Pacific 2012: Warship sustainment: a different approach | ADM Dec 2011 / Jan 2012
Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
How best to deliver naval surface ship sustainment with a view to improving availability at reduced cost is currently a subject of arguably unprecedented focus and scrutiny, following Paul Rizzo’s report released in July, as well as other investigations and recent reforms. The Rizzo Review highlighted multiple failings and critical issues facing defence maritime sustainment and repair which, according to a joint statement by Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare, “compromised the availability of Navy assets and potentially the sustainability of Navy ships in the longer term”, and put forward 24 recommendations for reform.
With this in mind, it is interesting to note that in the UK the first ‘proof of concept’ phase of a new Class Output Management approach to warship support has been deemed a success, marking an important step towards modernising future support arrangements for the Royal Navy. The new approach has been introduced under an alliance led by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) involving Babcock and BAE Systems, and Rear Admiral (Rtd) Robert Love, now of Babcock, points out that planned outcomes may be applicable to Australia’s Strategic Reform Program aspirations. He notes that the approach would address many of the recommendations in the Rizzo Review, in particular the need for an integrated approach between Defence, DMO and industry.
While warship support in many countries, including Australia and the UK, has traditionally been undertaken by means of competed upkeep contracts, this method can lead to issues associated with the allocation of small packages of work to multiple suppliers, resulting in fragmentation of approach, problems with configuration control, and limited or no opportunities to benefit from economies or efficiencies of scale but ultimately little or no transfer of risk to participants. In the UK, following an extensive period of collaborative working that began around five years ago, the MoD has joined forces with industry and the Royal Navy to pioneer a new, more efficient way of delivering warship support.
The Surface Ship Support Alliance (SSSA) – the alliance between the MoD, Babcock and BAE Systems – has been formed as part of the Surface Ship Support Program (SSSP); a major transformation Program representing a key element of the UK Maritime Change Program (modernising shipbuilding and support over the next 15 years).
Crucially, the alliance works in a non-competitive, collaborative environment to deliver shared goals, with the SSSA agreement setting out the principles by which all alliance members work together towards the common output targets.
Class Output Management, known as COM, is a key facet of the alliance and an important part of the overall SSSA strategy for a performance-based contracting regime, aimed at delivering and sustaining defined levels of ship, and therefore fleet, availability while reducing overall costs.
The proof of concept phase, designed to de-risk the alliance solution before wider implementation, has been shown to be successful, having generated cost savings while at the same time delivering the fleet’s required levels of ship availability. This initial trial of the COM approach was undertaken on the Type 22 frigates (led by Babcock) and Hunt class mine countermeasures vessels (led by BAE Systems). The Type 22 frigates have since been withdrawn from service following the UK’s Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) but the experience and knowledge gained remains applicable and is being focused on supporting the Type 23 team.
During this period a shadow COM has stood up for the large amphibious ships, which will be fully implemented in phase two. In this shadow phase, savings have been identified and availability measured, and improvements have been identified to sustain improved availability at lower cost.
“Basically, COM provides a co-ordinated approach to managing all support activities, providing an integrated and consistent approach to planning and managing maintenance,” Love explains. “The industry-led COM teams combine the traditional roles of industry, MoD and the Royal Navy, with all parties working together to plan and deliver engineering support activities for each class of ship, as a single team, working to common performance requirements. Activities cover everything from the management of operational defects and through-life support including upgrades and updates, to design and technical advice.”
The COM teams are the focal point for management of support budgets for that class, allowing them to manage and compile a better baseline of accurate class costs, against which performance and efficiency savings can be measured. They also offer a single point of contact for all day to day matters related to class support. Where previously numerous complex interfaces could make it difficult to get things done, there is now a 24/7 helpline to resolve issues and provide a conduit to ensure the ship’s needs are being met.
Gaining a clear understanding of the material state of each vessel has been key to the success of the pilot. A sound knowledge of a ship’s configuration and material state allows intelligent risk-based decisions to be made on when to do work, so that the relevant maintenance and defect work is planned into the next support period, and the right materials are delivered on time as required.
This improves the overall efficiency, ensuring that the COM team is delivering the right maintenance at the right time in the right way. The marked improvement in overall understanding of class material condition has provided direct benefit in decision-making and work package development. A Collaborative Working Environment has also been established for each class, whereby the databases are connected so that a single, shared information system is available and used by all parties, irrespective of organisation and location.
The proof of concept phase has been assessed against a number of key success criteria, and the performance of both pilot COMs has exceeded all targets, delivering against the predefined criteria for availability, efficiency and maintenance condition. The new approach has allowed additional flexibility to plan and resource work more effectively, to the vessels’ benefit. Significant savings have been identified, availability improved, and positive feedback gained from the customer.
Moreover, as Love points out, “By giving industry visibility of future plans they are able to plan ahead and adapt their capabilities to meet future requirements. This represents best value for Defence, while at the same time helping to ensure sustainability and longevity for industry.”
Work done in both pilot COMs in the development of management tools and processes, to meet information and documentation requirements, continues. Good progress has been made in this area through phase one, and this, together with lessons from other programs such as Type 45, has significantly de-risked the concept of industry/Navy/MoD integrated COMS responsible for delivering the tactical requirement for surface ship support
Importantly, Love points to the fact that the vision of motivating industry to maximise availability rather than generating profit through workload has been shown to be realistic, and the proof of concept phase has demonstrated how this can be achieved. It has also demonstrated that as alliance partners the parties can all work together as a single, integrated team on a best-for-enterprise basis, to achieve the alliance objective.
Indeed, with regard to the alliance itself positive developments in the relationship between the alliance members have been noted. Open book working has allowed information to be exchanged, and levels of trust, collaboration and mutual support have increased throughout. Sharing best practice and joint planning have been further features. This positive development of tri-lateral relationships and behaviours and the ability to share information has underpinned the delivery of the required results, and working towards shared targets has been shown to be beneficial and important in driving and incentivising the right behaviours.
“In short, the success of phase one has provided a proof of concept for COM, and is an important step towards modernising future support arrangements for the Royal Navy,” Love reiterates.
“Given the recent well publicised issues with naval platform support here in Australia, the UK experience is directly relevant. Such an approach could help address a number of the causal factors highlighted in the Rizzo Review, such as issues relating to whole-of-life asset management, organisational complexity and blurred accountabilities, and particularly the need for improved co-ordination and integration.
“The UK’s solution has taken time to evolve, and has been made possible by all parties – the MoD, Royal Navy and industry – recognising the need for a more strategic approach. With both the Hobart class destroyers and Canberra class LHDs entering service in the next five years, there is a real opportunity to review the developments made in UK surface ship sustainment performance relative to arrangements in Australia, helping to safeguard both capability and platform availability.”
While the COM approach focuses on surface ships, Babcock, as the strategic support partner for the Royal Navy’s submarine force, is also working closely with the MoD under its Terms of Business Agreement (ToBA), and as a key player in industry collaborative working (the Submarine Enterprise Performance Programme, SEPP), to develop and implement a new approach to submarine support in the UK.
Known as Flotilla Output Management (FOM), and driven by a number of factors including the arrival of the new Astute class, this is geared to delivering greater assurance of safety-approved submarine availability, at reduced cost, on a sustainable basis, via a performance-driven relationship between Babcock and the MoD that makes best use of MoD and industry resources within clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
In the current economic climate customers are under increasing pressure to maximise asset availability and reduce costs. Significant change can only be achieved through a different business model which requires industry collaboration.