perillo. A benefit of AIA regional meetings is the opportunity to see some of the industry's leading products and technologies in development. SMC Represented at Aero India 2007 Exhibition In a follow-up to the Supplier Management Council's successful trade mission to India in early December, AIA staff members in February attended Aero India 2007, that nation's biannual aerospace and defense exposition. One of aviation's largest air shows, Aero India set record attendance with more than 40,000 visitors and attracted a record number of exhibitors, including many leading aerospace and defense companies and suppliers from the United States and other nations. The exhibition was organized by the Indian Defence Ministry's Department of Defence Production, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Farnborough International, an exhibition firm. Varun Nikore, director of supplier management, joined team leader J.J. Gertler, assistant vice president for defense policy, and Sherry Epperson, manager of international events, in supporting AIA member companies at the exhibition. AIA participated in the event to establish continued representation from the supplier community and demonstrate industry commitment to India's growing aerospace sector. Meetings took place with key Indian suppliers to foster collaboration. The Society of Indian Aerospace and Transportation Industries, India's counterpart to AIA, participated in preliminary discussions with SMC members about increasing communication and coordination between the two groups. The SMC plans to survey its members to determine possible future trade missions in 2007 or 2008. |
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