Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s Petters Speaks at Supplier Event

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) held a shipbuilding supplier briefing to reinforce the importance of the role the supplier base plays in helping Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding (NGSB) build ships for Navy and Coast Guard customers. This was the third such briefing this year, following similar events in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and reinforces NGSB's continuing focus on Supply Chain management. 

Addressing a gathering of nearly 100 people representing over 60 of the more than 450 shipbuilding suppliers from New York to Maine, Mike Petters, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, discussed the future of shipbuilding and the implications of the U.S. Navy's 30-year shipbuilding plan to the supplier base.

"Our supplier community is critical to our success and about one third of our work to build these ships is done outside of our gates," said Petters. "Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding spends more than $2 billion every year for materials and services with the shipbuilding supplier base community. In fact, between 2005 and 2009, more than $518 million was spent in the state of Massachusetts alone, through partnerships with 125 different suppliers. When we look at all of our New England suppliers, including New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine, over the same period we spent nearly $2 billion with approximately 435 suppliers. So you can see, just by the numbers alone, that our suppliers are a valuable member of the shipbuilding team and an important part of what we do to help our Navy to keep our country safe.

"Given the reach of these ships that we all work together to build – these statements of national purpose -- I believe each of us plays a role in educating the public and our surrounding communities about the need for a strong and capable Navy for our maritime nation," said Petters. "As our partners in the supply chain community, we consider you shipbuilders too. Our shipbuilding mission is what makes us part of something bigger than ourselves."