HPaS Presentation

HPaS, June 2010 Slide 1

How Many Sailors Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?:Interdependencies between technical and organisational design in warships.

David CarrHuman Factors Consultant, BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre [email protected]

Advanced Technology Centre

HPaS June 2010Advanced Technology CentreSlide 2

Q: How many members of a given group does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: N . One to change the lightbulb and (N-1) to behave in a manner generally associated with a negative stereotype of that group.


A sailor changing a lightbulb:

USS Ronald Reagan


How does ship design relate to manpower?

- How does the technical design of a warship impact upon :

- The number of crew required to operate it?- The additional personnel required to

support it?- The structure of the wider naval

organisation?- How can trade-offs be made between the

technical and personnel functions?- Ships and manpower fall within different

scopes of supply- Technical design and personnel are

different cultures


Focus on manpower

Manpower Costs

~ 22% of Through Life Cost

Technical Design• Accommodation provision• General arrangement• Systems design

Organisational aspects• Recruitment• Training• Organisational structures

Manpower reduction• Cost• Demographics• Fewer sailors ‘in harms way’


Manpower in the warship design process

Equipment

Complement

Capability / Functionality

Naval Organisation

Complement Modelling

• Function allocation• Equipment/Manpower

tradeoffs• Complement generation

• Complement validation


A simple complement model

Cruising CruisingAction

Watchkeeping Watchkeeping

Daywork(CumulativeMaintenance)

Daywork

Highest peak = Complement?

Reductions via individual maintenance tasks

Reductions require elimination of all tasks within a duty.

Manpower totals for:

• Fixed tasks (eg watchkeeping)

• Variable tasks (eg maintenance)

Different manpower requirements in various operating states

Caution:

• Actual missions are complex, with competing demands

• Need to model who does what

• Need to balance peaks and troughs between operating states

W/k


“The Manpower Dilemma”

“There’s no point doing anything about maintenance, because we need the same people for damage control.”

“There’s no point doing anything about damage control, because we need the same people for maintenance.”

(See also watchkeeping, replenishment-at-sea, mooring, boarding parties, disaster relief…)


Technical design options and human tasks

Firefighting etc

Detect Extinguish etc

First AidAttackParty

etc

?

WaterwallAttackSpray

SingleHose

Reserve

Option A: Separate nozzles

Option B: Combined nozzle

Firefighting

Automatic detection and spray

Automation • Functional/Task analysis approach

• Human and technical resources allocated against functions/tasks

• A focus for reasoning about the impact of design options on manpower requirements


A word of caution

Detect Extinguish

First A idAttack

Partyetc.

etc.

Firefighting

?

etc.

Manpower-intensive solution

Automated solution

• Is manpower required to run the automation?

• Is it a different type of skill?

• Can an existing role cope with an additional task?

• Have we created a need for a System Administrator or software skills?

• What about when the automation breaks? Do we still need reversionary manning?

• Etc.

Remember: We’re redesigning the tasks!


Looking beyond the ship

Alongside At sea

Cruising CruisingAction

WatchkeepingW/k

Watchkeeping

Daywork Daywork

Assisted Maintenance

Can at-sea maintenance be shifted ashore?

Assisted Maintenance

Alongside


Flexible use of manpower across the fleet

Shore Potential approaches:- Core complement + warfighting

augment- ‘Roulement’ amongst partly

shore-based ‘squads’.- Specialist maintenance by

troubleshooting teams

- Network Enabled Capability to share functionality ship-ship and ship-shore


The ‘People System’ needs to be designed

- Crew design and ship design are interdependent

- Each crew is a component in a larger ‘People System’

- The ‘People System’ has its own, complex design parameters:

- Organisational structure- Recruitment- Retention- Employment conditions- Training- Sustainable career paths- Job satisfaction- Work/Life balance


‘CRUST’ Ratios

1 WO

4 Chief Petty Officers

8 Petty Officers

13 Leading Hands

26 Able Rates

• Senior rates are ‘grown’ from lower rates

• 26 able rates yield ~1 Warrant Officer

• Lower rates aspire to career progression.


Design influences sailors’ career

Career Progression

Seagoing SeagoingShore Posting

• Skills (via Training)

• Support

• Personal development

• Harmony

For sailors…

For ships…


Naval ‘Lines of Development’

Military Capability

Co

mm

on

fac

ilit

ies

Specific platforms

Equipment

Personnel

InfrastructureDoctrine and Concepts

Training

Organisation

InformationLogistics

• Interdependent building blocks

• Avoid ‘platform myopia• A concurrent engineering

problem• Integration is the key to

success

“The levers across the department that contribute directly to the generation of military capability”


How many sailors does it take to change a lightbulb?

One to change the bulb

One to superviseOne to issue the bulb from storesOne to run the tag-out systemOne to sign the training recordOne to cookOne ashore to train for the next crewOne to manage their careers

…etc

Or why not use long-life LEDs?

Or why not automate some functions and then the compartment can be unmanned?


Thank You.

David [email protected]

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HPaS Presentation