Indian Defence Review

Appropriate Training

Germany has always been synonymous with engineering. They now produce 20 percent of the entire global high end machine manufactured goods. German engineers have a reputation for having more practical background than their counterparts in any other country.

Apprenticeship plays a decisive role in discovering new talent for German companies. The relative lack of practical engineering technology curricula in India stands in bleak contrast to the many and varied technical universities in Germany and their close collaboration with industry. In Germany, hands-on internships at companies span the engineering student’s senior year. Contrast that with what we face. In the Naval Yards, department heads are required to hold a Masters degree whilst many thousands of their subordinate staff have not attained even a high school diploma. The education pyramid both in the Yards and Design Offices remains badly skewed despite the urgency for firm remedial action.

German universities have an outstanding reputation and a long history of close ties to industry. Cooperation between business and education starts young. Companies frequently extend apprenticeships and internships even to high-school students. So young engineering grads and technicians have the opportunity to start careers with an intimate knowledge of their company’s business. Companies benefit because they are effective at developing employees who are productive the day they are hired. There is no guarantee of employment once the apprenticeship has run its course. Yet it is easy to find high-ranking officials in German manufacturer who began their career with the company as apprentices in high school.

Most German manufacturers figure it takes no less than five years to both master a position and prepare a replacement before transitioning to the next step on the career ladder. There are actually two kinds of colleges in Germany that award engineering degrees. The first are called Technical Universities (more emphasis on theory). It takes about five or six years to complete a degree at a Technical University. Graduates typically end up doing R&D or eventually land up in corporate management and education.

The second type is called Fachhochschulen (emphasis on applied technology). They tend to be more practical and deal directly with industrial technologies. Graduates complete their education in four to five years. There are also automation technology institutes which are a little like trade schools. There are quite a number of all three institutions throughout the country. There is also a third route to an engineering degree through practical experience and certification. Germany is a country where even a baker needs a three-year apprenticeship to be eligible for employment. The process of earning an engineering degree without formal classroom time is extremely rigorous.

No country can attain Level 4 leadership until its industrial work force, which includes designers, has a very balanced education pyramid. In the absence of a structured and ordered education pyramid, it is impossible to achieve a national standard of reliability or productivity in the workforce.

Tenure

Innovative design involves creativity. It is not a nine to five job that can be started and finished on tap. Searching for a solution often requires long valuations that stretch for days and nights. Though designers are not motivated exclusively by money it must be ensured that they are genuinely free of financial problems. In particular, the three main factors that affect their motivation and performance of such designers are autonomy, mastery and purpose.

People are more creative when given autonomy on the nature of work to be performed. People perform better at their jobs when they can get into a “flow” and are able to concentrate on their job for a long period of time. Finally, they must feel a sense of purpose while doing their job. Being an innovative arms designer requires one to think outside the box. That freedom is essential and needs to be nurtured by seniors and bosses.

Developing an organizational structure that can identify and promote such creativity is an essential step in the reach for self-sufficiency in design. The current career pattern within the service does not accommodate long tenures or independent thought and action which is very essential if one is to be a great innovative designer. The Navy has preferred patriarchal management structures with time-based promotions.

It is but natural that this can only encourage tried and tested engineering methodology. Until this issue is addressed, it is unlikely that such engineers will choose to be creative designers. They will restrict themselves to speedier run-of-the-mill functional design using proven methods and geometrical similarity that carries a minimum of risks and requires little or no innovation.

Pre-requisites

A Level 4 leadership in naval arms also requires that four very stringent pre-requisites are met. The first condition is that there must be sophisticated and very demanding customers who demand innovation from their suppliers. The second is that there must be rival companies to provide intense competition. This forces companies to constantly upgrade their products improve productivity and reduce costs. Implicit in this statement is the need for employees to update their skill sets on a continuous basis. The third condition requires that the sector enjoy the correct input conditions. This translates to access to required natural resources, adequate power, world class infrastructure, universal literacy, a skilled work force and university research facilities. The fourth factor exists when the upgrading of the sector products is supported by companies in other sectors with identical goals. When these four factors are identified, they usually produce a chain reaction that creates an economic transformation with a host of disruptive innovations. The United States of America has been extremely successful doing just that and that is the principal reason why young talent seeks a landing there.

Conclusion

Nations can attain complete self-reliance in arms technology within a span of fifty years. However, to do so they must have clearly defined motivation and dedicated resources. Thereafter, they must successfully go through the three junior levels of expertise before they can establish a Level 4 expertise. There are a number of identified aids that can accelerate and promote innovative design. Planners would do well to examine if this submission is relevant to their own areas of expertise. Innovation can be accelerated by the introduction of a number of features referred to above. If so, the nation’s planners, services, universities and above all, the society need to address such issues in a holistic manner if they truly desire to attain world class leadership in arms.