Insight on Business

SUPPLY CHAIN SAVVY Major defense contracts in region seek suppliers with process improvement smarts By Rober to Michel T Defense contracts mean business for manufacturers down the supply chain in Northeast Wisconsin, including: Oshkosh Corp., which was visited by then U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2010 (top and below); MCL Industries, Pulaski, above; and Marinette Marine, left. he numbers alone speak to the interest in taking part in one of the heſty military contracts centered in the region. When Marinette Marine Corporation held a small business industry day in early February in Green Bay, the session drew close to 500 registrants. Marinette Marine is building a new class of fast, shallow- draſt ship for the U.S. Navy called the Littoral Combat Ship. The next phase of the program will involve more than 200 subcontractors, some of them regional companies that supply materials or services. According to the recently formed North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance, the LCS project – which calls for up to 10 more ships to be built in this region – should mean about 1,000 jobs at Marinette Marine and another 5,000 jobs regionally. Meanwhile, at Oshkosh Corp., its Oshkosh Defense division is churning out more well-protected vehicles for the military. One of its latest projects is the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles – or FMTVs – with variants to handle missions like hauling or towing. Across all units, the company does business with 1,400 Wisconsin suppliers. The scale of work is considered a big opportunity for companies of many kinds: component makers, providers of manufacturing services such as machining or welding, as well as services like painting, electrical or maintenance. “It all depends on what the prime contractor chooses to keep in-house, but generally, the whole region will benefit by creating jobs of many types,” says Aina Vilumsons, executive director of the Wisconsin Procurement Institute, a non-profit organization that assists Wisconsin businesses with government contracting, and helped organize the LCS industry day event. But becoming a trusted part of one of these supply chains isn’t easy. Those involved say it oſten requires a level of information sharing and mastery of supply chain processes 28 | INSIGHT • Augus t 2011 www. insightonbusiness .com LOC KHE ED MART IN O S H KO S H CO R P. PAT R I C K F E R R O N, F E R R O N P H OTO G R A P H Y S H A N E VA N B OX T E L , IMAG E S T U D I O S

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