1. business and industrial
2. aerospace and defense
3. space technology

2015 Program Excellence Award
For 11 years the aerospace and defense industry has participated in the Aviation Week Program
Excellence Award initiative. Developed in 2004, the program is designed to honor programs that meet
requirements, address challenges, and exemplify best and unique practices in value creation, leadership,
processes and organizational performance, adapting to change, and execution excellence.
The goal of this initiative is to recognize and promote program excellence in terms of performance,
leadership capability, and outstanding lessons that can and will be shared broadly within the aerospace
and defense community. By taking part in the submission process, nominees agree to be part of this
program to share information.
Framework
The criteria for this award are based on the best elements of program/project leadership excellence
programs developed by the Strategic Project Leadership Program of the Technological Leadership
Institute, the NIST Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, and the NASA/USRA Center for
Program/Project Management Research.
The award will examine four critical areas according to the following framework:
Within these four critical areas, the Program Excellence Award evaluation will include a focus on the
following industry-wide program management challenges:
 Reducing development cycle time compared with similar efforts or less than plan
 Breaking the cost/learning curve
 Dealing with intel/property security, safety, raw materials, environment
Please keep these focus areas in mind as you respond to the Phase I and Phase II applications.
The Evaluation Team will determine finalists and winners on the basis of scores in these four categories.
The winner(s) will be featured in Aviation Week & Space Technology and at www.AviationWeek.com, as
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well as honored at the annual Aviation Week Aerospace Defense Chain Conference to be held November
3-5, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Entries will be evaluated on the basis of performance for the previous 36 months.
Nominations are encouraged from commercial aerospace, space (commercial and defense), defense and
security sectors and should be made in one category only:
 Sub-System R&D/SDD
 Sub-System Production
 Sub-System Sustainment
 System R&D/SDD
 System Production
 System Sustainment
 Special Projects
In each category and based on meeting a threshold score to be determined by the Evaluation Team,
finalists will be chosen on the basis of scoring on Phase 1 and Phase 2 entries and analysis by the
Evaluation Team. Aviation Week retains the final responsibility for selection.
Program submissions will be evaluated on a 100 point scoring system.
20 Points - Value Creation
30 Points - Team Leadership
20 Points - Adapting to Innovation and Complexity
30 Points - Metrics, Measuring Performance
100 Points – Total Available
The Evaluation Team reserves the right to choose no winners and to name an Overall Winner, if the
nominations so warrant, based on the combination of scoring against the criteria, best practices, and
game-changing leadership.
2015 Evaluation Team
Michael Bruno, Sr. Business and Supply Chain Editor, Aviation Week
Jean Chamberlin, VP Program Management, Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Ed Hoffman, Chief Knowledge Officer, NASA
Keoki Jackson, VP Program Excellence, Lockheed Martin Corp.
Robert Kolosieke, Director of Mission Assurance, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
Ron Morey, Sr. Director Fixed Wing Solutions, Rockwell Collins
Warren Nechtman, VP Program Management & Business Operations, Honeywell Aerospace
Detra Sarris, Director of Programs, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Aaron Shenhar, Founder, Strategic Project Leadership
Jesse Stewart, Professor of Program Management, Defense Acquisition University
Intellectual Property
Note: Individuals outside your company review award submissions. All information submitted should
address the program’s management, leadership, and processes, and not any otherwise classified or
proprietary topic. Do not include any materials marked Proprietary. All documents will be copied and
distributed via the Internet to the aforementioned Evaluation Team and will be considered as public
knowledge.
By submitting an entry to the Aviation Week Program Excellence Awards program, you are
indicating agreement to participate in outreach efforts to share Lessons Learned/Best Practices in
an effort to raise the bar on program leadership across the industry. Entries may be also used for
comparative research among programs to draw conclusions and lessons learned across the industry.
Format of Submission
The Program Excellence Awards process involves two phases of evaluation.
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Phase 1 – Nominees submit, in narrative format, their perspective on why the program excels and identify
the teachable lessons in program execution within the past 36 months (beginning January 2012). The
focus in this narrative should be how the program has successfully addressed challenging issues or met
seemingly difficult requirements. Note that while the technology involved is an aspect of complexity,
the technology itself is not being evaluated – the leadership and execution of the program are
being evaluated.
Limit this narrative to four pages, 12 point Times Roman typeface with 1” margins.
 Include with the narrative a one-page biography of the program leader, including what sets this
individual apart as a leader.
