The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

The Nimrod Review
12.9
IPTs
346
The creation of Integrated Project Teams (IPTs).
The formation of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA).
The formation of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO).
The formation of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA).
(see Figure 12.4 below).
The 1998 SDR changes were motivated by a belief in the increased efficiencies and savings that would come from:
(i) greater ‘project-orientated’ organisations, i.e. as opposed to ‘functionally-oriented’ organisations; (ii) greater
‘purple’, i.e. a move from single-service to tri-service organisations; and (iii) greater ‘through-life’ management
of platforms, i.e. throughout the whole CAMDID cycle. These organisational changes are discussed in more
detail in Chapter 13, but are briefly summarised below.
12.10 McKinsey recommended a transition “from a functional to a project-based organisation based on Integrated
Project Teams (IPTs)”. Although this process had started with MDGs, the move towards IPTs represented a
major sea-change for three reasons. First, because IPTs were to have far wider responsibilities than MDGs,
encompassing complete management of the platform throughout the CADMID cycle. Second, IPTs were to
contain under one roof all of the staffs necessary for individual projects and platforms for all four functions,
i.e. Engineering, Logistics, Finance and Commercial. Third, IPT Leaders (IPTL) were to have delegated to them
far greater levels of power and responsibility than had previously been delegated to the ‘project’ level. The IPT
model was adopted by both the DPA for procurement (see below) and the DLO for in-service support.
DPA
12.11
DLO
12.12
DARA
12.13
The Procurement Executive (PE) was re-modelled to form the Defence Procurement Executive (DPE) as an
Executive Agency of the MOD.
The three single-Service in-service support organisations (RAF Logistics Command, Naval Support Command
and Quartermaster General) were merged into a tri-Service (i.e. purple) organisation called Defence Logistics
Organisation (DLO) to achieve greater efficiencies by converging similar logistics processes, eliminating duplication
and overlap, and increasing the MOD’s ability to exert leverage on its suppliers. The DLO was formed in April
2000 and a new 4-star post, Chief of Defence Logistics (CDL), created to head the DLO. The IPT model was
adopted in full by the DLO. Upon the disbanding of RAF Logistics Command, the equipment support IPTs were
‘brigaded’ into three groups broadly along environmental lines within the DLO (Sea, Land and Air) each headed
by a 2-star military officer or Civil Service equivalent. For RAF aircraft, the 2-star was Director General Equipment
Support (Air) (DG ES(Air)). Each service Board retained a 2-star officer from the DLO as a permanent member. In
the case of the Air Force Board, this was DG ES(Air).
The three single-Service aircraft deep maintenance and repair organisations merged into the tri-Service Defence
Aviation Repair Agency (DARA).