William Bonder, experience supply chain executive, to ramp Eclipse to high volume production

Eclipse Aviation Corporation, manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), has announced that Bill Bonder has joined the executive management team as the vice president of Supply Chain Management. 

Bonder, who brings a wealth of manufacturing experience from world-class organizations to Eclipse, will optimize the Eclipse 500 global supply chain network to support preproduction of the breakthrough jet and accelerate the ramp into volume production.  Bonder's 17-year track record of supply chain and program management leadership includes executive-level positions at international organizations such as Dell Computer, Gerber Scientific and Marconi Communications. 

"We have successfully identified the world's highest-quality suppliers, and now is the time to add an experienced supply chain leader to the Eclipse team," Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation.  "As in every facet of our business, we will utilize the most innovative business processes and sophisticated technologies to manufacture the Eclipse 500.  Bill's proven experience at organizations like Dell that have set the standard for modern supply chain management will be invaluable as he leads the global Eclipse supplier team to achieve our aggressive production goals."

Bonder worked at Dell Computer, a company credited with revolutionizing the PC industry through its next-generation approach to manufacturing and supply chain management, from 1997 to 2000 during Dell's massive expansion.  While at Dell, Bonder was a Senior Global Strategic Commodity Manager and was responsible for supplier selection, development and relationship management. 

After his Dell experience, Bonder gained international experience working for Marconi Communication in Coventry, UK.

He was most recently executive director of Global Sourcing and Supply Chain for Gerber Scientific, a leading provider of innovative materials, software and products to the world's specialty graphics, apparel, and ophthalmic lens processing industries. 

Earlier in his career, Bonder held management positions with US Robotics, Motorola AIEG and Stratus Computer.  He holds an MBA from Assumption College in Massachusetts and a BBA from the University of San Diego in California.

Eclipse is on track for certification of the Eclipse 500 VLJ in early 2006 and currently has a backlog of more than 2,100 orders that are secured with non-refundable deposits.  Eclipse plans to start production in early 2006 with an aggressive ramp to up to 1,000 aircraft per year by 2009.

FMI: www.eclipseaviation.com