 Identify by name a representative of the program customer, and include phone and email
information. Customers will be asked for go/no go decision regarding consideration of this
program for the Aviation Week Program Excellence Award.
 Phase 1 is due April 1, 2015 to [email protected] .
You must use the tabular format provided to submit your nomination form. You should use 12 pt.
Times Roman font to fill in the tables. Submit your document as a PDF file.
Upon completion of Phase 1, narratives will be reviewed for “fit for excellence” and qualified
nominees will then be provided with the Phase 2 submission form by no later than April 21. The
Phase 2 forms will be due June 30, 2015. Finalists and best practices will be identified by no later
than September 7.
Submission and Questions
Questions and submissions should be directed to
Carole Rickard Hedden
Project Leader, Aviation Week Program Excellence Initiative
[email protected]
505.239.9520
Phase I Submission – LM Supplier
Name of Program:
PAC-3® Program
Name of Program Leader:
Phone Number:
Email:
Postage Address:
Norene Farr and David Farr
603-644-7170
[email protected]
43 Harvey Road, Bedford, NH 03110
Name of Customer Representative: Crystal Taylor, Lockheed Martin
Phone Number:
972-603-7116
Email:
[email protected]
Category in which you are competing (choose one of the following):
 Sub-System Production
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Bio for program leader:
Program leadership for the PAC-3® Program is divided up between technical support and program
oversight as follows:
David Farr—CEO/Technical Lead
David Farr received his degree in Electrical Engineering with honors from Northeastern
University. He joined Haigh-Farr in 1984 and has been responsible for the design and
development of several circularly and linearly polarized antennas, arrays, and directional antennas
for high performance missile use utilizing both traditional methods, as well as innovative software
providing advanced design capabilities.
He has worked his way through the ranks of the Company serving as Program Manager on
numerous high-level programs and is today Haigh-Farr’s CEO. He has developed and
implemented electromagnetic microwave measurement techniques, conducted radiation pattern
measurements utilizing scaled model measurement techniques as well as simulation software
packages, and has been responsible for environmental qualification of several designs.
With respect to the PAC-3® Program, he not only developed the antenna technology utilized to
design and fabricate this highly complex quad-band antenna but he oversaw its development and
test allowing its qualification for use on the PAC-3® missile. He continues today to oversee
fabrication activities and program oversight on technical matters.
Norene Farr—President/PAC-3® Program Manager
Norene Farr is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of New Hampshire and worked in
litigation for six years before joining Haigh-Farr in 1999 to handle the Company’s corporate
matters, including contract negotiations and contract management. She serves as primary customer
POC for all major Programs, including PAC-3® ensuring SOR and contract compliance. In
addition, she serves as the Company’s Export Compliance Officer as well as the FSO.
We have identified both David and Norene as Program Leaders due to their unwavering
commitment to Program success and the role they play in ensuring 100% product excellence. They
manage all facets of the Program from contract issuance to product delivery. They foster an
environment of responsibility and accountability to the end user throughout Haigh-Farr and all
employees that support them and this Program understand the criticality of what we deliver—both
hardware and Program support.
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Phase I Program Narrative - 1
In 2002 Haigh-Farr received the RFP to bid the MRFDL (Multi-Band Radio Frequency Data
Link) antenna for the PAC-3® Program. Historically (and still to this day), we had provided the
Flight Termination and Telemetry antennas to this Program and its predecessor. At the time of
our bid we were a small business concern. We employed approximately 15 people. We
performed (and still do!) all design, manufacturing and test of our products in house. The idea of
participating on the PAC-3® Program was incredibly impressive to us not only due to the end use
for the PAC-3® Missile and the associated pride we take in supporting the warfighter, but also
due to the technological challenges the antenna design introduced to our engineering team.
As a part of the bid process, we built up a prototype of the proposed antenna that met
Lockheed’s specifications with little exception. We investigated the most economical ways to
produce the antenna and elaborated on our ability to support this Program not only technically
but from a cost and program management standpoint. Ultimately, we were the selected antenna
vendor and so began our journey with this top-notch Program.
In part, the question asked in responding to this nomination is what Haigh-Farr brings to the
table to ensure Program excellence and cost efficiency. This is an area that the Haigh-Farr
leadership is extremely passionate about. David Farr is our CEO, Norene Farr, our President.
The business is truly a family business with three generations of Farr’s employed to this day.
