Charles Precourt, Vice President and General Manager, Space Launch Systems, ATK, a speaker at the marcus evans Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Summit 2012, on becoming more competitive in the sector.

New York, NY, July 23, 2012 - (ACN Newswire) - The aerospace and defense manufacturing sector is an extremely narrow market that is becoming much more competitive, says Charles Precourt, Vice President and General Manager, Space Launch Systems, ATK. In the current economy, this leaves little roomfor error. Nevertheless, products that do not address a market demand have little chance of being successful.

Ahead of the marcus evans Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Summit 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 25-26, Precourt, a speaker at the event, shares his thoughts on the aerospace and defense marketplace, innovation and green manufacturing.

- What is your outlook on the aerospace and defense marketplace?

This is an extremely narrow market that is becoming much more competitive. It mostly answers to government defense contracts and programs and at the same time, to purely commercial markets, such as satellites and aircraft for commercial use.

The US government wants to achieve more cost savings and exploit the efficiencies that the commercial market has benefited from, but that requires a more commercial approach that it is not accustomed to. A lot of the products for the government customer base are unique and require special contractual mechanisms, so are not commoditized. The industry needs to help the government exploit these opportunities.

- How could the commercial market achieve more cost savings?

In this economic environment, most companies, including those in the aerospace and defense productmanufacturing sector, have taken similar initiatives: consolidation, becoming more lean, positioning for future growth in the economy and in market demand, reducing quality errors and addressing their ability to deliver higher yields.

We have reduced both our staffing and footprint infrastructure by nearly 50 per cent over the last few years. However, we have been very careful to maintain critical skills and capabilities, so that production can be more cost effective when the market stabilizes and demand returns. It has not been easy, but we have had significant positive results and are much better off business-wise.

- Should the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulations be revised?

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ATK: Boosting Competitiveness in the Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Sector