A E R O S PA C E
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, formerly known as Orbital ATK, headquartered in Dulles, builds and delivers space, defense, and aviationrelated systems including the Antares launch system, which handles resupply services for the International Space Station launched from Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems employs approximately 15,000 people in facilities in 18 states and several overseas locations. Blake Larson is corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman’s Innovation Systems sector and is a member of the company’s Corporate Policy Council. Larson oversees the strategy, capture, design, build, and delivery of space, defense, and aviation-related systems to customers around the world both as a prime contractor and as a supplier. Virginia Economic Review: As you think about your industry sector, what do you see as the major trends from a manufacturing perspective in the United States over the next five or 10 years? How are things changing? Blake Larson: For us, it’s about a couple of things. Customer orientation … being responsive in an agile, affordable way to our customers. That drives manufacturing innovation in terms of how you might develop and implement a process, an inspection methodology, and a way to have quicker turn lead times to be more responsive to the customer. What we're seeing as a trend
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is that historical ability that we’ve had to be responsive is getting even more important, as the market is demanding even faster cycle times. Safety and environmental stewardship are also core to what we do. When you have a fair amount of large manufacturing, some of which involves automated equipment, you have to make sure you implement in a way that it’s very safe for employees. And because we make things like rockets, we deal with energetic materials which are even less forgiving in a manufacturing environment, and you have to be extremely methodical, thoughtful, and disciplined about