AlliedSignal Aerospace is not a company that wastes time - its own or anybody else's. So when company president Dan Burnham calls a press conference, reporters should be on red alert that he has something to shout about.
So it proved on Monday at Paris, when Burnham coolly announced that AlliedSignal had won new orders worth a total of $0.5billion.
Over the last 12 months, in fact, AlliedSignal has clocked up $2billion worth of new business with companies such as GE Capital, Singapore Airlines, Sabena, Northrop-Grumman, Northwest-Mesaba Airlines and Airbus.
In addition to the new orders, AlliedSignal also announced a new alliance, this time with US-based Caterpillar Logistics Services.
Yet anyone who tracks AlliedSignal's day-to-day operations knows that multi-million-dollar contracts and alliances have become a staple of this company's business.
Tracks
Much of this can be attributed to Burnham himself, who has been at the helm of the California-based company since 1992.
Burnham is also an executive vice-president of the parent company, AlliedSignal, headquartered in New Jersey.
"We are the broadest supplier of subcomponents," says Burnham. "We call ourselves The Source.
"But what we are really about is service. We have been at this for a long time and that is why we have doubled our growth.
"We have been very aggressive about that." AlliedSignal has grown its after-service business to where it now brings in $3billion in annual revenues.
"Our attitude is that in terms of quality and cost, we can do a better job by taking responsibility for the product after the sale," says Burnham.
"For us to keep growing at rapid rates, we have to be a great logistician. That is a very, very significant word for us."
Burnham illustrates his point by referring to the classic film The Graduate.
"In that film, there is one all-important word and that is 'plastics'," says Burnham. "What I say is that today, that word would be 'logistics'.
Demand
"You have to anticipate customer demand and be able to grow to provide it when they need it.
"We still have some improvements to make, but our deal with third-party logistician Cat Logistics will help us to improve the service we provide our customer.
"That is the way our heads are thinking. We want to be known as The Source."
Burnham says another long-term goal is to have an intimate relationship with each of its customers.
"We have to fight to earn that every day," he says. "We are not comfortable with all of our relationships, and we are committed to improving them.
"It is, and will remain, an ongoing process."
Just before coming to Paris, Burnham attended the company's annual Quest for Excellence gathering, this year in New Orleans, at which the 180 top-performing employees of AlliedSignal are gathered.
"These are people who have demonstrated their practices and principles of total quality through truly breakthrough performance," says Burnham.
"We also have our customers attend so that they can see what we are trying to achieve."
Source: Flight Daily News
