On the Record with
CHUCK SUMA, CEO PIPER AIRCRAFT

New Piper is Growing--and Growing Up

New Piper Aircraft is on course to become a different kind of aircraft company, according to president and CEO Chuck Suma. It is going to become more brand-conscious and is going to work to improve customer service. It is going to put its own stamp on training. When it develops new aircraft, it will do so in secret and will not announce them until it is almost ready to deliver them.

Growing sales are driving changes at Piper. "We realized two or three years ago that the company was going to grow substantially," says Suma. Piper sold $146 million worth of aircraft in 1999, expects sales of $319 million this year and plans to exceed the $500 million mark by 2005. "We needed to invest in management and bring in new ideas."

Suma's Flight Plan 2005, unveiled earlier this year, has been put together with help from new senior managers. VP customers, Dan Snell, comes from Harley-Davidson, a company which has supported and nurtured a new and completely different customer base for what once seemed an aging product. John Gallo, VP of operations, who came from GE Medical Systems, is revamping New Piper's manufacturing processes.

Suma's new plan comprises five strategies, he says. The first is core business development. "We need to build up our supply chain, our vendor network and our dealers." This strategy also includes new products. "Our goal is to be the leader in introducing technology into this class of aircraft." New avionics and ergonomics, in particular, "will change the face of the cockpit and change the way people fly." Piper has formed integrated product teams--comprising designers, production engineers and support specialists--to develop all-new and improved aircraft.

But Piper will not be announ-cing products soon. "We don't want to get caught up in our promises. This industry has not had a good track record of delivering what they said they would deliver, when they said they would deliver it."

Instead, says Suma, Piper will emulate the automotive industry--using market research to determine what the market needs and not unveiling products until they are close to delivery.

The second key element of Flight Plan 2005 involves new businesses. Piper wants to get more involved in training. "You can go to an FBO today and learn to fly, but you have to really want to do it. The experience is not what the customer expects." Suma says that Piper will start "training boutiques" to offer primary and step-up training.

Continuous process improvement in manufacturing and support is the third element of the plan. "We're changing the way that employees look at manufacturing," says Suma, "and getting away from the old batch mentality." Even with current aircraft, Piper aims to make its manufacturing more flexible and more efficient. On the support side, Piper is developing a Web-based system that will provide each customer with an individual Web page by the end of 2002.

A fourth element, says Suma, is "brand image enhancement--changing the way we market and expanding the brand beyond aviation, and developing a lifestyle around the product." This may include creating and sponsoring fly-in events and symposia for Piper owners and their families. As an example, Suma points to Harley-Davidson's sponsorship of events such as Daytona races and the Sturgis bike rally.

Supporting these four strategies is a fifth focus, on employee development, which will start with direct employees and expand to reach workers at dealers and other sites.

-Bill Sweetman