David Jones | Brisbane

VP and MD of Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) Ken Shaw spoke to over sixty defence industry attendees at the December Defence-in-Business (DiB) meeting, held at Site Group’s Brisbane HQ, and hosted by BenchON.

Shaw noted that throughout the 100 year history of the company, Boeing has always had a focus on innovation, and a recognition that this comes from people, not machines, “so the approach has been that of delivering ... via people”. He also noted that the business models which have brought the company to this point will not also sustain it for the next 100 years due to the changes in technology and focus.

He said that BDA’s growth in the last decade had gone from annual turnover of $300 million and a team of around 1200 to almost $1 billion and 2000 respectively. Shaw noted the focus on being an equal-opportunity employer. Indeed, he said if a man is appointed, he wants to know why a woman might not have been chosen for the same role. He explained that as the staff levels have grown, so too has the percentage of women, now nudging 20 per cent, but with a much larger workforce.

“Individuals wanting a defence career must demonstrate a ‘global thinking’ mindset.”

Shaw reviewed some of the projects such as the F-111C which required most of BDA’s staff at the time; these were mostly hardware-focused engineers. Nowadays, the projects were highly sophisticated where the focus was more on needing systems engineers, such as with Wedgetail. He noted the new paradigm, where the company now needs over 800 systems engineers, as distinct from the older platforms where a more normal hardware-engineering workforce was the approach. Other examples he cited were the transition to the Super Hornets and Growlers.

Managing such a workforce has always been a problem, Shaw said, for as one area scales down, another rises. In the past, MDs have had to release staff in one centre while trying to source new staff in another. Shaw explained that BDA’s approach is now to first see if any staff want to relocate, and if not, determine whether the work be done remotely via internet. Only once these two options were exhausted would they then source locally. 

One example of the growth in Australia was the new lab in Brisbane supporting JP2072 and Currawong, with a staff of 185 working in this area. Shaw also confirmed Australia is playing a leading role in the global Boeing Defence business, with some of the projects being primarily centred here; the Wedgetail team here in Australia was four times that in the US.

In his concluding remarks, Shaw noted the other areas of challenge, such as those related to engaging with young people, and mentoring staff. He himself mentors some 20 young staff members. Boeing’s ‘Phantom Works’ operation attracts many young people who think outside the square, and so the company focus is on the principle that if each look after each other, the sum of the output will substantially exceed the input. Boeing’s local engagement with universities and high schools has been so successful that of a recent intake of 20 interns were all subsequently employed, and eleven of those are women.

“A degree alone is no longer a ticket to success. Individuals wanting a defence career must demonstrate a ‘global thinking’ mindset,” he said.

With a focus on people, led by people of exceptional quality and ethics, Shaw was confident in the next 100 years.