Taking Innovation to the Supply Chain
To make the kinds of cuts required by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. military, though, Pratt & Whitney had to look further than its own operations. Real cost-saving, more-for-less innovation required digging into its supplier network, where as much as 80% of the work on the F135 is done.
"Our position in the market with the F135 engine has given us the ability to ramp up our supply chain and work with more and more suppliers around the world as we develop capability and capacity," Di Perna explained.
"We're looking for suppliers that can make the investments, that can develop alongside of us," he added. "We want them to be deploying these techniques, these new manufacturing technologies, to improve quality of parts that they supply for us so we can continue to manufacturer dependable engines."
With that power and that drive behind them, Pratt & Whitney seems to be fulfilling its more-for-less mission. By the latest account, the cost of the F135 engine has dropped some 40% since the delivery of its first production engine.
