Phase I Submission Name of Program: U.S. Navy F/A-18 Displays Performance Based Logistics Program

Transcription

1 Phase 1 Nominees submit, in narrative format, their perspective on why the program excels and identify the teachable lessons in program execution within the past 36 months (beginning January 2012). The focus in this narrative should be how the program has successfully addressed challenging issues or met seemingly difficult requirements. Note that while the technology involved is an aspect of complexity, the technology itself is not being evaluated the leadership and execution of the program are being evaluated. Limit this narrative to four pages, 12 point Times Roman typeface with 1 margins. Include with the narrative a one-page biography of the program leader, including what sets this individual apart as a leader. Identify by name a representative of the program customer, and include phone and information. Customers will be asked for go/no go decision regarding consideration of this program for the Aviation Week Program Excellence Award. Phase 1 is due April 1, 2015 to chedden1@cox.net. You must use the tabular format provided to submit your nomination form. You should use 12 pt. Times Roman font to fill in the tables. Submit your document as a PDF file. Upon completion of Phase 1, narratives will be reviewed for fit for excellence and qualified nominees will then be provided with the Phase 2 submission form by no later than April 21. The Phase 2 forms will be due June 30, Finalists and best practices will be identified by no later than September 7. Submission and Questions Questions and submissions should be directed to Carole Rickard Hedden Project Leader, Aviation Week Program Excellence Initiative chedden1@cox.net Phase I Submission Name of Program: U.S. Navy F/A-18 Displays Performance Based Logistics Program Name of Program Leader: Bill Lynch Phone Number: (319) William.lynch@rockwellcollins.com Postage Address: 400 Collins Rd NE, Cedar Rapids, IA Name of Customer Representative: Donna Vecchione Phone Number: (215) donna.vecchione@navy.mil Category in which you are competing (choose one of the following): Sub-System Sustainment 2015 AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 1

2 Leader Bio Bill Lynch is the Principle Program Manager leading the US Navy F/A-18 Displays Performance Based Logistics (PBL) Program for Rockwell Collins International & Service Solutions (I&SS) Business Unit. Bill has 25+ years of aviation logistics and program management experience emphasizing quality control, supply chain operations and process implementation, uniquely focusing on rotary wing and fighter aircraft technologies. Bill is skilled at developing and integrating logistic performance based solutions in the United States, Eastern and Western Asia, Europe, Central America, and the Middle East. Bill is fully proficient in sustainment and acquisition logistics philosophies, with a particular expertise in International Supply Chain Management and product line deployment. Bill is adept at analyzing complex processes, developing effective teams, and, leading multiple faceted organizations to ensure contractual compliance and customer deadlines. Bill s military and professional training have prepared him well as a leader, and have made him the ideal candidate to lead the F/A-18 PBL Program. Bill is a mature, motivated, and ethical team player, who builds consensus through professional, accurate, and concise communication. Bill gives of himself tirelessly, and always assists others with consideration. Key Professional Assignments Deputy Director Middle East Logistics Operations-Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Aviation Advisor Khamis/Abha Region-Royal Saudi Land Forces Boeing Aircraft Company United States Army Pacific Command, Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge, Rotary Wing Operations. Bill earned a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Operations from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Bill also has minors in Logistics Operations and Aviation Maintenance from Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 2

