Australian Industry and Manufacturing : The Collins Class Submarine Program

Ingalls Shipbuilding does not have a strong stable future if current projections and no strategies are developed for the near future. According to the US Navy, over the next five years 10 units are in the budget for Ingalls’ market share and Bath Iron Works will certainly fabricate a portion of those products (“Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plan,” 2014). Therefore, a strong strategy is required and implementation of the strategy is the only hope for Ingalls Shipbuilding to remain in business for another 75 years. Below is an implementation plan to be executed within the next year. The execution team is diverse

Despite the competent skills of the labours eleven years after the tender and billions of dollars later the Royal Australian Navy commissioned an independent tank testing to be carried out. Shortly after this on the 24th July 1999 the ABC Four Corners released a scathing national report on the project and its fundamentally floored management system, stating how the Navy has commissioned none of the six submarines for a taxpayers cost of $5 billion dollars because they are unfit for service and far from battle ready. Aided with the testimony of Commodore Mick Dunne who fears the worst for the fleet (ABC 1999), at the he time was appointed by the Navy to investigate the deficiencies.

They soon discovered the submarines bow planes were buried; the bow tanks full of sand. The propellers were torn off, steering gear ruined, stern tanks flooded, and all the hatches were desperately jammed.

This report summarises and addresses traditional and non-traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to elaborate upon lessons learnt from the Collins class submarine project. This improved project management practices and highlights the importance of quality, time and budget throughout the entirety of the project. This report is presented from the Project managers perspective to identify risk. It will then analyse how they are managed throughout the project lifecycle, how they affect project performance and why it is important to identify where deficit is coming from and how to address it. This is where KPI’s are used to indicate issues using an appropriate scaling system relating to the Collins project requirements of:

Not only did we have ships, but we had a device called the Turtle. Invented nearly 150 years before, it was not until the Revolutionary War that the submarine would be used in combat. A man named David Bushnell would develop the Turtle to deploy underwater mines. The Turtle would fail all of its missions and would be lost at the Battle of Fort Lee when the ship transporting it would be sunk. “Despite the failures of the Turtle, General George Washington gave Bushnell a commission as an Army engineer…After the war, he became commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”(History 1).

During my tenure with NTB, I have undertaken complex engineering and project work within the boundaries of the Navy Technical Regulatory Framework (NTRF) to successfully deliver technical products and services for the acquisition and sustainment of Minor War Vessels (MWV) for the RAN. In the naval context, these includes specification and validation of compliance with Platform System Requirements for the current and future ships through the development of material specification for maritime capability certification assurance process and provide technical naval system advice to naval community that is accurate, on time and pragmatic.

A submarine is defined as “something that functions or operates underwater; specifically: a naval vessel designed to operate underwater.” This definition holds true today but started at the beginning of the Civil War when submarines originally became a popular choice of weaponry. In general, submarine crews were composed of a commander, who steered the boat, and six or more men who used hand cranks to move the boat. Many inventors intended on creating electric motors to move the boat, but they were unable to produce enough torque. Submarines were primarily used in combat because they could travel invisibly. Innovations like submarines did not just change the way people fought wars–they also changed the way people lived.

Before World War II, the submarine was very predictable and easily managed with detection systems, depth detection, and antisubmarine forces. The aircrafts were harder to manage, and could easily penetrate enemy territory. It was not so predictable.[xii]

However, the fact remains that the Trident submarine is a new ship, and the shipbuilders could be faced with unrealized production challenges, such as mirror welds, which could slow down the build time and increase labor costs. These types of unexpected costs are the basis for the cost-reimbursement contract approach and remain a risk within every fixed cost contract. Fixed cost contracts also run the risk of reducing the quality of work in favor of remaining under budget.

The Collins Class submarine was prone to excessive noise signatures whilst travelling at speed and lacked the operational capability to enter conflict situations due to the

Next to first-hand experience, case studies are one of the best ways to learn project management skills. In The Crosby Manufacturing Corporation case study, Harold Kerzner reports on the executive-level exchange between the company president and other department heads regarding a new Management Cost and Control System (Kerzner, 2009). This paper will give a synopsis of the case, analyze the case study communications issues and risks, and evaluate Livingston’s selection of a project manager. It will also discuss the possible reactions from the employees, the impact on the cost and time on the

Since WWI to WWII, the German U-boats have always been forced to continually developing and improving to keep up with the pace that the wartime needs. During the Battle of the Atlantic, the German U-boats sank approximately 2, 779 ships with a total weight of 14.1 million tons in Operation Drumbeat. The German navy’s decision to focus on escalating the usage of U-boats in WW2 allowed them to gain tactical advantage and gain a great success against Allied convoy by destroying the Allied convoys’ ships. The German navy were able to destroy the Allied convoys with the usage of the u-boats, by using the three tactics called the wolf pack attack, the surfaced attack, and the gun deck attack. Hence, in this essay, you will understand how the increase

I do agree with you. Submarines were the silent weapon of the Navy. With he high risk of casualties they were an underwater, killing machine making the difference in a battle. A new strategy was in place when Commander Dudley ‘Mush’ Morton takes a position on 12 December 1942. Aboard in the USS Wahoo he orders to patrol the submarine in sea level monitoring of activity in the sky for enemy airplanes. Morton was acquiring information about Japanese movement in the area. Moreover, he makes a record of sinking five enemy vessels in one patrol. Morton was awarded navy’s second-highest combat decoration for his actions, and the Wahoo awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. Morton actions on command were not always correct. He ordered to kill Japanese

My personal role was to provide support in maintaining the technical integrity of the MWV by reviewing the technical and design packages (certification basis and certification plan). Deficiencies were identified among the packages, when overlooked it may end up in delivering maritime material that is not fit for purpose, posing threat to personnel and environment. The deficiency was that the traceability of the certification requirement was lost in the packages. A plan was established to engage all the relevant technical expertise to seek their professional advice on how to deal with the issues in their area of practise. Based on their advice I went gathering information within the design packages that was misleading and traced the functional requirement back to the Capability Needs Statement (CNS) and Operational Concept Document (OCD) for verification process. This helped me to identify the misleading functional requirement statement and document it for the project to validate the requirement input.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb, "A fish rots from the head." Nowhere is the wisdom of this phrase more evident than in the management of large projects or organizations. In the Orion Shield scenario provided, a variety of critical decisions made by a novice project manager jeopardized the success of the project and resulted in his demotion. The project consisted of producing materials to improve the components of the Shuttle Launch Booster, thereby increasing life span and new temperature demands. Though the Orion project was ultimately successful a myriad set of managerial, technical, ethical and legal issues significantly impacted the course of development leading to budget overruns and customer dissatisfaction. By understanding these missteps, a student of management can learn important lessons regarding managerial planning, coordination and overall system design.