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THE SUPPLIERS' VOICE: January/February 2008 Volume 8, No. 3
SMC Shaping Solutions for Supplier Issues
By Dave Pauling, AIA Vice President of Supplier Management
AIA's mission is to shape public policy, ensure that the U.S. aerospace and defense industry remains preeminent, be a voice of the industry, and develop solutions to industrywide issues. The association's ultimate success is measured in America's national security and economic vitality.
As a bridge between full member and associate member communities, AIA's Supplier Management Council is a profound contributor to the success of the association's mission. Toward that end, the SMC Executive Committee in early January developed a strategy to address supplier issues, outlined below, that will be showcased at the upcoming spring SMC meeting.
- Membership Political Footprint. Expand SMC representation in targeted states and districts.
See today's footprint in box below.
- Shortage of Skilled Trade Workers and Engineers. Examine best practices for recruitment,
retention, and training; explore expanded access to training courses developed by AIA member companies and partnerships with colleges.
- Legislation. Develop guidance and take action against legislation that could have a negative impact on suppliers.
- Suppliers Moving Up the Value-added Chain. Advise suppliers on their expanding roles as system integrators and how to meet the evolving needs of their customers through education and insight, consulting services, and lean manufacturing.
- International Activities and Trade Missions. Target AIA trade missions to Brazil, India, and Europe; provide information on foreign aerospace organizations and how countries address global aerospace supplier issues.
- ITAR and Export Control. Develop a straightforward checklist for International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliance; examine ITAR as a global market impediment and the impact of domestic requirements, such as those related to specialty metals and export licenses.
- Information Visibility and Requirements Forecasting. Develop material to guide suppliers on acquiring timely and accurate data from primes; determine what industrywide technological advances, including evolving environmental requirements, might be needed.
- Technical Data Accuracy. Generate a National Aerospace Standard for technical data packages for publication in late 2008.
- Supplier Ratings. Monitor utilization of supplier ratings, the quality of data used to formulate ratings, the consequences of customer-directed delivery, the impact of new supply chain initiatives, and distributor ratings.
- Resource Pooling and Employee Benefits. Examine health care pooling proposals and AIA's ability to bring together multiple associations to pool resources and leverage other office and overhead-type resources.
- Contracting Bids and Quotes. Examine at SMC panel or breakout sessions the compression of bidding cycles, competition, protests, contract types, and bid infrastructure to better understand the motives and intentions of supplier customers.
- Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on Suppliers. Establish a consistent interpretation of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements passed down from prime contractors and a consistent supplier response; examine procurement cards and their application.
- Contract Types and Award De-briefs. Examine prime-to-supplier contracting for development work and the use of firm-fixed-price contracts; develop for suppliers a standardized process for award de-briefs following contract award.
- Progress Payment and Cash Flow. Sensitize primes to cash flow requirements of suppliers and encourage flexibility to utilize contracts other than fixed-price to maximize financial stability for suppliers.
- Small Business Administration and Special Programs. Organize a panel of member company small business liaison officers; address opportunities to influence policy and legislation in such areas as SDB, SBA, TRIAD; confirm speaker from SBA oversight committees in Congress to address inconsistent requirements.
- Standardized Reporting of Non-product Issues. Explore whether or not the varying formats for EEO, OHSA, SBA, anti-kickback, and other certifications used by prime contractors can be applied universally or should be standardized.
Today's SMC Political Footprint
The Supplier Management Council has member representation in:
- 67% of the 50 states.
- 37% of the 435 congressional districts.
- 92% of Senate Armed Services Committee member states.
- 34% of House Armed Services Committee member districts.
- 62% of Senate Appropriations Committee member states.
- 32% of House Appropriations Committee member districts.
Over the next five years, the SMC plans to strategically expand the footprint to cover at least 370 congressional districts, or 85 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives.
2008 Associate Member/SMC Events
- Spring SMC Meeting, March 4-6, 2008, Renaissance Charleston, Charleston, S.C
- Summer SMC Meeting, June 2-4, 2008, Key Bridge Marriott, Va.
- Farnborough International Airshow, July 12-17, Farnborough, England
- Fall SMC Meeting, October 7-9, 2008, Marriott Manhattan Beach, Calif.
For more information, contact Karn Henderson at karn.henderson@aia-aerospace.org or Peggy Boyd at peggy.boyd@aia-aerospace.org.
Council Adds New Members
After celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2007, the AIA Supplier Management Council has embarked on its second decade of leadership in support of America's aerospace suppliers.
AIA welcomes its newest associate members:
Ancon Gear & Instrument Co.
Hitachi Consulting
Infotech Enterprises America
Kreisler Manufacturing Co.
PCA Aerostructures
Plexus Corporation
UMA, Inc.
2008 SMC Executive Committee
Chairman: Mary Simmerman, Senior Vice President, Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
Vice Chairman: Roger Weiss, Director, Rockwell Collins
Derek Baggerly, President and CEO, ESIS, Inc.
Denis Bent, Vice President of Operations and Strategic Sourcing, BAE Systems, Inc.
Bill Brown, Vice President of Business Development, Kaman Aerospace Corporation
Chuck Gray, Vice President and COO, Frontier Electronics Systems
Vince Hrenak, Vice President, Raytheon Company
Betsy Miller, Corporate Director, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Bob Morris, President, Renaissance Services
Joe Murphy, Chairman of the Board, The Ferco Group
Tom Plungis, Corporate Director, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Hugh Quigley, Managing Director, DynaBil
Peter Rettaliata, President, Air Industries Machining Corporation
Steve Sargeant, Director General Procurement, The Boeing Company
Bob Sprole, President, Therm, Inc.
Vickie Wessel, President, Spirit Electronics
See profiles of SMC Executive Committee members at aia-aerospace.org under the Features tab in News & Events.
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