Meeting market demands through business development activities Meeting market demands  with exceptional performance Acquisitions, alliances, and partnerships remain vital strategies to help Woodward meet its growth objectives. We use these strategic business development activities to acquire key technologies and to enter new, growing markets. Growth is directly tied to customer satisfaction. We know that through continuous improvements, we will retain our existing customers, attract new ones, and increase market share.  By emphasizing lean manufacturing principles and practicing Six Sigma methodologies, we have laid the foundation to consistently improve and aggressively manage costs. Within the confines of a data-driven Six Sigma environment, we view our business and our suppliers’ businesses as a system of processes that must first be  understood then controlled.  After working together for a year with great success under a product sales agreement, Woodward acquired Leonhard-Reglerbau in fiscal year  2002. It is operating as Woodward’s  center for power management control systems. Now, we are positioned to pursue a much wider cross-section of  the power management controls market. The integrated generator set controls, generator voltage regulators, and protective relay technologies are critical  to the expansion of the distributed generation market. Our metrics demonstrate positive results: dramatic on-time delivery improvements, reduced quality defects from suppliers, significant productivity improvements, shortened lead times, and improvements in our quality.  Woodward is committed to providing  a level of quality, delivery, cost, and responsiveness that is unsurpassed in our industries, and we are being recognized for achieving these goals. In fiscal year 2002, Woodward achieved Platinum sm supplier status from American Airlines as a top performing supplier. Only 24 of their 3,000 suppliers have achieved this status.  Additionally, this year the U.S. Government honored Woodward with a quality and delivery performance award. Woodward supplies various products and services to the Department of Defense and other government agencies, including the repair and overhaul of fuel flow governors, main engine controls, and  fuel injectors. While focusing on market drivers, Woodward concentrates on developing strong relationships with its foundation OEM customers. This fiscal year, Woodward signed a long-term agreement with GE Aircraft Engines, its largest aerospace customer, for all non- combustion products we supply to them. In March 2002, Woodward acquired Nolff’s Carburetion, Inc. and formed  a joint venture with MotoTron Corporation, a subsidiary of Brunswick Corp. These transactions were key to accelerating Woodward’s strategy to develop and provide integrated control systems for an almost $300 million  mobile industrial equipment market.  With this capability, Woodward is strongly positioned as a major supplier to small  gas and diesel engine manufacturers and packagers for lift trucks, aerial lift platforms, aircraft cargo tractors, and  other mobile equipment. 15 The agreement was expanded to include fuel metering units on the GP7200 engine, which will power the newly developed Airbus A380. GEAE and Pratt & Whitney are jointly producing the engine for this superjumbo jet.  A key Woodward strategy is to align its technology plans with those of its customers. We are developing control and combustion system technologies to support the special reliability and performance requirements of the single engine F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. The U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marines, the United Kingdom Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and U.S. allies will use the JSF, the next generation strike fighter. A cquisitions, alliances, and partnerships remain vital strategies to help Woodward meet its growth objectives.  Brian Scott from Drafting in Rockford, Ill. manipulates a solid model representation of a fuel control design. The fuel control will help optimize  engine performance for the new Airbus A380. ▼