"In the Far East, the waiting period is even longer, so you need even more patience. It's going to take five years instead of two there. It's a real challenge."

But "going global" is more a matter of survival than choice these days, according to Cutler: "We are completely sold on the philosophy that we want to support all of our major customers wherever they may go in the world. To do that we're convinced we have to be a global company, and we are. By global, we mean it's necessary to have people, facilities, and other support requirements in the areas of the world where our customers are operating.

"And we want to be sure that our operations in those areas use whatever technologies, whatever customs, whatever the local or regional requirements are."

Given the low level of automotive activity in some developing regions, TRW is not racing to establish a manufacturing base everywhere. "The volumes are not sufficient to support an economical production run, and that concerns us," Cutler said. "We're giving a lot of thought these days to shipping from region to region" instead of building excess capacity for the sake of having a plant next door to every customer.

In most cases, securing a joint venture partner is preferable to a greenfield operation, in Cutler's view. "Getting an experienced workforce is part of the allure of getting a partner," he said. That goes not only for geographic globalization, but also for technological globalization.

TRW's recent acquisition of LucasVarity is a case in which the company expands its geographic reach while securing engineering excellence in areas such as brakes. "With Lucas, there are a lot of products that we don't have any core intelligence on, so getting the right engineering people is extremely important," Cutler said. "The big job here is taking all of this and putting it together. What's the fit? What's the advantage to the customer? It's going to take some time to do that."

Its electric steering products offer TRW a golden opportunity to maximize the world market. The company is able to offer a base electric steering package that can be "tuned" for various regional driving habits and highway conditions. "I think you're going to see more and more products that can be adapted in this way," Cutler said.

TRW engineers from around the globe can collaborate on projects and technologies through video conferencing and networked computer systems. The company increasingly is using recently retired but still-willing-to-work engineers to handle the increase in employee training and operational setups that globalization necessitates.

Supply from the lower tiers is something on which TRW is spending more time that it had planned. It is going to lengths to help its existing supply base expand globally with TRW. "The most difficult thing to do is to make a product with many different suppliers in different regions of the world," Cutler said. "That's why we're working so closely with our tier-one, -two, and -three suppliers."

Patrick Ponticel