Industrial Strategy - Capitalizing the Canadian Forces

[Good2Golf]

Someone at the CDS or MND level needs to take the service chiefs out back behind the wood pile and beat them until they agree to a Joint Force Construct, and out the good of Canadian Defence first as opposed to petty squabbles about fiefdoms.

Yes, but that won’t happen…ever…because:

The Scorpion and the Frog.

 

[Kirkhill]

I love "Vision" and "Mission" statements. Why have one (purpose, aim) when you can have two?

What I want to do.

What I'm paid to do.

 

[KevinB]

Yes, but that won’t happen…ever…because:

The Scorpion and the Frog.

I am an eternal optimist...

 

[Good2Golf]

I am an eternal optimist...

Good on you, my friend. I never got past ‘pragmatic realist’ (aka. cynic).

 

[dapaterson]

And get away from the pandering, pork barrel approach so that everything has to be made in Eastern Canada.

oops.... I assume a puppy just died somewhere

Like those Army radios where the company had to be bailed out of bankruptcy and the CAF accepted many less than contracted? In that notorious eastern province of (checks notes) Alberta?

 

[Kirkhill]

If we accept what the market has available, and accept that we have to work with what is available, then we can buy from open production lines at current market prices. We can also buy a few/many extra for the warehouses.

Once it has been decided how to work with what is available then it also becomes easier to buy new stuff to replace old stuff or even to do new things.

40 years working in the food industry and I can't think of one single instance where I have found it necessary to engage a company to build something that requires a dedicated research program in order to gain a competitive advantage. There is more than enough flexibility to be found using what the market has on hand and is willing to support.

 

[Kirkhill]

Yeah, but the military is famously awful at translating what it knows works well in a battlefield context to more mundane corporate leadership challenges.

Viz:

About the Defence Ethics Programme​

Defence Ethics Programme​

The Defence Ethics Programme (DEP) is a comprehensive values-based ethics program put in place to meet the needs of the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), at both the individual and the organizational levels.
The aim and primary focus of the DEP is to foster the practice of ethics in the workplace and in operations such that DND employees and CAF members perform their duties to the highest ethical standards.

Vision​

To maintain ethical integrity by consistently applying the highest standards of values and ethics.

Mission​

To guide DND and CAF personnel in choosing conduct that is consistently ethical.

About the Defence Ethics Programme - Canada.ca

Documents and references related to the establishment and maintenance of the Defence Ethics Programme for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.

www.canada.ca

The key element is Time.

The Peace Time Army has too much of it available.

Civilian companies and armies at war do not.

Parkinson's law is the adage that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."[

 

[Kirkhill]

Back to Inventory Management

Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’​

Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’

Businesses exposed by pandemic shortages and shipping bottlenecks are being forced to rethink their operations

www.ft.com

For decades, companies prioritised costs above all else when selecting suppliers, building factories and deciding how much stock to keep on hand. This philosophy was often dubbed “just in time” because it emphasised keeping inventory to a minimum and using short-term, flexible contracts that could be adjusted quickly to changes in demand.

But the drive for efficiency encompassed far more than that. Companies also moved production to low-wage locations, consolidated orders to maximise economies of scale, and tried to minimise their physical presence in high-tax jurisdictions.

Some businesses are increasing the inventory they keep on hand and entering into longer term contracts with key suppliers. Others are diversifying their manufacturing to create regional hubs with local suppliers and investing in technology to give them greater advance warning of potential bottlenecks. Some companies are also investigating ways of working with their rivals to share information to develop emergency back up facilities without falling foul of competition regulators.

“What companies love to do is to optimise working capital. So many manufacturers went to just-in-time inventory, and, pre-pandemic, that worked pretty well,” Carol Tomé, chief executive of UPS, said at a recent industry event.

“But when the pandemic hit and everything was shut down, including manufacturing, and then the economy started to open and the demand . . . jumped, well, that just-in-time inventory didn’t work any more. Companies are now thinking about, I need ‘just in case’ inventory,” she added.

The Australians were past masters at this due to hard-learned lessons in WW2. The Mother Country could not be relied on when its need was great. These days America's need is challenging its abilities. Australia is stepping up its domestic capabilities.

On 31 March 2021, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the acceleration of a Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise. The Enterprise aims to enhance Australia’s self-reliance and supply chain resilience with a longer-term aim of developing a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability.

Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise | Business & Industry | Defence

The Sovereign Guided Weapons & Explosive Ordnance Enterprise will provide the framework to support Defence’s inventory of guided weapons and explosive ordnance and will comprise multiple capabilities.

www.defence.gov.au

It’s time for Australia to develop its own guided missiles — otherwise, we’ll need to keep asking for the codes

The collapse of the US operation in Afghanistan means the day might come when Australia needs access to the design of the weapons it uses.

theconversation.com

Meanwhile, from the same Financial Times article

Chinese energy groups have been rushing to sign liquefied natural gas contracts that extend as long as 20 years, more than double the old normal length

Seems like the Chinese aren't giving up on fossil fuels just yet. Exploiting an opportunity? Or filling a gaping hole? Or both?