...Northrop Grumman, some might say, took a chance when it established a
new center to build high-tech unmanned aerial vehicles in Moss Point. After
all, workers in that county had no experience building aircraft. Ships, yes,
aircraft, no.
...But what happened was extraordinary. Workers rolled out products that
surpassed expectations, given the usual learning curve. Just ask Ed Walby,
director of business development for Global Hawk in San Diego, Calif.
...“We knocked the socks off the projected learning curve for Moss Point,
and that reputation goes all the way through the company,” Walby said.
...The 101,000 square-foot Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center
opened in April 2006 and does finishing work on the Fire Scout vertical
takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle and fuselage work on the Global Hawk fixed-
wing UAV. It has also worked on the Hunter UAV.
...When a company decides to set up an operation in an area with no
background in a particular field, there are a host of considerations, including
quality of the work force and the availability of job training, said Bryan
Mahoney, Moss Point site manager.
...Economic drivers, like the labor cost, also play a role, said Walby. And
there’s more.
...“A lot of it has to do with the growth potential of an area,” said Walby.
Northrop Grumman has already said it expects to send more work to the new
facility and possibly expand. “Sometimes a place that doesn’t have anything is
one of the best places to grow something,” he said.
Workforce
...There were over 1,200 candidates who applied for the 40 positions at the
center, and of those about 500 were qualified for the positions, said Mahoney.
Applicants were from across the country, but a common thread was some tie
to South Mississippi.
...Mahoney said both the number of applicants and the amount qualified for
the positions were relatively high, especially considering the area is new to this
kind of work. He attributes that, at least in part, to the facility offering a new
type of work, a new technology and a company with a solid reputation.
...Walby said that if a new production line were to have opened n San Diego,
the figure would have been more like “a couple of hundred applicants.” He
spoke to some workers in San Diego who were considering applying for the
jobs because of the lower cost of living, quality of life and slower pace of
living in Mississippi.
...About 50 to 60 percent of the workers are from Jackson County, 30 percent
from the Mobile area and the rest from George and Harrison counties, said
Mahoney. Over half the workers at the center have a military background,
some with a family history of service in the military. He thinks they were
attracted to the job because of the sense of pride building high-tech equipment
for the military.
...While some companies in the region continue to have problems filling
positions, that’s not been the case with the UAV center. Mahoney things part
of the reason is it’s an exciting new technology and the attractive work
environment and the commitment of the company to this new facility.
...Mahoney said many see the growth potential and want to be in on the
ground level. Even now there are up to 10 calls a day inquiring about work at
the Unmanned Systems Center. Many expressing interest said they know
somebody who works there.
...“I think our best advertising has been the people,” Mahoney said.
Growing a workforce
...One appeal of South Mississippi is that there is less competition for
aerospace workers.
...“We’ve tapped out San Diego County of engineers,” said Walby, “so it’s
really hard for us to grow people who want to be lifetime members of the
Northrop Grumman family because they’re going to graduate from college and
maybe go off and do something else that’s attractive in the area.”
...Walby said that in an area where there’s the potential for university
involvement, “we can develop our own engineers, so to speak.” That along
with training courses for those leaving high school can help them build a
workforce that can grow in the company. “It’s hard to grow people in San
Diego because there’s so much competition for jobs,” he said.
...“Loyalty is always a big deal with a company and you build loyalty and if
you think you’re a good company and service your employees well, your
focus then is on growing those employees up through the ranks, you know,
getting them the raises, getting them the movement forward in their position,
and then you create another generation behind them. And I didn’t realize any
of this until I came here to San Diego … We don’t get very many people from
the universities here because they’re tapped out. They’re going other places.”
Certification
...Any new site needs to meet certain qualifications and earn certification, and
“usually that takes several years,” said Mahoney. But the new facility was
able to receive ISO 1401 and 1801 and portions of ISO 9001 within a year of
opening the site.
...With the Global Hawk work, defect count has improved over 95 percent
from the initial delivery.
...Last year over a period of six months the facility did modifications Hunter
UAV from Model A to Model B, and handled all six aircraft with zero defects,
said Mahoney.
...He said that considering it’s a new site, with any new program the scrutiny
would be very high, as would the anxiety level. But the feedback he received
was “exceptional.”
...He said his team in Moss Point was able to deliver a quality product that
they did not have to tear apart. The bottom line is a product out of Moss
Point “you can count on.”
Future
...And what does the future look like based on Northrop Grumman’s
experience with the aerospace workforce?
...“I think it’s pretty bright because, for what I know about the region, I think
Northrop Grumman was pretty much the first to go down there and say, hey,
let’s try it out here for all the reasons we talked about before. And usually
success breeds more success. So, I don’t see a reason at all why it won’t grow
in the region. Even outside Northrop Grumman,” said Walby.
...“We’ve got our own pursuits and business areas that will lend itself to grow
right there at Moss Point in that facility and that will spill over, as sure as can
be, that will spill over. When you build a facility like we did, like we have
there in Moss Point, it brings along with it like-businesses to support the
business that you have. And in many respects there’s just one or two field
offices that may open up, by a subcontractor that helps you out, but then that
in fact brings several more,” he said.
...“I think the future’s really bright. I think Northrop Grumman’s got a lot of
things that it hopes in can win in terms of contracts, and business will show up
along the Gulf Coast. When you have such a successful startup of an
operation you know other people have to be looking at it and saying, ‘Oh my
gosh, look at how quick they spun up and how fast and how good the activity
is down there, we ought to move down there. We ought to too.’ It just breeds
more success.” - David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
new center to build high-tech unmanned aerial vehicles in Moss Point. After
all, workers in that county had no experience building aircraft. Ships, yes,
aircraft, no.
