Submarine Manufacturing Process Is Highly Commended
19 Jul 2010 | Ref. 148/2010
Farnborough, UK -- The BAE Systems team at Submarine Solutions has been highly commended at a prestigious UK manufacturing awards ceremony.
The Company was praised in the Technology Strategy Board Award for Process Innovation category at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Awards.
The team was shortlisted for its process improvement activity over the past four years at Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria UK, where BAE Systems is building the Astute class of nuclear powered attack submarines for the Royal Navy.
The submission covered lean manufacturing implementations over a range of facilities at Barrow, and construction improvements in its main build hall – the 51m high, 58m wide and 260m long Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH).
The Submarine Solutions team beat off entries from across the country to reach the final, but just missed out on the silverware at the awards hotel at London’s Dorchester Hotel.
Managing Director John Hudson said: “I would like to congratulate the team on being highly commended for the award. Their success represents a great deal of hard work and is thoroughly deserved.”
Matt Anderson, head of operations successor at BAE Systems’ Submarine Solutions, who put together the submission with Martin Chapman, process engineering manager, said: “We submitted the process improvement activity we have undertaken over the past four years.
“This started with the Pipe Shop and included the Sheet Metal Shop, the Nuclear Build Facility, the New Assembly Shop (NAS), and Plate Preparation facility and the DDH. The principles for each were the same, but how they were deployed differed from one facility to another.”
Judges visited the Barrow-in-Furness site during the selection process, and some of those had visited before when the NAS won the Process Innovation Award in 2004. Matt said: “They did notice a big difference on the site since their last visit.”
Matt had only 15 minutes to make a presentation to a panel of seven judges, so he showed video clips of personnel who had been involved in the improvements, and had moved from being sceptical, to championing the benefits.
The business also made the finals with entries for People Effectiveness, based on skills evaluation, training opportunities and its PRIDE reward and recognition scheme, and Best Partnership between Business and Education, based on links with the community and local schools.
Engineering graduate, Sara Thurman, who co-ordinated all three entries for the awards, made the presentations to the judging panel.
Mark Prisk, the UK Minister for Business and Enterprise, who attended the London event, said: “Manufacturing and engineering are vital to the economy. The UK is renowned for its high-value, advanced manufacturing products and solutions and we must ensure that companies, like those recognised by the Manufacturing Excellence Awards, are given the support they require to exploit their competitive advantage and thrive in an increasingly competitive world.”
MX is Europe’s most established and recognised best-practice manufacturing benchmarking scheme. Throughout the competition, a leading panel of industry experts from organisations including Manufacturing Advisory Service, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Barclays Corporate and Autodesk have been on hand to provide free business advice – worth more than £20,000 – to the entrants.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is a global defence, security and aerospace company with approximately 107,000 employees worldwide. The Company delivers a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. In 2009 BAE Systems reported sales of £22.4 billion (US$ 36.2 billion).
For further information, please contact:
Alyson Russell-Stevenson
Tel: 01229 873382 Mob 0752 539 0636
aprs@baesystems.com
Kate Watcham, BAE Systems
Tel: +44(0)1252 383550 Mob: +44(0) 7793 420731
Kate.watcham@baesystems.com
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