Babcock

From Financial Solution to full ERP System

From first implementing IFS as its financial solution 20 years ago, today Babcock International is using IFS as a full ERP system across multiple business units. Building, managing and maintaining highly complex critical assets as part of multiple, high-value projects, Babcock has completed over 4,630 projects with IFS software to date.

IFS is utilized across multiple business streams, with projects ranging from advanced manufacturing to ship refitting and engineering. Approximately 12,000 Babcock Marine engineers work across four main sites: Rosyth (Fife, Scotland); Bristol; and UK Naval bases at Clyde (Faslane, Scotland) and Devonport (Plymouth).

The scope of work undertaken by Babcock is wide, and its scale is impressive. In Bristol, the design team develops new complex assets. Babcock’s Rosyth facility assembled the UK’s aircraft carriers, alongside other commercial work. In Devonport, Babcock looks after the nation’s warships and submarines, and manages refits. And, as the Ministry of Defence commercial partner at HMNB Clyde, Babcock manages the base looking after Britain’s nuclear assets.

Explains Sean Donaldson, Managing Director of Babcock Energy and Marine, and the Rosyth site: “We’re involved in everything from managing critical infrastructure to delivering operational maintenance, upgrades and repairs to vessels. With 12,000 users across the Marine division, and up to 1600 online at once, we rely on IFS as our single point of truth.”

Driving Industry Standard Compliance and Reporting

Babcock uses IFS Applications to manage maintenance for assets on its sites, tracking both planned and reactive works. The team is currently introducing IFS reporting that will benchmark performance and against SFG20 compliance, the industry standard maintenance specification for building engineering services.

Barry Logan, ERP Solutions Manager, Babcock, knows the importance of Babcock’s data. “As our business looks to develop bigger revenue streams from managing fleets and assets on behalf of customer owners, the depth of performance data and insight that IFS can provide will be invaluable. A new dashboard will also allow the team to set and monitor key performance indicators.”

Babcock has now implemented 90% of the entire IFS suite of modules across its defence and maritime operations, enjoying advanced application and reporting functionality. “IFS software is developed collaboratively with Babcock, refined to precisely meet the company’s diverse commercial and user role needs”, Logan adds.

Solution Flexibility for the Most Demanding Projects

Babcock sets the bar high when it comes to system capability. “The software needs to be extremely flexible,” explains Logan. “The activities across our sites are all very different, ranging from building ships, to refitting ships, to looking after submarines, to designing new pieces of kit straight from the drawing board.

“For example, each aircraft carrier is 280 metres long, weighs 65,000 tonnes and comprises some 3,013 compartments. Over the 10-year build, we had to split the program into almost 500 projects. That’s over a quarter of a million shop orders, almost 600,000 work orders, millions of operational lines and 1.4 million of material lines.”

Babcock’s customers benefit directly from IFS too. “As a project-based company, we connect everything to a project,” Logan explains. “IFS gives our customers confidence because all the materials, sub-contracts, costs and labour are all captured by the solution. The level of detail and ability to drill down if needed works for everyone involved.”

Instant Project Visibility with Intuitive Lobbies

IFS makes performing day-to-day roles easier for staff. “We’ve put a lot of effort into delivering IFS Lobbies for each of the major roles in the business,” says Logan. “Lobbies are powerful because they instantly summarise and show where actions are needed. Everyone can understand red, amber and green flags, and can quickly prioritise and investigate what needs to be done each morning. Interactive Lobbies make IFS far more effective for the average user, whilst still giving power users full access to run detailed queries and reports. Being intuitive to use, learning time is minimal.”

Business solutions allow innovation, and a good example with IFS Applications is the mobile capability now afforded by IFS. “We’re just starting to use mobile work orders on iPads, allowing real-time data exchange without access to a laptop. We can already see that this digitalisation will be a game-changer, optimising efficiency, improving productivity and saving time,” says Logan.

About Babcock International Group

For more than a century, Babcock, the Aerospace and Defense company, has been trusted to deliver bespoke, highly-skilled engineering services. We help customers in the UK and around the world to improve the capability, reliability and availability of their most critical assets within the four market sectors of Marine, Land, Aviation, and Nuclear, underpinned by a deep understanding of technology integration, unique infrastructure, and specialist training.