"When we purchased our first PC, it had a 10MB hard drive and we thought `Wow, how are we ever going to fill that?" Kevin Moak, Chairman & President, Gibbs & Cox
degree is not necessarily the golden ticket that it was, and that perhaps an engineering career, while not as sexy, has more staying power. Another challenge is the cost of constant technology improvements. It is constantly changing and updating, and you have to continually buy the updated version of software, for example. It is a significant investment, but as I said before, it does add to the overall efficiency of the operation. What are the two or three "hot button" topics that you envision will command the lion's share of your attention in the coming year(s)? KM 1. Manpower costs: The navy is serious about reducing manpower costs across the fleet, and
the Littoral Combat Ship is a great example of this manpower reduction. We must help the Navy reduce their manpower costs. 2. Commonality: The Navy has studied and worked on it for a long time, but there is a real struggle there. Clearly you have to reduce the number of parts in the Navy's parts catalog, and you have to do this through commonality. 3. Addressing the way in which the Navy buys ships: The talk is always about lowering life cycle costs, but the pot of money used to procure ships, and the pot of money used to maintain ships are different. Sometimes you're not spending the money up front to reduce the long-term costs of the ships.
June 2009
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