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On the Record with
CLAY JONES, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, ROCKWELL COLLINS
Beyond Avionics to Aviation Electronics
A newly lean and aggressive Rockwell Collins is launching itself onto the world stage at Farnborough, with a new image, a new strategy, and new products.
"We're no longer just a cockpit avionics company but an aviation electronics company. We've redefined our operations, charted a new strategic direction, and identified new growth markets," Clay Jones, executive vice president of Rockwell Collins, told Show News.
Twenty-one months ago the $1.8 billion-sales avionics company set out to reorganize its fragmented operations and apply its capabilities across all its products. "We were not integrated before. Having redefined ourselves, we implementing our new strategy," Jones explained.
That redefinition means Rockwell Collins will become involved in all aspects of aviation electronics, including inflight entertainment systems, personal communications systems for passengers, and data processing and management.
The first sign of this new direction is the unveiling here of Rockwell Collins' Integrated Information System, a black box with software aimed at airlines who want an on-board capability to manage, integrate, sort and present the vast flows of data that can emanate from and be absorbed by today's all-digital airliners.
"This allows data integration in a way no other product can," said Jones. "It allows a constant flow of all data on or off the aircraft during flight or preflight, for maintenance, weather, updating weather en-route, in-flight real-time engine and systems diagnostics, clearances, data needed for free flight. It will be integrated with avionics or ground systems to show the information in the way the user needs it." The system utilizes satellite communications, as well as all frequency spectrums, he added.
"As we move in to the cabin, so the Integrated Information System can also handle interactive communications, such as airborne Internet, e-mail, and direct broadcast TV," he said. The box is designed for retrofit to existing airliners, as well as new aircraft. Trials are currently under way with Lufthansa's charter affiliate Condor Flugdienst, Jones said.
"Imagination is the only barrier to what
you can pipe through this system," he said. "It will handle all
the data that conceivably will be available."
A second new area for Rockwell Collins is in-flight cabin entertainment
systems. Since purchasing that business from Hughes Avicon last December
it has won $400 million of orders, "showing some acceptance for us
in that market," Jones understated. Wins include equipping the American
Airlines fleet of Boeing 777s.
A third area to some extent mimics the experience of the engine manufacturers
and AlliedSignal; Rockwell Collins aftermarket support will now be a business
rather than a service. Opportunities include exchange pools of avionics
equipment, leasing and rentals, and fixed-price, long-term maintenance contracts.
The company plans to support in-flight entertainment systems, and products
made by its rivals. "That way airlines could outsource their electronics
maintenance to us worldwide," said Jones.
Could Rockwell Collins link with an engine service company. For example,
GE to provide one-stop maintenance contracts for airlines? "We are
looking at potential alliances in the one-stop area," Jones allowed.
Another major leg of Rockwell Collins strategy is to grow its existing markets.
"We have a very strong position in core avionics, and we plan to grow
it," Jones said.
Underpinning all these strategies is a reengineering of the entire company-not
just manufacturing-under the philosophy of "Lean Electronics,"
roughly equivalent to Six Sigma elsewhere in the aerospace industry. Goals
include a 35% improvement in productivity by the end of 2000, a reduction
of 25% in needed floor space, a 70% reduction in supplier lead time, and
a 65% reduction in work in process. The result: far greater efficiency,
a far lower cost structure, and a much more rapid response time to customer
demands for new products and new technology.
As other companies have discovered, such practices also result in far greater
quality and reliability for the customer, and the ability to keep costs
competitive. "Our business is to help them stay in business, then they
remain our customer," Jones pointed out.
The cost is high. Rockwell Collins will invest
$80 million in its Enterprise Resource Planning business information system
alone over the next three years to ensure compatibility of all computer
systems throughout the company. "It is," said Jones, "the
largest investment Rockwell Collins has ever made in a single process."
By John Morris
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