The Company was founded in 1969 by George Farr and William Haigh on principles of free
enterprise and fostering the American dream. The Company grew its expertise developing
conformal antennas akin to those provided to the PAC-3® Program for the U.S. Navy and Air
Force. Today we are the premier provider for antenna products used in aerospace applications
worldwide including the space industry (i.e., ATLAS, DELTA, Falcon-9, Dragon, SLS, CCTS,
Antares, Phoenix Mars Lander, Mars Science Lander, Insight, and a multitude of satellite
applications), the airborne industry (i.e., PAC-3®, AMRAAM, AIM-9X, METEOR, F-18, F-15,
ASTER, ASRAAM, SIDEWINDER, and many, many other programs) and the commercial
aircraft realm as well including antennas for Boeing, Cessna, Gulfstream, Honda Aircraft and
others.
We approached the PAC-3® Program with the same goals of program excellence and expertise in
mind and over the past 13 years have honored our commitment to Lockheed and its end
customers without issue. One of the main challenges we have faced over the past three years is
ensuring 100% quality and 100% delivery with fluctuating quantities ordered and heightened
focus on cost reductions across the Aerospace Industry. This may seem an obvious challenge but
it is critical we ensure proper handling. The production and test staff required for this particular
antenna must be of our highest skillset given the complexity of the design. While quantities are
going up currently, there have been some years when they were considerably lower. Retaining
our staff’s expertise at the required level when they are not working on these antennas day in and
day out does present a challenge. We are proud of the fact we have never laid off an employee in
our over 47 years in business.
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Phase I Program Narrative - 2
Our ability to offer this stable employment environment amidst changing Program delivery
requirements is primarily the result of a pointed effort by leadership to diversify the applications
our antennas can be used on giving us better marketing bandwidth. Keeping costs low year after
year is also a part of the challenge especially when quantities go up and down. This is where the
collaboration between Haigh-Farr and Lockheed Martin is quite evident---strategic material
buying both for this Program and across programs where there is a commonality of parts,
identifying and qualifying suppliers that offer more competitive pricing than existing vendors,
the Program authorizing early deliveries allowing us to lay out production activities in the most
efficient manner possible—these are all ways we’ve faced and dealt with this challenge and
Lockheed has partnered with us in these efforts demonstrating their full support to meet Program
objectives.
The other challenge we’ve faced actually relates to the opposite extreme---responding to
Program needs for expedited deliveries. As mentioned above, the quantities have been on
average rising in recent years. Further, our antenna is one of the first components to be mounted
to the missile body meaning our on-time delivery is critical to feeding the PAC-3® production
line. Add to this the Program has on occasion requested our support in meeting their need for
expedited deliveries. We have met this challenge by careful production and material planning
which allows us to reprioritize production activities to maintain efficiency and move product out
the door faster. Further, we have made the conscious decision to continue to perform all
production and test activities in house. This allows us not only better control over throughput but
also full control of product quality. It is critical that whether responding to expedite needs of the
Program or balancing reduced deliveries we always maintain 100% quality. Our success in
achieving this is best demonstrated in our supplier rating---100% quality and 100% on time
delivery over the life of our production deliveries to the PAC-3® Program. Haigh-Farr is AS9100
certified and has a robust QMS in place to address critical matters such as obsolescence
management, counterfeit parts prevention and change control to further support our ability to
meet the Program’s quality goals.
Further, Haigh-Farr has been able to leverage our over 47 years of designing and manufacturing
antennas of similar construction and materials as those used to produce the PAC-3® antennas.
This enabled shorter design cycle time, reduced learning curves and confidence in the product
originally presented for qualification. The use of the same materials and methods of fabrication
has ensured consistency in pricing and overall product excellence. Our heritage in designing and
building like antennas ensures that we have the systems in place to effectively deal with all
security, safety and environmental considerations and forms the basis for our ability to deliver
product excellence throughout the course of our involvement on the PAC-3® Program.
In responding to this nomination it is easy to be quite digital in answering the specific questions
without proper consideration of how we as a supplier to one of the foremost National Defense
Missile Programs feels to play a bit part in its success.
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Phase I Program Narrative - 3
At Haigh-Farr we are passionate about the work we do and take immense pride in our ability to
contribute at any level to this Program as well as all similar programs that support national
defense and the development of airborne technology. This pride takes the form of long hours,
quick responsiveness; service above and beyond anything spelled out in our contract—whatever
it takes to meet the needs of the Program. This is our commitment to Lockheed Martin and their
customers and is a basic tenet of our business philosophy.
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Phase I Program Narrative - 4
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