Irvine’s Vendor Surveillance Gets Award From Northrop

In an effort to streamline their businesses, major aerospace and defense contractors are counting on preferred provider networks--subcontractors who have been checked out by the big boys and chosen because they can do quality work at competitive prices.

The days when a Rockwell or Boeing would ask 100 suppliers to bid on a job and then pick the cheapest are long gone. Contractors now want long-term relationships with their suppliers. And one way they identify and reward good subs is with annual rankings or quality awards.

Bigwigs from aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. visited Irvine recently to present the company’s newest and highest performance award to Vendor Surveillance Corp. The small company makes sure that suppliers for Northrop’s electronic systems division are meeting quality standards.

The award is the corporate equivalent of earning all “A+” grades in a classroom full of honors students.

President Bernard Fallon started the Irvine company in 1976. It is retained by contractors like Northrop to ensure that subcontractors that make parts and provide raw materials are doing a quality job. “We are an organization of inspectors for hire,” he said.

In 1983, Fallon started a second company--Verify Inc.--to provide quality assurance training and consulting services. Verify now is the parent company and Vendor Surveillance and a third business, Logistech Support Services Inc., are subsidiaries.

Together, the three companies have about $8 million in annual revenue, employ 27 people directly and have a network of about 2,000 independent inspectors and consultants who work under contract around the world.

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John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at [email protected].