commercial aerospace and defence organisations

‘BAE Systems (BAE) is the United Kingdom’s largest manufacturing company and one of the largest commercial aerospace and defence organisations in Europe. Its hightechnology, information-driven products and services range from one of the world’s most capable multi-role combat fighters, the Eurofighter Typhoon, to the Jetstream family of commercial aircraft, to the provision of information technology and information systems for e-business to develop and implement logistics, IT and e-capability services. With sales, manufacturing and support sites throughout the world, including the U.K., Europe, the United States, and Australia, BAE employs 88,000 people and generates more than U.S. $ 30 billion in annual revenue. Although BAE has consolidated its competitive position in established markets, and continues to expand into new markets in the Middle East and Asia, its performance in the aircraft part of the business was being impeded by legacy information systems which support the computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) of its aircraft. The distributed nature of BAE’s design and manufacturing sites meant that storing and analysing accurate sets of operational data describing the complex components of the various aircraft types to produce aircraft assembly reports for the production lines became increasingly challenging and resource-consuming. Data describing the same aircraft component parts might need resolution, such as in the case of various part naming conventions and codes. Accessing the data from the many systems was a complex task involving many technical challenges. As the aircraft business of BAE grew so did the likelihood for delays in producing the aircraft assembly reports and other operations data sets necessary for aircraft production management decision making. In the worst case, the production of aircraft on the assembly line would stop until accurate information was available, with consequent schedule and cost implications. BAE’s CAD/CAM staff were storing and analysing data sets sourced from 5 major aircraft design and manufacturing sites spread throughout the U.K., each host to thousands of staff involved in the design and manufacturing process, so that assembly reports and other operations data could be produced. Although the data that the legacy systems processed were held principally in computer files, there were numerous occasions when paper drawings with annotations containing component design and manufacturing information were used to reconcile ambiguities and inconsistencies in the assembly reports. When these data ambiguities and inconsistencies occurred, this gave rise to a sense of uncertainty in the assembly reports produced. What BAE needed was a single repository for CAD/CAM data that would also facilitate the integration of data held in its legacy systems. The company decided to replace its legacy systems with an enterprise- wide knowledge management system which would bring the design and manu- BAE SYSTEMS © Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy facturing data into a single database that could be concurrently accessed by the design and manufacturing engineers. BAE implemented Siemens’ Teamcenter product lifecycle management software and Dassault Systemes’ CATIA CAD/CAM software. Teamcenter can also be configured to take advantage of recent developments in cloud computing using Microsoft’s Azure, IBM’s SmartCloud Enterprise+, and Amazon Web Services. Bringing together Siemens’ Teamcenter and Dassault Systemes’ CATIA has given BAE Systems powerful integrated data management tools. The Teamcenter database includes tools for component markup and rollup capabilities allowing users to visualise the effect of component design changes and configuration selections in real-time. The new solution has produced significant cost savings at BAE in terms of its design and manufacturing data management and storage, while boosting performance. With fewer legacy systems and data files to manage, BAE has been able to meet quality, time and cost requirements by being able to produce complete accurate aircraft component definitions and configurations. BAE’s new design and manufacturing database technology has improved speed-to-market by synchronising upstream CAD and downstream CAM component definitions, thereby enabling better cross-discipline coordination. With these savings, the company has been able to spend more resources on improving data management across the entire enterprise. Sources: “BAE Systems Half-Yearly Report and Presentation 2012” www.baesystems.com, accessed November 8, 2012; “Teamcenter supports aircraft through 50-year cycle: BAE Systems Military Air Solutions” www. plm.automation.siemens.com, accessed November 8, 2012; “CATIA V5 Fact Sheet” www.3ds.com, accessed November 8, 2012. Case contributed by Robert Manderson, University of Roehampton The experience of BAE Systems illustrates the importance of data management. Business performance depends on the accuracy and reliability of its data. The company has grown its business, but, both operational CAD/CAM efficiency and production management decision making were impeded by data stored in legacy systems that were difficult to access. How businesses store, organise, and manage their data has a huge impact on organisational effectiveness. The chapter-opening diagram calls attention to important points raised by this case and this chapter. BAE Systems management decided that the firm needed to improve the management of its data. Pieces of data about design components, manufactured components, and their final assembly had been stored in many large legacy systems that made it extremely difficult for the data to be retrieved, correctly unified so that it could be used in the production line assembly of aircraft components. The data were often redundant and inconsistent, limiting their usefulness. Management was unable to obtain an enterprise-view of the company. In the past, BAE Systems had used manual paper processes to reconcile its inconsistent and redundant data and to assemble data for management reporting. This solution was extremely time-consuming and costly and prevented the company’s information technology department from performing higher-value work. A more appropriate solution was to install new hardware and software to create enterprise-wide repository for business information that would support a more streamlined set of business applications. The new software included enterprise software that was integrated with an up-to-date database management system that could supply data for enterprise-wide reporting. The company had to reorganise its data into a standard company-wide format, eliminate redundancies, and establish rules, responsibilities, and procedures for updating and using the data. A state-of-the-art database management system suite of software helps BAE Systems boost efficiency by making it easier to locate and assemble data for management reporting and for processing day-to-day CAD/CAM transactions for final aircraft component assembly. The data are more accurate and reliable, and costs for managing and storing the data have been considerably reduced. Here are some questions to think about: What kinds of data management problems did BAE Systems experience in its legacy database environment? What work had to be done before the company could effectively take advantage of the new data management technology? Work through sections on ICT infrastructure requirements and Exploring the role and importance of ICT in management. Access your online textbook, Laudon and Laudon (2014), and read the case study of BAE Systems at the beginning of chapter 6. The case study explains how BAE had to adapt its systems and ICT processes to ensure access to important information related to the manufacturing of aircraft. Based on the case study of BAE Systems, answer the following questions: 3.1 Using the data-information-knowledge-wisdom hierarchy, explain the importance of access to information for BAE’s aircraft section to make informed decisions that will ensure the sustainability and progress of the business. 5 3.2 Discuss the data management cycle that BAE followed to ensure that all data within the institution were deposited in a single repository and used during decision-making. 6 3.3 Using examples from the case study, briefly explain what steps can be followed to design a data warehouse for BAE. Your answer should be in the form of a diagram and should only include steps applicable to creating a data warehouse for BAE. 12 3.4 Explain the issue of legacy systems that posed a problem for the aircraft manufacturing division of the business. What lesson related to legacy systems can you learn from this case study and how can you apply it to your work environment? 5 3.5 explain the value of ICT for management in the BAE case study. ‘