Engineering in industry - what’s it all about?

Engineering in Industry: What’s it all about?
apm Scottish Conference 17 April 2013
John Barr
John.barr2@selex-es.com
Chief Engineer, Advanced Targeting
Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University
A Selex ES Technical Fellow

The Challenge
© Copyright Selex ES. All rights reserved

Early Life
Measurement of Rydberg constant and Lamb shift in Atomic Hydrogen
PhD at Southampton U; HSO at Rutherford Appleton Lab; Lecturer at Southampton U

Industrial Experience
Pilkington
Optronics – now
Thales Optronics
Nortel Networks – then
Bookham Technology –
now Oclaro
BAE Systems – then Selex S&AS –
then SELEX Galileo – now Selex ES
1994 -2000 2000-2003 2003 to date

Overview
Introduction
Selex ES
• Overview
• Aspects of the laser business
– Technical
– Integrated Product Teams
Business Improvements
• Bottom Up – introduction of Cost Review Boards
• Top Down – Structured Problem Solving
Conclusion

Our pedigree
Mission Critical Systems and Defensive Aids Systems
Integrated Networking Solutions for Netcentric Capabilities
Sensors & Systems for Homeland Protection, Homeland Defence, ATC/ATM, VTMS

The Company
ELECTRONIC and INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES for
DEFENCE SYSTEMS - AEROSPACE - DATA - INFRASTRUCTURES - LAND SECURITY & PROTECTION -
SMART SOLUTIONS
Entrusted to deliver technology-enabled systems and solutions for a safer, smarter and more secure society
Key facts
17,900 people
Revenues in excess of 3.5 billion Euros
Italy and UK as domestic markets
Strong footprint in
• US
• Germany
• Romania
• Brazil
• Saudia Arabia
• India
• Turkey
The Divisions
Airborne & Space Systems
Land & Naval Systems
Security & Smart Systems

Our divisions
• Airborne radar
• Sensors
• Electronic warfare systems
• Avionics
• Integrated mission systems
• Airborne surveillance systems
• Tactical UAS
• Target drones
• Simulation systems
• Space sensors and equipment
• Integrated command land and naval
command and control systems
• Land and naval radar
• Electro-optical sensors
• Tactical communication systems and
equipment
• Battlefield protection systems and
equipment
• Homeland and critical infrastructures’
protection and security architectures
• Secure communications systems
• Information technology
• Information management and
automation systems
• Airport systems
• Air traffic and vessel management and
control systems
Airborne and Space Systems
Division
Security and Smart Systems
Division
Land and Naval Systems Division

Edinburgh Site: Radar and Advanced Targeting

Laser Technology Overview
Requirements
• Technical
• Schedule
• Non recurring budget
• Unit production cost
• Reliability
• Time to market
Solution
• Typically 200-300 parts
• Re-use of existing supply chain
• Re-use of parts and assemblies
• Re-use of existing test solutions
Constraints
• Investment
• Economic climate
• Resources
• The Scottish Question
• Re-organisation

Laser Innovations since 2004
Technical
• Rotating Image Optical Parametric
Oscillator
• Nd:YAG ring laser oscillator
• Americium free Q-switch
• Compact mid IR laser
• Thermally insensitive laser diodes
• Athermal pumphead
• Variable divergence for Burst
Illumination
• Laser architecture for manufacturing
• Contamination detection and control
• Improved mount design
(wedge/waveplate)
Analysis
• Diffractive laser model
• Sightline analysis: “Boresight model”
Process
• Cost Review Boards
• Structured problem solving
• New FRACAS process
• Temperature insensitive diodes
• Laser Modelling
• Boresight modelling
With VBG
-300
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
-300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
X-boresight movement (mrad)
Y-boresightmovement(mrad)
Model
Type 1
DVT
Results
Cold
Cold
Hot
Hot
Rate equation
model
Physical optics
Model
Imported Wave front
Error map
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
time (ns)
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
time (ns)
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
time (ns)
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
time (ns)

