In the beginning there was an altimeter - Meggitt PLC

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SWARM Up to now, the limiting factor precluding remote-controlled swarming boat targets was the requisite communications backbone to support such a large group of vehicles > Rock Gunnery School within the Esquimalt base. Four operators each controlled four Hammerheads, with a ‘mission commander’ co-ordinating the entire flotilla. Relays of four Hammerheads were brought into a formation and all followed pre-programmed waypoint navigation tracks. “Up to now, the limiting factor precluding such exercises has been the inability of establishing the requisite communications backbone that can support such a large group of vehicles,” says Fraser. “What used to happen was that in traditional command and control systems you would have an up link and each vehicle would transmit back on a separate down link. One can immediately see why an old format system will not work for this type of exercise because you would need 17 frequencies and a 53-foot trailer full of radio equipment.” That, he adds, is assuming frequency approvals could even be obtained from national authorities for that many frequencies and providing there would be no electro-magnetic interference in what are increasingly crowded wavebands. 00 6 REVIEW | WINTER 2010 Above & right: Hammerhead is Meggitt’s advanced unmanned surface vehicle target (USV-T) with an award-winning surface-effect hull that is highly efficient in high seas at high speeds. The secret to being able to control so many vessels on a single half-duplex UHF frequency, says Fraser, is sophisticated multiplexing of the signal, using ultrarapid switching times between individual vessels—a world first from Meggitt, which has been working on the project for four years with support from the Canadian Navy. A second unique feature of MTSC’s technical solution is building its system around an open standard—of increasing interest to customers. Meggitt’s UTCS is compliant with NATO standard STANAG 4586, a basic interoperability standard originally intended only for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) but which Meggitt has now expanded to handle unmanned surface vehicles. As a result, says Fraser, “We’re now able to replicate with a high degree of fidelity one of the major asymmetric threats facing western navies today. We’ve already received several enquiries from several international customers asking how we managed to achieve this.” He adds that the system is now deployed with the Canadian Forces and that several navies want MTSC to put together a full-scale swarm attack exercise for them. The close engagement of the swarmex was likened by a Canadian naval observer to “a punch-up in a phone booth”. A complicating factor during the swarmex was the presence in the operating area of local fishermen’s crab pots, which forced the Hammerhead operators to continually The close engagement of the swarmex was likened by a Canadian naval observer to a punch-up in a phone booth alter their vehicles’ formation. “I’m happy to report we did not snag a single pot and that it actually had us test the full versatility of the various control modes of the UTCS system,” reports Fraser. The next major milestone, he says, will be a live firing exercise with the Hammerheads “early next year” off Canada’s west coast. Canadian, US and Australian vessels are due to participate. ●
Playing his cards right When Jim Simpkins worked for Crane Corporation, he fought Terry Twigger for Whittaker Controls, a transformational acquisition. He lost but Meggitt’s then group finance director liked him so much he offered him a job—to help build what became the hugely successful division, Meggitt Aerospace Equipment. A decade later, he’s taken on the presidency of one of its descendants, Meggitt Control Systems. We explore his business philosophy, why he favours factories that run like clockwork rather than rumour mills and his obsession with “services wrapped around products”. iT’S 1971 AND THE INFAMOUS BILLBOARD READING “Will the last person leaving SEATTLE—Turn out the lights.” is posted near the city’s international airport. But the funny side of the ‘Boeing Bust’ eludes Simpkins’ father. He’s an aerospace engineer who has seen the region’s largest employer peak at 100,800 employees in 1967, diving to a low of 38,700 that year. “Whatever you do, don’t go into aerospace,” he says, as he loses his job and uproots his family to California to find work. As it turns out, Simpkins Jr’s first real job is at Rockwell International, a massive conglomerate with a strong aerospace business, local to California State University, Northridge from which he graduates in 1979. Rockwell’s management programme left Simpkins dissatisfied. The whole picture—how to run a business—eluded him. “I wanted to see how people really made money, not just report how much money they were making.” He found a ‘small’ business in which to work his way up—a $10 million-a-year maker of film editing machines and logging recorders for air traffic control. It was the only time Simpkins worked in an industry where cost was not an issue. It was always schedule. “At that time, the film industry didn’t plan well, shooting films but rarely thinking about the editing machines they needed post-production. So, naturally, we would plan for them. And that’s why customers came to us as opposed to us seeking them out. That was my first lesson in the importance of understanding what your customer really needs and wrapping service around product.” At Data Products, a computer printer manufacturer, Simpkins absorbed lessons in Lean manufacturing and managing business during economic downturn. At what later became a Meggitt business, the Whittaker Corporation, he honed his mergers and disposals skills. At management consultants A T Kearney, he took on a brief to run Crane Corporation’s Pacific Valves. There, he refined his understanding of operations excellence and shopped for businesses, acquiring valves companies around the world. He also put into practice the principles that guide his business thinking today. The company was being challenged by a competitor. Colleagues wanted to look at repricing but Simpkins didn’t believe it was about volume. It was about those ‘services wrapped around products’. “When companies buy from you, especially engineered products, they want to leave the transaction feeling they have received total value. They are not just buying a heat exchanger or a valve, they are paying for development schedules aligned with theirs, quicker lead times for manufacturing and world-class first-pass yields which prove quality. If you provide all those things, price becomes less of an issue.” Simpkins Customers want total value. They are not just buying a heat exchanger, they are paying for shorter lead-times on development and manufacturing and higher quality held a kaizen (a multidisciplinary, multi-level problem-solving event) to set up a singlepiece flow cell that could deliver a range of valve sizes. “The customer only paid for what they pulled,” he explains. “They came to us several times when the cheaper supplier failed. Eventually the service won over price and we put that flow cell into their factory.” > REVIEW | WINTER 2010 00 7
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