Mr. Benante: The Curtiss-Wright Corporation traces its roots back to the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, and also Glenn Curtiss. The Wright brothers were the founding fathers of the first powered flight and Glenn Curtiss was considered the father of naval aviation. Their two companies merged in 1929 and became the largest single airplane supplier at that time. Curtiss-Wright was also publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange and this year we are celebrating our 75th anniversary on the NYSE (CW; CW.B). Today, Curtiss-Wright has evolved from a leading aircraft designer and manufacturer during World War I, to a global leader in the design and manufacture of highly engineered valves, pumps, avionics, embedded computing systems and metal treatment services.
TWST: Are there any companies that compete with you across all of those
areas?
Mr. Benante: No, not really. We have competition in individual markets,
but no one company has a similar diversification strategy. Curtiss-
Wright operates out of three business segments. Our Flow Control
segment, which primarily produces pumps, valves and electronic control
systems, has very few competitors. A lot of its products are sole-
sourced to the U.S. Navy. On the commercial side, the highly engineered
requirements of products for the nuclear power and processing markets
creates a high barrier to entry and, thus, few competitors. Tyco and
Dresser both have divisions which compete with us in the commercial
valve markets. Our Motion Control segment designs and manufactures
actuation controls and embedded computing systems for the aerospace
industry. Curtiss-Wright is quickly expanding its presence in the
embedded computer market and competitors include Radstone and Mercury
Computers. Our Metal Treatment segment is the global leader of shot
peening services. Recently, we developed a new technology in conjunction
with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, laser peening, which is
complementary to our shot peening business. We are the only company in
the world to offer laser peening to the commercial aerospace market.
Tickers included in this excerpt: CW
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.