Integrated Product Team (IPT)
A product focussed IPT covers representatives of all the business functions required to
conceive a product, develop the business case, create a viable concept, deliver the
manufacturing data pack, identify the supply chain and manufacture the product.
The engineering team varies dramatically in size as the project proceeds.
• Typically starting with two or three, increasing to 20 – 25 when the manufacturing
data pack is being created then dropping back to three or four when in production.
• Note that only 1 laser specialist is required ..
Project
manager
Sales and
Marketing
Capability
Project
Engineering
Lead
Laser and
Optics Team
Lead
Laser Engineer
Optics
Engineer
Hardware
Team Lead
PCB design
Firmware
Design
ECAD
Mechanical
Team Lead
Mechanical
Design
Detailed
Design
Thermal and
Stress
Modelling
Systems Team
lead
Integrated
Logistical
Support
Configuration
Management
Test
Equipment
Lead
Procurement
Industrial
Engineering
Operations
Project
Manager
Finance Commercial

Cost Monitoring
Cost Control is a difficult discipline to achieve routinely
• NRE phase is dominated by technical requirements and schedule.
• Transfer to production is dominated by defect resolution
• Steady state production appears to limit cost reduction opportunities.
Opportunities exist to influence cost
• Concept stage (common parts, common test, common supply chain
DFx)
• Monitor through NRE stage
• Optimise during serial production.
• Take advantage of change caused by defect to implement cost
reduction

The Introduction of Cost Review Boards
Product cost control is an obvious requirement in any manufacturing
business.
• Everyone knows it is necessary
• So why is it difficult to achieve?
Need to define product cost and differentiate from non recurring
expenditure.
Need to minimise Defects per Unit
Need to maximise design and manufacturing margin for technical
parameters to allow for variability
• And robustness – allow us to succeed when supplier fails to meet the
requirements.

A sad reality of project life
Typical Project Labour Demand
0
5
10
15
20
25
Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6
Time
Heads
Engineering Engineering support Operations
Non Recurring Expenditure Recurring Expenditure
The grey area – labour driven by DPU

Cost Monitoring
Monthly cost tracker for project X
Jul-09 Sep-09 Nov-09 Jan-10 Mar-10 May-10 Jul-10 Sep-10 Nov-10 Jan-11 Mar-11 May-11 Jul-11 Sep-11 Nov-11 Jan-12 Mar-12
ATP 4
BAE RO 1
ATP 5
BAE 2 / 3
ATP 6
Tranche
Date
£76
£78
£79
£81
£83
£84
£86
£87
£89
£91
£92
£94
£95
£97
£99
£100
UPC
Procurement LT for Long-Lead Initiative Production Completed
Production Outstanding Cost reductions forecast / implemented each month
Planned Implimentation of Cost Reduction Initiative(s)
1 - 3
5 - 6 9
10 - 12
13 - 16
17, 21
Completed
23-2518, 19, 20
21, 22
28-36
completed June
To be completed by
end July
27 completed
May 2011
To be complete
Aug 2011
ATP 4
BAE RO 1
ATP 5
BAE 2 / 3
ATP 6
Tranche
Date
£76
£78
£79
£81
£83
£84
£86
£87
£89
£91
£92
£94
£95
£97
£99
£100
UPC
1 - 3
5 - 6 9
10 - 12
13 - 16
17, 21
Completed
23-2518, 19, 20
21, 22
28-36
completed June
To be completed by
end July
27 completed
May 2011
To be complete
Aug 2011
ATP 4
BAE RO 1
ATP 5
BAE 2 / 3
ATP 6
Tranche
Date
£76
£78
£79
£81
£83
£84
£86
£87
£89
£91
£92
£94
£95
£97
£99
£100
UPC
1 - 3
5 - 6 9
10 - 12
13 - 16
17, 21
Completed
23-2518, 19, 20
21, 22
28-36
completed June
To be completed by
end July
27 completed
May 2011
To be complete
Aug 2011
ATP 4
BAE RO 1
ATP 5
BAE 2 / 3
ATP 6
Tranche
Date
£76
£78
£79
£81
£83
£84
£86
£87
£89
£91
£92
£94
£95
£97
£99
£100
UPC
1 - 3
5 - 6 9
10 - 12
13 - 16
17, 21
Completed
23-2518, 19, 20
21, 22
28-36
completed June
To be completed by
end July
27 completed
May 2011
To be complete
Aug 2011

