Description
The C Vehicle Capability Contract provides and maintains a worldwide fleet of Engineer Construction Plant and Rough Terrain Mechanical handling equipment for the British Armed Forces. The Capability includes cranes, dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers, drilling equipment and rough terrain forklifts. A full range of support services are also provided including spares support, a technical documentation service and provision of training for operators and maintainers.
Key to effective capability provision is the seamless integration between the Service Provider, ALC, a joint venture between Amey and Babcock International Group Plc, and the MOD’s Capability Management Cell (CMC), based at Abbey Wood.
The CMC’s key roles are to ensure the Equipment Replacement and Refurbishment Programme (ERRP) obtains the optimum balance between best commercial practice whilst maintaining and meeting military Capability requirements whilst assuring that equipment provided is sustainable by ensuring it complies with the Support Solutions Envelope.
Innovation
Rationalisation of the C Vehicle Fleet is essential to improve Capability and considerable progress has been made by the introduction of Whole Fleet Management techniques. These are allowing the original fleet of 3,800 equipments to be reduced to a permanent fleet of approximately 2,000, without any loss of Capability. This has been achieved through a leap forward in equipment availability to over 90% and together with high levels of reliability and rapid repair or replacement targets there has been a significant improvement in C Vehicles available for use.
Further efficiency has been gained by reducing models of Rough Terrain Forklifts from 4 to 1, which reduces training and support costs through greater commonality of spares and training courses.
Optimising Capability is a continuous process of improvement in the way we do business and requires everyone using the service to contribute to further improve and enhance the Capability.
This campaign is designed to optimise Capability by removing waste from daily activities which both improves efficiency and reduces cost. The main area for improvement, and to allow effective Whole Fleet Management, is for Units to submit equipment demands in a timely manner as the additional cost in time and money of surge requests is a significant waste of MOD resource. A significant area for improvement is recording of repair and maintenance and spares consumption.
Whole Fleet Management relies on up to date knowledge on equipment condition and being able to make decisions to drive improvements in availability and reliability.
Highlights of our achievements
To demonstrate the success of the service, the C Vehicle Capability has won the PFI Award for the Best Operational Defence Scheme
Locations covered
ALC provides its worldwide services directly from its 16 Regional Offices in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, and its Capability Service Centre at Bicester.