There are some workdays that stand out as really great, spectacular even. March 22 was one of those days. I spent the morning at Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Systems division in Woodland Hills and the afternoon touring practically every corner of the OPI Products headquarters in North Hollywood. I was blown away with the manufacturing muscle at these two companies. Northrop and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association partnered to set up a Civic Day event at the company’s expansive campus. I got see how gyroscopes are made and tried to wrap my brain around how they work. The Northrop spokesman’s explanation went completely over my head. Nevertheless, I walked off the manufacturing floor, thinking, ‘The people working here are geniuses.’ The inside look brought a whole new meaning to the fact that the Valley is home to thousands of highly-skilled workers. Our group tour of the facility encompassed learning about other Navigation Systems capabilities, such as avionics integration, aircraft mission computers and displays, and fiber-optic acoustic sensors. Liz Iversen, sector vice president and general manager, explained it best when she said Navigation Systems makes components that allow military personnel to not only reach their destination, but make it home. The division earned $800 million in sales in 2011, has a $1 billion backlog (roughly) and employs 3,000 people. Its products were used to rescue the Chilean miners in the 2010 mining disaster and to cap the devastating BP oil spill. OPI’s products may not be saving lives, but they are saving nails. The nail care products company, now part of Coty Cosmetics, generates some $300 million in annual sales, with products sold in more than 100 countries. Founder and CEO George Schaeffer personally escorted Staff Reporter Angela Melero and me on a two-hour tour of OPI’s North Hollywood campus. The product assembly lines were impressive and there were countless warehouses packed floor to ceiling with product ready to be shipped out. I will never look at a bottle of OPI nail polish the same way. But even more impressive than this manufacturing operation was our guide. I’ve interviewed many CEOs in my career. I can count only a few who were as generous with their time, let alone as interesting or charming. So don’t miss the Q&A with Schaeffer, starting on Page One, and also be sure to meet Vice President and Artistic Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, the company’s color expert and a global fashion trendsetter on Page 15. Thanks to Suzi, I have a nail polish picked out for my fast-approaching wedding day: Rosy Future. Business Journal Editor Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]
The Importance of Gyroscopes and Nail Polish