3 Phase I Program Narrative - 1 Rockwell Collins has an established global service and support capability with a proven history of providing customized support solutions for our customers that minimize lifecycle support costs while providing guaranteed performance. Our service network includes 56 facilities worldwide with over 2000 dedicated and skilled staff providing OEM quality service and field support. Our capabilities include Depot Maintenance Support, Asset and Material Management, Simulation Training Solutions, Integrated Logistics Support, and Field Service Support. These global facilities are staffed with skilled personnel and resources that allow Rockwell Collins to offer a wide variety of support solutions ranging from simple repair support to fully integrated Performance Based Logistics (PBL) sustainment programs. Our customers rely on us for global service and support solutions to enable mission success via: Building trust everyday through proven performance and partnerships Delivering service solutions faster and more cost effectively Focusing on customer needs to deliver best value Rockwell Collins proven success with the U.S. Navy s F/A-18 PBL program began in 2003, and has become one of the largest PBL programs at Rockwell Collins. The equipment supported by this PBL includes the Rockwell Collins Head Up and Head Down Displays (HUD/HDD) for the various F/A-18 aircraft. The program spans the globe and supports both domestic and international partners. The program creates a long term value proposition for the F/A-18 platform that increases equipment availability, manages obsolescence, and improves long-term sustainability through reliability improvements. The teachable lessons we d like to share regarding the F/A-18 PBL program highlight maintaining customer performance levels, exceeding operational requirements and solidifying long standing relationships with our customer during the current option portion of our contract. Historically, the F/A-18 PBL program has been results oriented and was recognized as a Department of Defense PBL award winner in As we execute the current contract period, the structure of that vehicle mandated a 20% reduction in program funding based on the assumption of fleet size reductions and improvements in operational efficiency. The combined Rockwell Collins and U.S. government leadership team was faced with the complexity of maintaining our operational efficiency without impacting customer requirements. This was further complicated as the life expectancy of the F/A-18 fleet was extended so there was no viable option available to expand our performance scope. In 2014, Rockwell Collins dedicated a new PBL leadership team to manage this critical F/A-18 PBL given the additional program challenges we could see looming over the next several years. The goal of the new team was to approach the PBL with eyes wide open to utilize the industry s best practices to support our customer s mission requirements and our commitment to our shareholders. The program embarked on this effort by identifying the following areas for immediate improvement: material cost reductions, obsolescence methodologies, improving 2015 AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 3

4 Phase I Program Narrative - 2 partnership excellence and establishing a service center of excellence for military hardware. Rockwell Collins conducted a series of Cost Reduction Quality Initiative (CRQI) events. The first focused on high cost drivers. It immediately became apparent that to achieve excellence in this option period, we could no longer cover the costs of purchasing new assets for every repair of our filter and Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) assemblies. We challenged our manufacturing facilities to develop indigenous repair capabilities for these assets. This initiative has saved the government and Rockwell Collins and has further yielded 66% material re-usage while maintaining the same quality of the assets that were previously only purchased new. Our next CRQI event highlighted the strategic significance of using the Rockwell Collins Enterprise Sourcing capabilities. The leadership team fully realized the value of combining our production throughput and repair throughput purchasing capabilities to develop long term material buys for service elements and production facilities. In one instance, this philosophy of partnering with our production line allowed us to reduce the material cost of a glass filter element by 50% per item. While this was not an industry leading initiative, implementing it quickly and successfully required our team to break down barriers and processes to drive a new combined quantity purchasing paradigm at our company. The current PBL contract period has further allowed us to optimize our supply chain and energize our enterprise fluency for strategic purposes. The second major area the leadership team addressed was obsolescence methodologies. The leadership team was forced to challenge standard processes and seek a more strategic and proactive method of monitoring obsolescence. After a thorough analysis, the best course of action was to staff a full time obsolescence team dedicated to the F/A-18 PBL program. As these resources are typically shared among several programs, this move again drove counter to some of our company s more traditional methods. We were able to quickly model the efficiency improvements and expedited cost reductions we could achieve with a dedicated team, and our leadership immediately embraced this change. Having a dedicated obsolescence team as part of our staff has allowed us to leverage the Rockwell Collins proactive approach to component obsolescence management. It is firmly based on an internally developed and enhanced Integrated Master Parts and Coordination Tool (IMPACT) which is a comprehensive component selection and management tool that enables users to manage and maintain parts lists for visibility across a programs life cycle. Tracking and Resolution of Obsolete Parts (TROOP) is another tool that we use to greatly minimize the cost and impact of component obsolescence issues. Additionally, Rockwell Collins subscribes to the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) and other third party providers to support our enterprise level proactive and predictive Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) program. Our program dedicated obsolescence team has unlimited access to Rockwell Collins Advanced 2015 AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 4

