Click Bond Earns Coveted Elite Supplier Distinction

A lot of celebrating could be heard around the Click Bond campus in May. When Lockheed Martin...

A lot of celebrating could be heard around the Click Bond campus in May. When Lockheed Martin announced that we had been named an Elite Supplier for 2022, it signified that our commitment to outstanding performance, quality, and delivery had paid off. We had achieved perfection.

As a major supplier to the F35, F22, and other key Lockheed Martin Aeronautics programs, Click Bond was largely insulated from the aviation slowdown resulting from the pandemic. While some of our commercial work slowed, demand from these defense programs remained strong, and Click Bonders across the organization actively sought ways to streamline the production and delivery process to meet this demand and exceed expectations.

Our goal has always been 100% quality and 100% on-time delivery, for this and every customer. And while we had always scored highly on Lockheed Martin’s quality and delivery performance scale — typically above 90%, and frequently at 100% for quality — we had yet to earn the elusive perfect score, at 100% across the board. But on May 15, our friends at Lockheed wrote to let us know we’d reached that goal, attaining the status of Elite Supplier:

Our customers expect us to aim for 100% in everything we do, especially on time delivery and quality. You are an essential part of the team who helps ensure our customers know that at Lockheed Martin, Our Brand Means Quality. Your ability, workmanship, and superior standard of performance have been instrumental in supporting the commitments of Lockheed Martin to its customers. We look forward to continuing our relationship with you in the future.

Additionally, it’s important to note that Lockheed keeps a rolling 12-month scorecard. In other words, we didn’t just reach 100% in quality and delivery within 2022. We reached 100% and maintained it each month throughout the year. All this while not only satisfying existing commitments but meeting increasing F35 production demand in the face of supply chain challenges.

This was no small feat. A perfect score is the result of hard work from every single Click Bonder — from Production and Quality to Purchasing, Shipping, Maintenance, and more, and from Carson City to Watertown. It involved constant attention to detail at every single step, from raw materials to final delivery of products. It involved excellent planning, awareness of timelines and scheduling concerns, both for Lockheed and our own suppliers. It involved addressing backlogs, communicating clearly about any challenges or adjustments, and occasionally readjusting our priorities to ensure we meet every commitment.

In short, everything you do as a Click Bonder has an impact on the products we make and deliver to customers. We should all be very proud of this accomplishment, which places Click Bond among the top 1% of suppliers. Getting recognized for all we do really matters, and earning this recognition from our largest customer speaks volumes about our teamwork and dedication.

“Two of the biggest things I believe contributed to earning the Elite Supplier Award were teamwork and strong communication across the board, from Sales to QA, Production, and Planning,” says Ana Negrete, who works as a planner on the Lockheed account. “It took a lot of coordination, but we all worked together to make it happen. We made sure we were getting good parts out on time and that we were maintaining open communication in our daily cross-functional meetings. We are all customers of each other, so we had to make sure we were supporting each other in order to get the job done.”

As Vice President of Sales & Marketing Elvis Perez stated, “This is a significant accomplishment for our team. I cannot think of a more rewarding recognition of our commitment to the JSF Program than the unequivocal voice of our customer.”

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