Autumn 2009 - Marshall Group

News 05
Skills Upgrade
In addition to the upgrade of the aircraft for the RNLAF, the Integrated
Logistic Support (ILS) department has been supporting the Marshall
Aerospace Cockpit Upgrade (CUP) and Cabin Safety Improvements
(CSIMP) modifications delivering logistical support in-service support
plans and B1/B2 training courses.
Training courses take a great deal of preparation in terms of
designing the course structure and producing the right content;
course development is started months before the course start date,
and the trainers must ensure that the course follows the current
standard of the aircraft build. Once the course preparation is
complete, the trainers also produce all the supporting
documentation required for the students on the course. 32 RNLAF
students have now attended two maintenance courses developed
by the ILS Training Section in preparation for the delivery of their
aircraft, as well as two MA employees who will support the aircraft
over the coming years. The course is split into two elements to cover
CSIMP and CUP; the first week focusing on CSIMP and the next
four and a half weeks focusing on CUP.
Feedback from all the students has been extremely positive. The
comments passed back are very encouraging, as they indicate that
the students feel fully prepared to take delivery of their aircraft and
fully able to support work towards its operational clearance. In the
past two years the ILS Training department has produced courses
for the RAF, RNLAF, CAF, AAF, BAF and MA itself on a wide range of
subjects including On Board Oxygen Generation Systems, Night
Vision Imaging Systems, Beyond Line Of Sight Communications,
Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems and the full glass
cockpit modification for both the CUP and MMR projects.
MA Welcomes New Face of Engineering
Marshall Aerospace is delighted to welcome Brian Phillipson to the company’s Design Office
as the successor to Bob Ward in the Engineering Director role.
Brian comes to MA following a successful career with BAE Systems where he has served
in a variety of roles including Director of Projects for Military Aircraft and Group MD for
Sea Systems.
During his career, Brian was also seconded to Eurofighter GmbH in Germany, as Eurofighter
MD from 1997 – 1999, as Programme Director/Chief Operating Officer (Programmes) from
2004 – 2008 and, most recently, as Project Director Development Transformation Brian was
seen as a key contributor across the whole Typhoon programme.
“Six weeks in, it is clear to me that in Marshall Aerospace we have a tremendous breadth of skills and experience, a very capable workforce,
and a variety of work which is really fascinating,” said Brian commenting on his arrival at the company. “But I can also see that we are not
realising our full potential today. We are struggling with some large programmes which have become very difficult, there are too many
examples of us not working together as well or as efficiently as we should, we are having to overstretch staff in some key areas - and
looking ahead, we are facing a very uncertain and competitive marketplace. We will have to improve if we are to maintain, let alone grow,
the levels of business we have seen in recent years, and we have to do so quickly.
But what I have found very pleasing is the great deal of work already underway to develop the improvements we need, and I am very
supportive of these – including Project Transformation, many of the Project Management improvements underway, and a number of
significant Investment Proposals currently being considered by the Board. We now have to focus on implementation and deployment of
these improvements – including the next phase of organisational change / clarification now being launched - and on pulling together,
efficiently, as a single team, a single company. There is plenty of interesting work around, but if we are to win it for Marshall Aerospace rather
than lose it to somebody else, we will have to be more competitive and more profitable than we have been recently. I am really looking forward
to playing my part in helping us all achieve this.”
Having gained his engineering degree at the University of Cambridge, Brian is no stranger to the local area. MA would like to welcome him
back to the city and look forward to him continuing to grow the company’s reputation for engineering excellence.