Technology advancements in defence, communications, and space are transforming the nature of combat. Innovation is needed for the UK to meet the shifts in the defence landscape and its two priorities of protecting European allies and stability in the Indo-Pacific. As Deloitte outlines, this ambition requires rapid modernisation, innovation and technical development. The UK needs to have the necessary technology, organisations and doctrine to operate in the most effective and efficient way.
Engineering, prototyping, production, aftermarket service; every stage of a product's lifespan needs continuous innovation and persistent labour scarcity may make it more difficult for companies to fulfil their contractual duties. Achieving quicker and more responsive operations is a difficult endeavour considering the current challenges faced by defence companies. One main problem within the defence industry is the engineering skill shortage apparent through the ageing workforce and a shortage of talent, in addition to the need for a cultural shift of developing new ways to deliver defence innovation through accelerating pace and extending product lifecycle. In order to meet the demands for timely delivery of innovative, competitively priced and high-quality products, organisations need to think strategically to position themselves for future success. Many defence manufacturing companies are adopting outside support for manufacturing, supply chain and defence engineering services in order to deliver defence innovation technology faster than developing threats. To achieve this one key aspect is the need for talented engineers to make it possible to provide the high-quality, competitive products that the armed forces require.
UK engineering skills shortage, what is going wrong?
One thing that negatively impacts this drive for innovative defence technology is the fact there is a shortage of engineers UK wide. The defence industry is not excluded from this issue, if anything it is hitting them harder. Specifically, within the defence industry this shortage is down to two main factors, firstly the ageing workforce and secondly the struggle to attract and retain young talent.
An ageing workforce:
A study carried out by The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board predicts that by 2026, 91,000 engineers, nearly 20% of the current UK Engineering workforce, are due to retire. This issue is having a severe impact on the defense sector and nearly half of defence employers are reporting a shortage of engineers, leaving a huge gap in skills, knowledge and experience. Within defence there is a long building cycle in comparison to other industries, a full value cycle from design to engineering services and after-market services can easily be 25 years depending on the product. Often many engineers who were working on the initial project have retired or moved on, causing some of the knowledge that was built on that product to be lost. With one-fifth of engineers expected to retire in the next 2 years the loss of tacit knowledge will be significant, coupled with the inability to hire enough engineers to backfill the roles creates a real problem for the industry.
Shortage of talent:
The struggle to attract and retain young talent is another factor driving an engineering skills shortage. ADS reported that there is an urgent need for the industry to tackle negative perceptions and promote careers in engineering within younger generations. Increasing the emphasis on STEM, establishing connections with colleges and institutions, and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives are necessary to foster an atmosphere that will draw in and maintain a larger pool of talent and ultimately aid in the creation of defence products.
A cultural shift – developing new ways to deliver defence innovation:
Committing to accelerating pace:
The defence industry has a tradition of only innovating in response to a new threat rather than being ahead of the game and innovating for opportunities. The UK's long-standing technological advantage is coming under increasing pressure and needs to adapt to the changing environment. The MoD explains how defence needs to deliver non-traditional and novel ways to adapt with agility to anticipated changes in the strategic environment, allowing them to be able to respond with greater speed. Whilst accelerated pace is a ‘must’ to stay innovative, quality and longevity must not be sacrificed. Innovative solutions need to be worked at all stages of the product life cycle and specifically to mitigate issues early on to reduce problems down the line so deadlines can be met. These obstacles can be overcome with the appropriate strategies, procedures and connections that offer the expertise and know-how to effectively implement and scale revolutionary defence innovation technologies.
Extending product lifecycles:
There is a large focus on increasing longevity and supporting repairs within defence. Due to products taking so long to get from design to market, around a 10-year process, it is important that products are designed for longevity to avoid obsolescence issues. Finding a partner that offers full lifecycle solutions from design to manufacturing and extending product lifecycle can alleviate this issue for defence companies. The MoD has highlighted the importance of finding sustainable and effective approaches to optimise future work and deliver value into the future. Understanding the value that defence engineering services play in extending product life cycles and the relationship between engineering, manufacturing and life support will improve longevity for defence products. New technology needs to be designed for service to allow products to be repaired and returned to use in the field. To achieve this, you need a partner which can deliver across all of these areas.
Add a force multiplier to your defence engineering services.
Choosing to work with a partner will not only fill your resource needs in engineering, but also strengthen your results and accelerate pace, reducing your time to market for defence innovation.
At Plexus, we’ve seen what can be achieved through partnership. We collaborate with different customers in different ways to meet their needs. Our organisation is fully integrated across design, manufacturing and sustaining services.
This means we have a team of local and globally skilled design engineers that are experts in the full product life cycle, from sourcing and supply chain, new product introduction to full scale manufacturing and our sustaining services. Plexus can help keep your product in the market for longer, increase availability and reduce downtime whilst improving profitability. All of our skilled workforce understand their part in how to get innovative products to market. We can step in, and become an extension of your team, to help you get past engineering skills shortages, stay innovative and accelerate pace to market.
A further benefit of choosing Plexus as your partner is while we support your design and development, the IP still belongs to you. This allows you to outsource the work and free up resources to focus on your key priorities whilst still owning the IP. We can fill in the gaps for you, or take on a whole project, depending on your priorities and requirements.
Working with Plexus is more than simply adding resources, you’ll benefit from specialized processes and a wide knowledge base to bring your complex defence innovation to market on-time with the highest quality. If you would like to hear more about our capabilities and expertise in the UK, contact our local team.