Rolls-Royce Submarines has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Siemens to advance digital optimisation and improve efficiency across its engineering operations, according to the company.
The agreement, signed during the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) event in London, aims to reduce time to production for new Rolls-Royce technologies while cutting costs and risk in increasingly complex manufacturing and operational environments.
Rolls-Royce stated that the collaboration will also strengthen UK sovereign defence capabilities through enhanced digital integration and data-led design.
Rolls-Royce Submarines, which employs more than 5,000 people, designs, manufactures, and supports the nuclear reactors that power all Royal Navy submarines. The company said the partnership with Siemens would use the Siemens Xcelerator open business innovation platform to accelerate innovation, improve productivity, and enhance efficiency.
Lee Warren, Engineering and Technology Director at Rolls-Royce Submarines, said in the press release: “Harnessing the power of digital, and collaborating with global experts such as Siemens, will make us more efficient and ultimately provide an enhanced service to the Royal Navy by getting submarines in the sea quicker and accelerating the maintenance of those already in service.”
Adam Raine, IT and Digital Director at Rolls-Royce Submarines, added: “This collaboration will further enhance our capabilities in the digital space and unlock key improvements in how we deliver on our commitments. We can, in essence, create a ‘digital backbone’ that supports the full lifecycle of nuclear naval reactors.”
Brian Holliday, Managing Director for Digital Industries at Siemens UK and Ireland, said: “The agreement strengthens and formalises a 25-year long Siemens and Rolls-Royce relationship. As technology and the external environment develops at pace, the imperative for closer collaboration and best practice sharing is clear.”
Nicole Sturm, Global Head of Aerospace and Defence at Siemens, said: “By sharing best practice and working together to enhance skills, Rolls-Royce Submarines and Siemens are accelerating productivity and laying the foundations for factories of the future that are underpinned by cutting-edge digital technologies.”
You can try and solve the problems digitally or you can hold a proper stock of spares.
If you don’t have the spares to hand and the capacity to fit them Mr Long Tail will show up with Mr Failure and you have a broken submarine waiting for parts etc.
Hi SB, This has been a long time coming and to not do this right now would be insane. Here in Derby we have 2 Rolls Royces each are fire walled from each other and very separate entities, whilst both produce Uber High Tech products they are miles apart in how they operate.
Aero is commercial and military and has expanded rapidly to design, build and maintain 000’s of Aero engines for hundreds of customers worldwide. To do that it uses digital tech to enable documentation, usage logs, incidents, updates, technical info and parts distribution to meet the users requirement.
All those users want is quiet, clean, efficient products that spend as little time on the ground as possible, happily RR have it pretty well nailed, but that requires huge investment in networks and distribution systems. So mega money.
RR Submarines has been a completely different kettle of fish, high tech, very low volume, exacting standards of precision be spoke engineering for just one very unreliable customer who’s record of paying for anything other than an immediately obvious need is absolutely zero. Spares for just about anything just didn’t really happen, which is why when things go wrong (see Vanguard 2nd LOP(R) for example) it’s has to be either built or scrounged from another boat.
Like most of MOD it’s been run on a multi billion £ shoe string !
Now things have got to change and HMG has had to stump up because the Political consequences of not doing so would be Tsunami like.
We now have to design, build and maintain a far larger fleet of brand new Modular SSN(A) than ever before (14-20) and for 2 customers, one of which is on the other side of the world and relies on U.K to maintain the actual reactor.
Our new Antipodean customer has a Political class and Press that just don’t play nicely so turning round when something breaks and saying “Oops sorry old boy but the part you need isn’t stocked. But when we remember who the OEM was we will get one ordered up for you, meanwhile can you find something for the crew to do for the next 3 /5 years !
Yes it’s well overdue !