Aug 25 2008
JDSU(R) today announced that it held its first-ever JDSU Optical Communications Supplier Event last week at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Milpitas, California. Over a two day period, business strategy discussions between JDSU and its optical suppliers were centered around the theme "Driving Operational Excellence Through Lean Principles." The event was designed to further strengthen partnerships so that JDSU and its suppliers can drive more responsive and efficient business models throughout the Optical Communications supply chain.
In addition to business discussions, an awards ceremony was held to recognize key optical suppliers for their outstanding performance in the areas of Technology, Quality, Responsiveness, Delivery and Cost. Winners included AC Photonics, Inc., Analog Devices, Inc., Belton Technology, Comcore Technologies, Inc., Eudyna Devices, Inc., Fabrinet, and Marlow Industries, a subsidiary of II-VI Incorporated.
"JDSU is leading the way to secure the entire optical network supply chain by driving Lean and Operational Excellence initiatives across both the transport and transmission segments of the industry," said John Callahan, vice president of Procurement in JDSU's Optical Communications business segment. "A core part of our strategy is to have very tight cooperation with suppliers, so that together we can build innovative and agile products that also support reduced lead times, lower inventory levels and faster cycle times for our customers."
JDSU partners with optical suppliers for mechanical, optical and electronic elements as well as contract manufacturing services to build optical component solutions. These solutions are then used by network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) and service providers to build or upgrade their optical network infrastructures.
In recent years, the amount of network traffic and the unpredictability of traffic traveling over optical networks have soared due to the rise in popularity of on-demand applications such as YouTube, iTunes and MySpace among consumers. As bandwidth demands rise, NEMs have begun to streamline their operations to meet service provider needs for rapid and cost-effective network buildouts. In turn, optical vendors have been required to implement Lean initiatives to reduce waste and cost in order to meet the NEMs' requirements for faster turnaround times. The vendors that supply parts to optical vendors such as JDSU must also be able to meet these supply demands.
"Lean initiatives are a key way that JDSU is redefining the development and launch of new products that are more robust and designed for high yields," said Theresa Ende, vice president of Supply Chain Operations in JDSU's Optical Communications business segment. "It's all about developing business processes that are highly scalable to support our customers' needs, and we couldn't do that without also working with quality suppliers to optimize the global supply chain."