Now that Honeywell Aerospace CEO Rob Gillette has finished realigning the company’s product divisions into a more customer-oriented structure, his most daunting challenges originate from the outside. As just about every top executive of a Tier One aerospace integrator knows all too well, managing supply base deficiencies has become a preoccupation. That “challenge” won’t disappear with any edict from on high, unfortunately, and will take a long-term effort centered on promoting self-sufficiency and shortening the length of the supply chain.
“I think the real challenge is in the supply base for all of us, the whole industry, which is, you know, everyone who feeds us the component parts that make the whole,” Gillette told Aviation International News during a pre-Paris interview. “But I think all in all we’ve been able to meet customer demand and meet their expectations because we have a pretty good look on the whole industry and knew what was coming.”
