On the Record with
GREG CHURCHILL, VICE-PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, ROCKWELL COLLINS BUSINESS & REGIONAL SYSTEMS

Rockwell Collins Now Independent Firm

Greg Churchill became Business & Regional Systems VP on July 2, the day Rockwell Collins was spun off as an independent business. He has been with Rockwell for 21 years, 16 of those with Rockwell Collins. Before moving over to the business and regional aviation side, Churchill worked in the Government Systems Division as VP of business development and VP for program management.

And the biggest difference between government systems and business/regional systems? "All the airplanes are white, versus the green I was accustomed to," Churchill said tongue in cheek. More seriously, he added, "In the government world you have to be more bureaucratic because of tax dollars, which differs from the pricing philosophy in the commercial world. On the commercial side there is also a tremendous focus on the customer and a tremendous amount of creativity."

Churchill's priorities for the division now under his leadership are multi-fold.

"We need to execute the current business; that's substantial and we can't afford to lose focus in that arena. Second, we want to continue to grow the organization. For us, in terms of meeting OEM needs, they're looking for us to take on more of a systems integrator role."

Rockwell Collins' lean electronics program, initiated in the last year or so by company president Clay Jones, will be one of the drivers to make those priorities possible.

"Lean electronics will be a complement to all these activities," said Churchill. "We're trying to use lean as a means to master those things our customers wouldn't be inclined to pay for."

Uncovering new synergies between the two entities within the new Rockwell Collins--government systems and commercial systems--is another priority.

"They operated as standalone operations; now we're looking for synergies we can take advantage of such as preparation of sales forecasts and proposal development," Churchill said. "Combining activities will result in some efficiencies.

"Government systems and commercial systems are each developing display products, and the technologies are the same. So we've pooled resources and come up with a display center of excellence that is developing a common architecture that can be applied to any of our markets."

Rockwell Collins will also move forward with enhancements to its Pro Line 21 and Pro Line 21 Continuum products, specifically as they relate to improved digital capabilities that will be announced at NBAA as part of the company's eFlight initiative. "These include charts, weather and terrain to complement the core, digital capabilities," said Churchill.

-Barry Rosenberg