Aerospace and Defense companies transform the process of innovation from requirements to retirement through strategic investments that sustain profitable growth and long-term productivity. In order to compete, companies in all segments of the aerospace and defense industry must strengthen their ability to increase productivity and production rates with products that meet customer demands as well as economic and regulatory requirements. This is extremely challenging for an industry that is characterized by low volumes, highly complex products with long lifecycles, extended customer relationships, increased competition and global partnerships.

According to Aviation Week, "the intensely fierce struggle for competitive advantage [in the aerospace and defense industries] will be won by those who can anticipate change and adapt most successfully to the increasing demands of customers who can easily turn to alternative suppliers." [Source: July AW]

It is no longer possible - or practical - for one corporation to develop, design, manufacture, assemble, test and sustain a major aerospace and defense platform or system. Indeed, most aerospace and defense companies have created virtual enterprises. In this paradigm, virtual design teams and globally distributed operating sites must be able to function in highly disciplined, integrated and synchronized value chains.

The leaders in Aerospace and Defense will be those companies that can implement more innovations across all aspects of their global value-chain and a protracted lifecycle. Concurrently, these companies must transform their enterprise into an agile, virtual Global Innovation Network while shedding the weight of inefficient legacy systems. The winners will be those companies that can do both and while continuing to grow in a rapidly expanding market.