From The Source: Mr Kim Gillis Managing Direct or, Boeing Defence Australia

Kim Gillis was appointed vice president and managing director of Boeing Defence Australia in June this year. Before joining Boeing Defence Space & Security in the US last year, he had been deputy CEO of the Defence Materiel Organisation. He joined the DMO in 2004 from Austal Ships in WA. A founder and sponsor of Queensland University of Technology’s Executive Masters in Complex Project Management Program and International Centre for Complex Project Management, Gillis is a qualified Master Project Director (AIPM-accredited) and a Master Mariner. He answered questions from Editor at Large Gregor Ferguson.

ADM: What are the skills that are most in demand at BDA?

Gillis: We’ve vacancies for structures engineers, flight instructors, contracts specialists and a variety of other roles based at various sites that require security clearances. Like many in the defence industry, skills retention is a constant issue while trying to keep our costs down in order to stay competitive.

ADM: In the US, Boeing at one time was actually sponsoring employees to undertake further education and training - and not necessarily in job-related areas. Is that still something you try to do, and is it something the company has extended to Australia?

Gillis: We offer our employees study assistance if they’re studying an eligible course that leads to a nationally recognised qualification from a recognised tertiary education institution. The course must be directly related to their current job or of agreed benefit to their career within Boeing. At an enterprise level, Boeing Australia works closely with selected universities - Queensland University of Technology, RMIT and the University of Queensland, to name a few.
We aim to enhance undergraduate curricula, internship and scholarship programs, support the continuing education of Boeing employees, recruit outstanding candidates and collaborate on research that benefits the long-term needs of our business.

ADM: How do you harmonise this with initiatives such as SADI?

Gillis: Our involvement in defence and aerospace industry skilling in Australia is significant and we do have a strong reputation for it. We’re part of The Aerospace Project, which is a partnership established in January 2004 between Education Queensland, Boeing Defence Australia and a registered training organisation, Aviation Australia, to create pathways for high school students into aerospace industries.
Industry partners that have joined since include Qantas, GE, Australian Aerospace and Brisbane Airport Corporation. There are a total of 17 ‘gateway schools’ involved in the project and more than 620 students throughout Queensland undertaking aerospace studies at these schools. We’ve been able to balance this successfully with Defence’s SADI program.

We’ve been successful with SADI funding applications for a range of activities from Project Managers Workshops to employees undertaking an Executive Master of Business in Complex Project Management with the Queensland University of Technology and studies with Aviation Australia.

ADM: Australia’s capital equipment market is very cyclical; the sustainment market has been similar in many respects – how do you tackle the challenge of maintaining a suitably qualified workforce, especially in a very competitive labour market such as Queensland?

Gillis: It is very difficult to attract and retain qualified people in such a cyclical and competitive environment. A great example of this is our Vigilare project. We’ve rolled people off that project as it was delivered, while retaining a core group to provide the continuing capability. How do we keep them motivated when they’ve gone from writing incredibly complex and challenging software code - doing what no one else has done before - to the other end of the spectrum, where they’re simply fixing faults or bugs in a system that is operational? We need to ensure we’re able to retain and engage people, as they cycle through, in projects that utilise their full skill sets and capabilities. It’s a problem both defence and industry must work together to solve when boom industries lure away highly skilled people with higher pay.

ADM: How has the export market received the Vigilare and HF Mod systems?

Gillis: There has been some interest from foreign countries in these programs but these countries are at different stages of consideration regarding their needs for these types of systems. What is most important to us is that we’ve delivered world-class capabilities to the ADF and that we continue to support them well into the future.

ADM: Do you see any opportunities to develop similar technologies/products in the future here in Australia?

Gillis: It’s difficult to say because both of these programs – each with their advanced world-class capabilities sorely needed by Australia’s Defence Forces – turned out to be so much more complex than originally
envisaged.
While we don’t see our past experiences as any reason to shy away from similarly complex projects in future, whether or not these future projects will translate into export potential will ultimately depend on our ability to retain people beyond a project’s end and whether the product meets a gap in the export market.

ADM: What impact is the SRP having on your sustainment activities?