...But what happened was extraordinary. Workers rolled out products that
surpassed expectations, given the usual learning curve. Just ask Ed Walby,
director of business development for Global Hawk in San Diego, Calif.
...“We knocked the socks off the projected learning curve for Moss Point,
and that reputation goes all the way through the company,” Walby said.
...The 101,000 square-foot Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center
opened in April 2006 and does finishing work on the Fire Scout vertical
takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle and fuselage work on the Global Hawk fixed-
wing UAV. It has also worked on the Hunter UAV.
...When a company decides to set up an operation in an area with no
background in a particular field, there are a host of considerations, including
quality of the work force and the availability of job training, said Bryan
Mahoney, Moss Point site manager.
...Economic drivers, like the labor cost, also play a role, said Walby. And
there’s more.
...“A lot of it has to do with the growth potential of an area,” said Walby.
Northrop Grumman has already said it expects to send more work to the new
facility and possibly expand. “Sometimes a place that doesn’t have anything is
one of the best places to grow something,” he said.
Workforce
...There were over 1,200 candidates who applied for the 40 positions at the
center, and of those about 500 were qualified for the positions, said Mahoney.
Applicants were from across the country, but a common thread was some tie
to South Mississippi.
...Mahoney said both the number of applicants and the amount qualified for
the positions were relatively high, especially considering the area is new to this
kind of work. He attributes that, at least in part, to the facility offering a new
type of work, a new technology and a company with a solid reputation.
...Walby said that if a new production line were to have opened n San Diego,
the figure would have been more like “a couple of hundred applicants.” He
spoke to some workers in San Diego who were considering applying for the
jobs because of the lower cost of living, quality of life and slower pace of
living in Mississippi.
...About 50 to 60 percent of the workers are from Jackson County, 30 percent
from the Mobile area and the rest from George and Harrison counties, said
Mahoney. Over half the workers at the center have a military background,
some with a family history of service in the military. He thinks they were
attracted to the job because of the sense of pride building high-tech equipment
for the military.
...While some companies in the region continue to have problems filling
positions, that’s not been the case with the UAV center. Mahoney things part
of the reason is it’s an exciting new technology and the attractive work
environment and the commitment of the company to this new facility.
...Mahoney said many see the growth potential and want to be in on the
ground level. Even now there are up to 10 calls a day inquiring about work at
the Unmanned Systems Center. Many expressing interest said they know
somebody who works there.
...“I think our best advertising has been the people,” Mahoney said.
Growing a workforce
...One appeal of South Mississippi is that there is less competition for
aerospace workers.
...“We’ve tapped out San Diego County of engineers,” said Walby, “so it’s
really hard for us to grow people who want to be lifetime members of the
Northrop Grumman family because they’re going to graduate from college and
maybe go off and do something else that’s attractive in the area.”
...Walby said that in an area where there’s the potential for university
involvement, “we can develop our own engineers, so to speak.” That along
with training courses for those leaving high school can help them build a
workforce that can grow in the company. “It’s hard to grow people in San
Diego because there’s so much competition for jobs,” he said.
...“Loyalty is always a big deal with a company and you build loyalty and if
you think you’re a good company and service your employees well, your
focus then is on growing those employees up through the ranks, you know,
getting them the raises, getting them the movement forward in their position,
and then you create another generation behind them. And I didn’t realize any
of this until I came here to San Diego … We don’t get very many people from
the universities here because they’re tapped out. They’re going other places.”
Certification
...Any new site needs to meet certain qualifications and earn certification, and
“usually that takes several years,” said Mahoney. But the new facility was
able to receive ISO 1401 and 1801 and portions of ISO 9001 within a year of
opening the site.
...With the Global Hawk work, defect count has improved over 95 percent
from the initial delivery.
...Last year over a period of six months the facility did modifications Hunter
UAV from Model A to Model B, and handled all six aircraft with zero defects,
said Mahoney.
...He said that considering it’s a new site, with any new program the scrutiny
would be very high, as would the anxiety level. But the feedback he received
was “exceptional.”
...He said his team in Moss Point was able to deliver a quality product that
they did not have to tear apart. The bottom line is a product out of Moss
Point “you can count on.”
Future
...And what does the future look like based on Northrop Grumman’s
experience with the aerospace workforce?
...“I think it’s pretty bright because, for what I know about the region, I think
Northrop Grumman was pretty much the first to go down there and say, hey,
let’s try it out here for all the reasons we talked about before. And usually
success breeds more success. So, I don’t see a reason at all why it won’t grow
in the region. Even outside Northrop Grumman,” said Walby.
...“We’ve got our own pursuits and business areas that will lend itself to grow
right there at Moss Point in that facility and that will spill over, as sure as can
be, that will spill over. When you build a facility like we did, like we have
there in Moss Point, it brings along with it like-businesses to support the
business that you have. And in many respects there’s just one or two field
offices that may open up, by a subcontractor that helps you out, but then that
in fact brings several more,” he said.
...“I think the future’s really bright. I think Northrop Grumman’s got a lot of
things that it hopes in can win in terms of contracts, and business will show up
along the Gulf Coast. When you have such a successful startup of an
operation you know other people have to be looking at it and saying, ‘Oh my
gosh, look at how quick they spun up and how fast and how good the activity
is down there, we ought to move down there. We ought to too.’ It just breeds
more success.” - David Tortorano, Tcp
April 2008
Aerospace/workforce
Knocking their socks off
Knocking their socks off
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