As part of the delivery of a new Ammunition Plant at Mulwala, the Department of Defence required that the prime contractor, Lend Lease, demonstrate that the propellant production facility had the capacity to meet surge delivery targets. Lend Lease engaged SMS to model proposed system designs and test likely performance. Modelling highlighted several design issues which were incrementally rectified until a workable facility was completed.
The Preparedness Branch of VCDF engaged SMS to develop a model to forecast future personnel levels across the ADF organisation structure over a 4 to 20 year period. This model used planned intake numbers for ranks within each of the services, then estimated likely force strength at various points in time. The system was aimed at addressing issues related to force structures, recruitment and training of personnel, training delivery capacity requirements, system constraints and force transition impacts.
SMS was engaged by Boeing to develop a ‘Mission Support Performance Simulation’ analysis tool, which informed their successful tender to supply aircraft to the Australian Department of Defence (Project Wedgetail). The model simulated the operation of a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft to assess their likely on-station performance. It assessed the time to return the aircraft to service after a failure depending on the availability of spares and the nominal repair time. The ultimate output of the model was expected aircraft availability depending on variables such as episode duration, spares holdings and the number of aircraft in the fleet.
SMS developed a suite of tools for the Integrated Logistics Division of the Army Logistics Training Centre (ALTC) at Bandiana, to allow the ALTC to ‘play out’ solutions put forward by participants in logistics courses in order to evaluate their effectiveness. SMS created a Concept Demonstrator Model which enabled the visual animation of a deployment of a force incorporating appropriate times, speeds, and rules applying to the movement of vehicles, aircraft and rail resources. The model highlighted any deficiencies in the deployment and collected statistics which allowed evaluation of the proposed solution. Building on the experience gained in the development of the model, SMS built a toolbox of constructs to enable ALTC personnel to easily put together similar course evaluators for other transport, maintenance, medical evacuation and supply functions.
