Page 74 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

74 SUSTAINMENT MARITIME
SEPTEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
“The key advantages provided through smart sustain- ment are increased operational availability, optimisation of life cycle costs and Australian capability.”
AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIERS
Currently, Navantia Australia works with over 300 Australian companies in ship sustainment, including Able Engineering, MAN Energy Solutions Australia, The Design Technology Company, Capral Aluminium, Radtronics, Sofraco and Shad- bolt. Navantia Australia’s Supply Chain Manager, Effy Pantech- is explained to ADM that these local suppliers allow Navantia to reduce costs and turnaround times whilst increasing efficiency.
“By way of example, Navantia Australia has recently stra- tegically engaged with a local Victorian supplier, Able En- gineering, to conduct a manufacturing task in support of a RAN requirement,” Pantechis said. “Navantia provided OEM drawings and support by way of guidance through our engineering subject matter experts. This resulted in successful delivery of the product ahead of time, achieved cost savings and increased local capability.”
Navantia has indicated that the new agreement is an op- portunity to further ‘Australianise’ the company’s supply chain, particularly in ‘visibility and supply options’ for com- mon parts and systems for the Canberra class, Hobart class and Supply class ships.
“The orchestration of this inventory will provide quan- tifiable efficiencies for the Commonwealth and support the Australian supplier base,” Pantechis said. “This supply chain has reach into a global supply chain network, which provides visibility of current and historical inventory data.
“The Navantia end-to-end Australian supply chain solu- tion is structured to involve the entire process of the supply chain, from product design and procurement of raw mate- rials to delivery of the final product and after sales service requirements.”
However, there are areas where the company believes it may be impractical to seek Australian suppliers. Whilst it did not go into details, these decisions will be made accord- ing to risk profiles and cost effectiveness.
“Navantia Australia believes it is possible to Australianise a supply chain, however, if Australianisation poses risk to naval capability or the Australianisation element is not cost effec- tive examination of these elements need careful consider- ation,” Pantechis said to ADM. “The Navantia Australia sup- ply chain has to reach in to a very large global supply chain.”
WORKFORCE
Nonetheless, the design authority agreement is the latest step forward for a company that has seen significant growth in Australia and will provide the business certainty needed to expand the local workforce. The local subsidiary now employs 126 people in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Perth and has significantly improved its rate of local hiring.
“Currently over 90 per cent of our workforce are Aus- tralian hires, whereas in 2017 there was a 50 per cent split between expatriate and local employees,” James Cowie, Na- vantia Australia’s Human Resources Director, said to ADM. “We feel that the strategic agreement principles document assures Navantia Australia’s place in the Australian defence
ABOVE: All three Hobart class DDGs are now with the RAN.
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