AlliedSignal executives can point to one product in particular on their Asian Aerospace stand (Stand A712) and see proof that an ongoing campaign of culture change is bearing fruit.
That product is the 331-500 auxiliary power unit (APU) which equips the Boeing 777 and was produced in partnership with the airlines.
"This was really the first engine where we had the maximum amount of operational involvement - where the airlines really got involved in the programme," says Walt Gipson, AlliedSignal's director, new business development.
"It has turned out to be a great product and exemplifies how we as a company now focus on the customer." The 331-500 APU entered service in 1995 and there are now 125 systems operating with 18 airlines. Some 80 airline suggestions were incorporated into its baseline design.
US-based AlliedSignal has been adopting a new way of doing business in recent months, streamlining its production processes and making itself more visible to the customer.
It is also pursuing a quest to be known throughout the aerospace industry as "the source".
Analysed
Says Mark Duval, director, after market commercial APU enterprise: "We really got the wake-up call five or six years ago when we didn't get on the 747-400. That was a big shock.
"When we analysed what had gone wrong, we realised we were not paying enough attention to our true customers - the airlines. We have been changing and evolving since that time."
As well as involving customers in product design, AlliedSignal is also expanding its after-care activities and growing its business of long-term airline maintenance service contracts.
While this business is now well-established in the US, with the Allied partnerhip now involved in long-term contracts with airlines such as Southwest Airlines, it is a relatively new idea in Asia.
But Duval feels this will change.
"We have a lot of proposals in Asia now and we think more and more Asian airlines will consider outsourcing maintenance and service as they start to look forward and focus on profitability rather than just growth," he says. "They will see us again as a partner who can help them in that."
With business on an upturn, and AlliedSignal now the largest supplier of parts to the airline industry, the company has itself turned to another industry expert to help it achieve its goals.
Allied Signal
AlliedSignal has forged a partnership with Caterpillar Logistics, which has a large headquarters in Singapore, to help it with parts distribution. "They are the best in the industry," says Duval.
"Caterpillar has the infrastructure set up - they can distribute everything from fasteners and glue to a whole APU. We decided to partner with them rather than reinvent the wheel."
Walt Gipson, AlliedSignal's director, new business development, takes special pride in the 331-500 APU.
Source: Flight Daily News
