One of the biggest areas of change over the decade since Vanguard was the supply chain ‘market place’.

Many traditional suppliers into the submarine programme no longer saw this as the key focus of their business, others had moved on or otherwise changed, and new types of relationship were called for if the procurement demands of the Astute programme were to be achieved.

Change was already taking place, courtesy of shipbuilder ownership changes, latterly to BAE Systems. One of these was the formation of Indirect Procurement Services to focus on all the goods, services and commodities that all business units use – from gas and electricity to hire cars and catering. This realised significant savings for the company as a whole, and also allowed individual businesses to concentrate on procurement directly related to their products.

Another corporate change was to reach agreement with suppliers of consumables – such as nuts, bolts and widgets, or stationery – used by businesses across the company. These suppliers were able to come on site and supply their products directly to their point of use, contributing not only to cost but also efficiency.

Within Submarine Solutions the major innovation was to introduce three supplier forums, covering key strategic suppliers, second tier suppliers and local suppliers. These recognised that a partnership approach was the key to ensuring that the right materials were available at the right time. The forums meet on a regular basis to share information and concerns about the programme and to work together towards a common goal.

At the same time closer relationships were formed with individual suppliers, implementing a joint approach to managing performance and continuous improvement, and measuring that performance against cost, delivery, quality and schedule. Over the course of the Astute programme there has been a huge improvement in these areas.