5 Phase I Program Narrative - 3 Technology Center (ATC) which has a staff of over 150 engineers and technologists, many that are principal level artisans with advanced degrees. This multi-disciplined organization can quickly address system level to chip level obsolescence solutions. This overall obsolescence approach allows for flexibility in dealing with obsolete parts issues throughout the F-18 Displays Product Line Life Cycle. Some of the statistics from this overall effort include: *Over 10,000 parts are analyzed on an annual basis *Since 2014 Rockwell Collins has identified 725 obsolete or predicted obsolete parts for the F/A-18 program. 641 of those parts have been resolved, and the remaining parts are in the redesign process and have been prioritized based on the potential impact to fleet readiness. Partnership Excellence between the U.S. Navy and our team was achieved by continuously monitoring and targeting areas for improvement through our metric based monthly/quarterly repair history analysis. This analysis emphasized that our most significant cost driver was the result of damaged combiner glass. Our relationship and field service presence at the operational sites allowed us to engage in operator-led Boots on the Ground events. These events demonstrated the need for additional awareness in the supply handling and cockpit usage of the Rockwell Collins display suite. A joint action committee was formed between Rockwell Collins, The U.S. Navy Program Office and the Fleet Support Team (FST) Southwest. The committee identified the need for a new HUD protective cover and alternate placement of the serial number nameplates. In order to expedite these critically needed fleet improvements, Rockwell Collins committed funding from the PBL program to develop engineering change orders, purchase cover material and provide serial number labels. These improvements embody the value creation of our PBL partnership. These combined efforts have yielded a 38% YTD reduction in damaged combiner glass and an estimated 26% reduction in repair costs. An additional benefit to the serial number relocation was a notable decrease in man hours expended during the shipping and receiving inspection process. The final, and perhaps largest, challenge the program has faced in the recent past is the repair product line transition we endured over the past two years. Changing program dynamics drove the need to change business strategies and service center footprints. Industry studies confirmed that the majority of customers prefer integrated solutions over having service centers located in close proximity. As a result, the decision was made to centralize our military efforts and establish a service center of excellence in Atlanta, GA. The PBL leadership team was faced with the daunting task of moving in excess of $200M of hardware, test equipment and specialized tooling from around the country while still maintaining our customer requirements for fleet operations. In order to minimize the impact and risk to our military community, we attacked this move in 2015 AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 5

6 Phase I Program Narrative - 4 three specific areas. First, we duplicated our repair capability within the Atlanta Service Center. Next, we challenged the leadership timeline to condense the schedule and selected a period for the move when military operations are typically minimized. Our efficiencies allowed us to complete the move a full 13 days ahead of schedule allowing Rockwell Collins to exceed our contractual performance requirements by 8% during this transition period. Third, we leveraged our long term relationships with our depot partners in accordance with Title 10 U.S. Code 2646 (Core Logistics Capabilities) to increase repair throughput during the transition at both Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRC-SW) and Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRC-SE). Our 12+ year relationship with the FRCs has allowed us to survive industry changes, product line transitions and take advantage of excess labor created by government adjustment periods created by situations like government sequestration. We maintained constant communication with our Navy customer throughout the move process and were recognized by Navy leadership for the seamless transition and commitment to fleet-wide operational readiness. In summary, the F/A-18 PBL program has faced significant challenges in the last 36 months. Despite these challenges, we have consistently found innovative solutions to exceed the expectations of our contract. The efforts of the leadership team were recognized in a case study published in The Naval Aviation Enterprise Air Plan article June Supply material availability prior to the contract award was 46 percent and there were 583 backorders; since 2005, backorders have been reduced to zero and material availability has exceeded 99 percent for both high and low priority requirements. The Rockwell/Navy team has accomplished these significant improvements through a variety of means, including significant corporate investment of material and engineering resources, as well as providing comprehensive training at the organizational maintenance and intermediate maintenance levels. The chart below shows the program s continued success over the last three years. (The Naval Aviation Enterprise AIR PLAN, June 2014, Vol. 37, page 1) The F/A-18 leadership team has carefully assembled and developed the support team. This team of individuals has come together to embrace change, seek innovative solutions and put the warfighter first in all instances. It should come as no surprise that 73% of the core PBL team has served in the U.S. Military and understands firsthand the challenges of maintaining fleet readiness world-wide. We will continue to use our best of breed management processes and technology investments to exceed the warfighters expectations of Rockwell Collins. It is an honor to be chosen for such a prestigious award and we will strive to maintain our core competency of building trust every day AVIATION WEEK PROGRAM EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 6