By Michael Watkins

Photo by Fisheye Photography, Hiawatha, Iowa
Award winner  — Members of Altera Corporation pose with Jeff Moore (far left), senior vice president of Operations at Rockwell Collins, after being named the Rockwell Collins 2008 Supplier of the Year.

A collaborative relationship - one based on a simple but effective listen-and-respond business practice - is what senior leaders at Rockwell Collins and its 2008 Supplier of the Year believe prompts continued success.

With headquarters in San Jose, Calif., Altera Corporation has been one of our company's primary suppliers for the past two decades. The pioneer of programmable logic devices (PLDs), Altera enables system and semiconductor companies like ours to innovate in rapid and cost-effective fashion, which is a key differentiator in today's increasingly competitive global marketplace.

"Altera has worked relentlessly to provide our company with continuous coverage that enabled us to meet the aggressive schedule laid out for new communications program development," said Jenny Stanfield, procurement manager in Computing & Integrated Circuits at Rockwell Collins. "Altera has proven to be a strategic partner - they are constantly looking for better ways to support our company in field programmable gate array (FPGA) development, asset management and total cost of ownership."

That desire for continuous improvement and Altera's commitment to our company are what led to their receipt of the 2008 Rockwell Collins President's Award. Presented late last spring at our Annual Supplier Conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the award honors Altera's delivery and quality performance, as well as their overall integration, customer service and innovation.

"Rockwell Collins is one of our largest customers and most important in the military segment," said John Ector, senior business manager for military and aerospace at Altera. "To have Jeff Moore (senior vice president of Operations) present our company with this top supplier award really hammers home the message that we are doing the right things in our military and aerospace market segments."

Focused on customer needs
Over the past five years, Altera Corporation has increased the focus it places on understanding and meeting the needs of its customers. According to Ector, thinking outside of the box when it comes to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology, and creating a Customer Advisory Board have led to top-notch customer service.

John Ector

"Our Enhanced COTS initiative allows companies like Rockwell Collins to take commercially available components, boards and systems, and adapt them for application in the military marketplace," explained Ector. "Not only does that reduce the cost and time needed to produce military-exclusive products, it also leads to highly reliable systems. For government systems, we know that size, weight and power (SWaP) are particularly critical in system design."

"Our primary goal is to make it possible for our customers to get away from using and producing military-only products," continued Ector. "That saves our customers time and money - elements they are able to pass on to their customers."

Meeting with military and aerospace customers on an annual basis to hash out future product planning needs and produce supply and demand roadmaps are other ways Altera differentiates itself. As a primary customer, Rockwell Collins has a major voice in the Customer Advisory Board.

"Throughout Fiscal Year 2007, Altera completed and delivered several strategic new designs," said Stanfield. "One of those designs - the Cyclone 3C120 - was tailored as a result of our company's requests for new product development. We know they listen to our business needs and do what they can to meet those needs."

For Ector and his colleagues at Altera, the role of supplier is taken with great responsibility and pride. And, being named the 2008 Rockwell Collins President's Award winner and our company's Commodity Supplier of the Year for Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC), and FPGA is icing on the cake.

"Our customers are No. 1, and we build our product portfolio based upon customer applications and requests," said Ector. "Understanding their requirements guides us in how to go to market and provide operational excellence."

- Michael Watkins is a freelance writer.