Issue 9 Jan 2009.indd - Ministry of Defence

support to ops
26
NEWSREEL
Forum addresses
improvement
THE fi rst Continuous
Improvement (CI)
Forum will be held at
the Defence Academy,
Shrivenham on 28
January. The Forum’s
aim is to understand
the MOD’s strategic
view on CI, to hear from
workshop experts and
to share experiences
with a view to improving
practices. General Sir
Kevin O’Donoghue,
Chief of Defence
Materiel (CDM), will be
keynote speaker. Other
speakers will cover
lean principles, Six
Sigma, system thinking
and MOD Streamlining.
Professor Peter Hines
of the Lean Enterprise
Research Centre (LERC)
will close the Forum.
Strong leaders
key to the future
VICE Admiral Trevor
Soar, Chief of Materiel
(Fleet), has told senior
managers from the
Director General
Safety and Engineering
cluster that strong
leadership will provide
the key to success
within the future
DE&S. VAdm Soar’s
address formed part of
a training event which
focused on leadership,
communication and the
learning organisation.
He also highlighted the
importance of clarity of
direction and leaders
allowing initiative,
empowering and
trusting their teams.
Talk to the
Board success
ANOTHER successful
‘Talk to the Board’ was
held on 11 December.
More than 100 questions
were received, 25
per cent more than
last time, on subjects
ranging from early
release to DII and
collocation. Questions
and answers are
available on the DE&S
‘Talk to the Board’ page
on the defence intranet.
Two become one as Unmanned
Air Systems team is formed
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, including Taranis (left) and Watchkeeper, are now to be managed under a single team
A ONE-stop-shop for all DE&S Unmanned Air
Systems projects has been formed. On 1 January,
Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) and
Strategic Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Experiment
(SUAVE) IPTs were brought together to form the
Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) IPT.
The new organisation is responsible for UAS
acquisition policy and standards, safety and
Safety and engineering assurance
improvements benefi t DE&S teams
DE&S’ INTEGRATED project
teams (IPTs) are benefiting from
changes made to the safety and
engineering (S&E) assurance
process.
The changes mean there are
tangible signs that assurance
planning and delivery are now
being seen as core project
activities and are losing the
‘blocker’ label they once had.
S&E assurance processes
have now been re-aligned
with the recently-published
DE&S Through Life Investment
Assurance Framework. This
tailors assurance to a level
appropriate to the project’s risk
and value, and delivers it through
an agreed assurance plan.
Safety and engineering
assurance statements are also
now mostly signed off by staff
within the Cluster DG business
areas, under delegation from
Director General S&E. Given
the complexity of the safety and
engineering subject coverage,
a number of Service Delivery
Managers are on hand across the
S&E area to help with planning
and to provide links to Subject
Matter Experts.
Many IPTs have worked
closely with Director General
S&E to pilot the S&E assurance
process, including Typhoon. The
engineering discipline, future research and
development and providing guidance to industry
on all matters UAS from within DE&S.
The merger has brought together the skill sets
developed in both teams allowing efficiencies
and streamlining the delivery of coherent UAV
capability. The team is led by Jonathan Barratt
and remains in the DG Combat Air cluster.
original approval for the Typhoon
programme pre-dated the
changes to the assurance process
meaning more recent approvals
did not have an assured baseline
against which to be assessed.
With a baseline established,
assurance can now be tailored
to reflect the specific changes
being introduced, rather than
repeat the full assurance activity.
This approach has benefited
such diverse project elements as
synthetic training, future support
and Tranche 3 procurement.
The Future Medium
Helicopter team leader Darren
Ash said: “The assurance
process runs very smoothly,
provided the IPT embraces it.
For PUMA, we are engaged with
our lead assuror, and it’s been
simple to get a suitable tailored
assurance plan agreed. We’ve
just completed the Through Life
Project Management review and
that was straightforward as well.”
DE&S manages an exceptional
portfolio of projects that, by
value and technical complexity,
ranks at the highest level among
defence organisations worldwide.
Such complexity needs sound
investment decisions based
on focused and independent
assessment of a range of
functional issues, including S&E.
Latest version of
support solution
tool goes live
INTEGRATED PROJECT
teams in DE&S can now
take advantage of a more
focused and user-friendly
Support Solutions Envelope
(SSE).
The latest version
contains the support
policies an IPT must
consider when developing
a support solution for an
equipment or capability.
It is now available on the
defence intranet through
the Acquisition Operating
Framework (AOF).
The new improved tool
will help IPTs identify any
risks associated with the
support solution. It will also
help them maintain their
Through Life Investment
Assurance Plan. The latest
SSE has been refocused
on the specific, tailored
evidence required to be
compiled and matured
throughout the acquisition
process.
Further information
and contact details for
the SSE Policy Team and
Engagement Teams can be
found on the Acquisition
Operating Framework and
SSE pages on the defence
intranet.