Gillis: The SRP gives a name to what Boeing has been doing for quite some time for our defence customer across all of our sustainment programs. Wherever we’ve been able to deliver cost savings while increasing operational availability, we’ve done it. We’ve always been a strong proponent of LEAN principles and techniques. Boeing has a strong engineering pedigree and we try to implement LEAN into the initial phases of the solution design, production and support processes, ensuring we deliver a holistic support system.

ADM: Speaking generally, to what extent is it industry’s job to open the DMO’s eyes to SRP opportunities? Is the DMO really equipped to spot and exploit opportunities to work smarter?

Gillis: Industry plays an important role in helping DMO identify SRP savings because we’re at the sharp end of actually doing the work that’s delivered to the ADF.
It’s a two-way street. DMO can’t achieve the savings without industry and it’s in industry’s interest to provide more efficient delivery of capability. No reform program will ever instantaneously touch every part of an organisation and change it overnight. It’s reasonable to expect that it will take DMO and industry time to learn to work together smarter.

ADM: In sustainment Boeing has a firm footprint in the aerospace sector and, to a lesser extent, in the systems and electronics sector; do you see potential in adjacent sectors such as land and maritime?

Gillis: If you consider what we’ve been able to do with Vigilare, I see potential for us in the network centric environment that brings together the air, land and sea domains.

ADM: When looking at programs like C-17, Super Hornet, Air 9000 Ph.7, Air 5428 etc, can you separate your sustainment business from your training business?

Gillis: The C-17 and Super Hornet training systems are vastly different to the Air 9000 Phase 7 and Air 5428 training systems, so it’s like comparing apples with oranges. With the C-17 and Super Hornet you’re talking about platform-specific training in an operational environment, whereas with Air 9000 Phase 7 and Air 5428 you’re talking about a non-operational environment where you’re developing a skill-set that could ultimately take students across many different platforms.
In a non-operational training environment, it makes total sense to couple sustainment and training because you need the total integration of flying training, simulator and aircraft maintenance programs, and instructor and support resources.

ADM: How are you getting on with selecting a training helicopter for Air 9000 Phase 7?

Gillis: We’re continuing to examine a variety of training helicopters and solutions for Air 9000 Phase 7. We’re in discussion with several platform providers on developing a total training solution that works for both the Army and Navy.
We’ll be in a better position to announce teaming arrangements once the requirements are better defined by Defence.

ADM: How do you plan to tackle Air 5428?

Gillis: We’re in much the same situation as with Air 9000 Phase 7. We’ll know more when we see a greater level of definition of the project. Our bid will draw upon Boeing’s extensive global experience as a training systems integrator, our in-country performance on the Army Aviation Training & Training Support contract, and our ability to provide a safe and cost-effective solution that delivers to Defence highly-capable military aircrew.

ADM: The Hawkei PMV(L) program under Land 121 Ph.4 is a radical departure for Boeing, at least in Australia. What was behind your decision to team with Thales on this project?

Gillis: It’s not a radical departure for us because the role we play in this partnership with Thales is to provide Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) services. We’ve provided co-ordinated Integrated Logistics Support services to address the life-cycle of the F/A-18 Classic Hornets and the likes of the F-111 in-country for many years. If you combine this with our ILS involvement in the C-17 Global Sustainment Partnership and in the sustainment of Australia’s new F/A-18F Super Hornets, it all begins to make sense. Boeing’s in-country performance-based ILS is world class.

Thales recognises our excellence in ILS and, applying both companies’ practices, we plan to deliver the best ILS solution for Land 121 Phase 4 and thereby a worldclass light protected mobility vehicle capability to the ADF.

ADM: Is this an area where BDA can bring its parent company’s Future Combat System (FCS) experience to bear? And if it’s successful how do you sustain this line of business? Will you be looking for similar opportunities in future?

Gillis: There is significant experience and capability out of Boeing in the United States that we bring to our partnership with Thales, and to the future of combat vehicles in Australia. If we and Thales continue along the same path, I have no doubts this will become a sustainable business for us with future opportunities.

ADM: Where do you see the export potential for a vehicle like this?

Gillis: Right now the focus is on supporting Thales with their bid for Land 121 Phase 4, wherever that may take them. We believe our partnership creates a strong and well-equipped team that can cover the entire development and supply chain process in Australia and, if needed, around the world.