Further memorandum from the Ministry of
Defence
Further information following the Committee's
visit to RAF Marham on 16 November 2005.
CUSTOMER SUPPLY
AGREEMENTS
A Customer Supplier Agreement (CSA) is an internal
MOD agreement defining the output required from a supplier organisation
to enable its customer organisation to meet its Defence outputs.
It sets out the working relationship between the organisations,
the resources involved, and the performance targets against which
delivery will be judged.
CSAs are a key element of the Department's financial
planning and management processes, as they are the mechanism by
which the demands placed on a supplier by a customer, to satisfy
an intermediate or final output, are specified. They make costs
visible and facilitate the continuing drive for greater efficiency.
The CSA agreed by Commander-in-Chief Strike Command
(CINCSTC) and Chief of Defence Logistics articulates the business
relationship between Strike Command (STC) and the Defence Logistics
Organisation (DLO). It formalises the funded outputs, in terms
of quantity, quality, timeliness and cost, and defines the services
provided to STC by the DLO. It also details the services provided
by STC to the DLO in support of depth logistics on STC main operating
bases.
The principal aim is to ensure STC's ability to deliver
the peacetime levels of force elements at readiness and current
military tasks, which CINCSTC is mandated to deliver in the Departmental
Plan and RAF Management Plan.
LEANING AND
PULSE LINE
MAINTENANCE AT
RAF MARHAM
The use of the term "Lean" in a business
environment describes a philosophy that incorporates a collection
of tools and techniques into the business processes. These tools
are incorporated to optimise time, human resources, assets and
productivity, while improving the quality of products and service
to customers.
The application of lean techniques in aircraft depth
support at RAF Marham involves the removal of non-value-added
activity (or "waste") from the process. This includes:
— Unnecessary transportation of
component parts;
— Incoherent work tasking.
The pulse line is a logical outcome when lean
methodology is applied to aircraft maintenance activity. In this
circumstance each workstation is configured with exactly the support
resources required to carry out the work content of that workstation.
Further efficiencies are achieved by streamlining the supply chain.
CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR
INTEGRATION WITH
RAF PERSONNEL
Civilian contractors will be fully integrated
with RAF personnel in the Depth organisation at RAF Marham both
on the hangar floor and within the management structure.
As an example of integration; it is proposed that
Tornado GR4 on-aircraft maintenance at RAF Marham will be contracted
to BAE Systems under the Combined Maintenance and Upgrade programme.
The team will comprise 243 RAF technical staff, 60 full-time BAE
Systems staff, and on average, 46 agency staff. (The number of
agency staff will vary to meet the peaks in maintenance man-hours
required above those provided by Service manpower.)
Important points to note are:
— To ensure operational military
requirements remain the priority, Station Commander RAF Marham
will continue to have full command of RAF personnel.
— All staff work the same shift patterns,
to the same procedures on the pulse line.
— Responsibility for the efficient
operation of all the workstations on the pulse line is held jointly
by the RAF and industry, and the overall responsibility for the
output of Depth will remain with a RAF Depth manager.
— RAF personnel will have a clear
military chain of command leading to Junior and Senior Subordinate
Commanders.
— All personnel will periodically
transfer between workstations on the pulse line to maintain motivation
and increase skills, but the rate of rotation will be controlled
to ensure efficient output.
— There will be a common training
package for both industry and RAF personnel to meet the particular
task requirement.
December 2005
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