Patrick Durrant | Pacific 2017, Sydney
In a move that even Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne conceded was long overdue, the Commonwealth has finally removed the Collins class program (CN10) from the Projects of Concern list.
ASC’s Interim CEO Stuart Whiley said the move recognised the high performance of the Collins Class program, carried out by the Submarine Enterprise, including ASC as submarine platform sustainer and upgrader, the Royal Australian Navy, Defence Department and Raytheon Australia.
“ASC welcomes the recognition by the Government of the Enterprise’s success in dramatically improving submarine availability for the Royal Australian Navy.
“This decision recognises the fantastic work and expertise of our leading submarine platform personnel, from our skilled production trades to our engineers, project managers and supply chain managers.”
Following an organisation-wide program of innovation and reform commencing in 2012, ASC is now performing at or above international benchmarks for its scope of work on Collins Class submarine.
During the Beyond Benchmark review last year, John Coles, who conducted the 2012 review into sustainment of the Collins Class Submarines, was impressed by the improvements made at ASC in a very short space of time.
The Beyond Benchmark review revisited the Collins submarine sustainment environment two years on from the March 2014 progress review and covered three areas: current Collins Class sustainment performance; sustaining performance during transition to the Future Submarine; and improving beyond the benchmark.
With observed improvements to planning, productivity, inventory investment, and performance monitoring, the review team saw the Enterprise would be in a position to achieve benchmark performance by mid-2017.
Whiley said ASC draws on its submarine personnel who number in excess of 1,200, and include some of Australia’s leading submarine platform engineers. It also leverages a network of Australian expert organisations to implement sovereign industrial solutions in Collins Class sustainment.
“ASC manages the integration of the Collins supply chain and has achieved Australian content of more than 92 per cent on its scope of work in Collins Class sustainment.”