Quality Magazine - April 2009 - (Page 48) | Q UA L I T Y M A N AG E M E N T | Lockheed Martin’s business areas include aeronautics, space systems, information systems and global services, and electronic systems. Source: Lockheed Martin ockheed Martin MS2 Tactical Systems-Clearwater Operations (Oldsmar, FL) received nearly a perfect score from our judges on their winning Plant of the Year application. When told that the judges only deducted points from a few areas of the application, Materials Manager Matthew Spear quickly asked which areas—that is how serious they are about continuous improvement. Clearwater Operations, the 2009 Quality Plant of the Year in the large plant division, makes quality and continuous improvement a priority. In terms of quality, the electronics manufacturing plant had only one defect for every 10,000 opportunities last year. “Quality is not just a buzzword—it means everything to us,” says Spear, and improvements are obviously the norm. L Lockheed Martin Clearwater, the 2009 Quality Plant of the Year in the large plant division, manufactures electronic assemblies that must work the first time and every time. B Y M I C H EL L E B A N G E R T, S P E C I A L P ROJ E C T S E D I TO R From its employee-friendly policies to new laser room technologies, the plant is constantly moving forward. COMPANY Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin’s business areas include aeronautics, space systems, information systems and global services, and electronic systems. The Maritime Systems and Sensors (MS2) operations fall in the electronic systems category, which is further divided into the Tactical Systems line of business. MS2 includes surface, air and undersea applications on more than 460 programs for U.S. military and international customers. Clearwater, a low-volume, high-mix environment, produces ruggedized, high-reliability electronic data and signal processing equipment. This includes advanced processing equipment, mission computers, communications equipment and signal processors. “When people think of Lockheed Martin, they usually tell me, ‘Oh, you’re the company that makes airplanes,’ but actually Lockheed Martin is a lot more LOCKHEED MARTIN MS2 TACTICAL SYSTEMS – CLEARWATER OPERATIONS Type of product manufactured: Circuit Card Assemblies Space Flight Circuit Card Assemblies Electronics Cabinets, Racks and Chassis Custom Cables and Harnesses Clearwater by the numbers: 32 Programs 150 Accounts 440 Employees 500 Active Suppliers 212,000-square-feet 4,500 Assembly Part Numbers 31% Cabinets, 42% Circuit Card Assemblies, 27% Cables 48 QUALITY | April 2009 www.qualitymag.com http://www.qualitymag.com
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