Design and Manufacturing Margin
Minimising defects at the start of production and throughout serial
production is important.
Selex ES use design margin control to identify areas where the difference
between product performance and customer requirements is too small or
missing.
Tolerance tiering based on (a) the customer specification and (b) known
manufacturing and suppler distributions is used to:
• Identify weak points
• Predict manufacturing yield
• Track predictions throughout the design process.
Parameter Units Tolerance Spec ATP Limit
Design Aim
after inset
Concept
DR
Prelimina
ry DR Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08
Electrical Power
Dissipation (FIRE at
Ambient)
Watts < 170 129 123
122.7 122.7 122.7 122.7 122.7
Power Dissipation Standby Watts < 110 65 60
58.7 58.7 58.7 58.7 58.7
Power Dissipation Warm
up
Watts < 185 138 136
136 135.99 136 136 136
Startup Time Mins < 10 6 6 8 6 5.99 5.99 6 6
Predicted Performance (Ambient)

Root Cause and Corrective Action
Early life failure can be caused by
• Design errors
• Supplier errors
• Manufacturing errors
• User errors (stressing equipment for example)
Need to drive the error rate down as rapidly as possible.
• How?
Failure
Rate
Time
Constant Failure rate
Early life failure
Wear out
MIL-STD-217
Prediction

Problems have always been with us
Thomas Edison is widely cited as the first
person to refer to problems as “bugs” in 1878
• P. Israel, “Edison – A life of Invention”.
John Wiley and Sons Inc (1998), pages
135/177
Individuals tend to be rather good at solving
problems
• We are all descendents of survivors who
were responsible for developing modern
civilisation
Groups tend to find it challenging to deal with
complex problems,
• Problem solving still appears to be an
art rather than a science
The engineering challenge is minimise the
impact of bugs
• Avoid them (best)
• Fix them fast (acceptable)

Start with your error rate: To Err is Human
What is your error rate?
• Let’s assume 1%
What is your correction rate?
• Let’s assume 80%
http://panko.shidler.hawaii.edu/HumanErr/

Scale of the Challenge in Complex Products
Start with an estimate for the number of design decisions made in a task:
• 100 items (dimensions, materials, tests …) per drawing
• 300 drawings
• 1% error rate
– suggests about 0.01*100*300 = 300 errors
• Drawings are just a representation of a complex sequence of design
decisions that influence the selection of materials (modelling, supplier
engagements, cost, …) and other parameters. Estimate these
decisions as at least 10x more in number
– Note that logical errors are harder to find as well, so the error
checking rate is likely to be smaller for these issues.
Conclude that the project team need to identify and correct around 3000
errors.

The Engineering Lifecycle
Activity Number of errors
(1% error rate)
Residual errors
(80% correction)
Design Review #1
Preliminary Design
Review
3000 600
Design Review #2
Critical Design
Review
600 120
Build and test 120+24=148 30
Qualification and
ESS
30 6
Suppliers also make mistakes, so at the build and test stage I have added in an
estimate of parts containing manufacturing errors (estimates of features per drawing
x additional decisions made by the supplier (10x) x three stages of supplier review.
• Calculation is 300x100x10x0.01x(0.2)3 = 24
Reliability?
Workload?
Escaping
errors
impact

Problem Solving Process
The task is to provide structure to the
problem solving team. This is best achieved
by requiring 5 simple pieces of
information.
One slide per piece of information
1. Problem Statement
2. Candidate Root Cause List
3. Containment Actions
4. Root Cause Investigation Action Plan
5. Problem Solving Schedule: to completion of
problem investigation and implementation in
product of the corrective action.
5 Simple pieces – OK I lied!
Problem Statement
Clear, Factual, Quantitative
Candidate Root Cause List
Brainstorm, Analysis
Containment Actions
Mitigate problem,
maintain production
Root Cause Investigation
Systematic action plan.
Verify each identified
cause against problem
statement (Closed loop).
Problem Solving Schedule

The Selex ES approach
Simplified DMAIC approach
• Clear problem statement
• Complete candidate Root
Cause list
• Identify containment actions to
continue to meet customer
requirements
• Action plan (with owners and
dates) to identify Root Cause
• Schedule to implementation
Regular review of progress.
• Show an interest
DEFINE
MEASURE
ANALYSE
IMPROVE
CONTROL
My 5 Pack

Team Dynamics
RC&CA can be difficult and challenging. Some lessons learnt:
• Ensure you have a clear and documented problem statement
– Rely on real data – not project myths and legends!
– Continually compare the current candidate root causes with the problem
statement to ensure validity
• Find a good individual to run RC&CA activities
– Often the best designers are not the best individuals for RC investigations.
– Stop individuals jumping to conclusions (often to their favourite concern)
– Focus on probability of ROOT CAUSE when identifying a plan of attack.
• Use the supplier if necessary – they have the real expertise in the part they
provided you
• Focus on the point of embodiment and not just the solution to the problem
(ensure the published schedule is relevant to the business).
Most Root Cause’s are tediously simple. Only occasionally due you come
across a truly new issue.

Benefits of a robust RC&CA process
Rapid burn down of defects
• Improved yield (lower cost)
• Improved reliability (better customer relationships, repeat business,
lower cost of warranty)
• Availability of individuals who might otherwise be supporting
production or repairs to develop new products
Improved customer communications
• The format of the report is clear and simple
• Suitable for internal stakeholder and external customer
communications

Conclusion
Selex ES successfully re-entered volume
laser production in 2005.
Technical Innovation aligned with
manufacturing excellence has underpinned
success
• Queen’s Award for Enterprise in
“Innovation in the design and Production
of Military Lasers” in 2011.
Customer acceptance has enabled the laser
business to contribute to export growth and
the winning of the Queen’s Award for
Enterprise for international trade in 2010
Internal process improvements has
benefitted:
• Product Cost
• Product Reliability
And finally: 2013 is 50 years since Selex ES
(as Ferranti) first started to manufacture
lasers.

Acknowledgements
A large design and manufacturing effort
naturally depends on inputs from many
dedicated people over a long period of
time. While not all can be mentioned, here
are a few:
• Neil Anderson, Paul Bell, Colin Bottomley, Andy
Carr, Sandy Carr, Stuart Duncan, Chris Davies, Al
Downie, Graig Findlay, Graham Friel, Trevor Garlick,
Gavin Hall, Dave Houston, Margaret Hancock, Stuart
Henderson, Andy Irvine, Graham Jeffrey, Ian Jones,
Eddie Kielbe, David Legge, Richard Levinsohn, Brian
Liston, Neil MacDonald, John MacLean, John R.
MacLean, Iain McCall, Murray McKenzie, Allan
McNeill, Charlie McVicar, Scott Niven, Jonathan
Norris Janet Paris, John Peacock, Ian Reid, Mark
Reid, Keith Rennie, Rob Scott, Andy Sijan, Austin
Simpson, Paul Thomson, Dan Thorne, George
Threadgall, Mike Troughton, Jonathan Truby, Paul
Vincent, Stevie Waldie, Richard Watson, Helen
Wardle, Cliff Williamson, Tom Willis, Dave Wilson,
Andy White… and many others
Here is a good text on life in a large
engineering organisation!

Engineering in industry - what’s it all about?

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