Unlocking Potential: Building a Bright Future for Careers in ILS

Russell Gray | Head of Support Engineering | July, 2023

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Hopefully, I’m not alone in acknowledging there is a shortage of Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) professionals on the market. This certainly seems to be a theme at the events I attend. And as an employing manager, I have toiled over the past few years to recruit personnel within the discipline, a claim supported by the multitude of relevant job adverts on LinkedIn, spanning both the MOD and Industry sectors. Moreover, there also appears to be a lack of early career professionals working within the domain.

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The combination of the above presents a problem for the discipline that does not appear to be going away any time soon. After all, whoever went to a career fair a said “I want to be an ILS Engineer”?

 

[Side rant: for the avoidance of doubt, I am using the term “ILS” to cover IPS, TLS, ISS etc. Just creating a
job role title for an ILS job spec currently requires a discussion and explanation! How can a non-expert
understand what we do if we as a community of professionals cannot agree on common terminology?
Lee Fitzsimons has already written some thought-provoking stuff on this subject on LinkedIn – worth a read.]

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One issue I have encountered over the past 12+ years, that I believe contributes to the shortage of resources, is that we as ILS experts don’t have the best reputation within our working environment e.g., a Project Team. Let’s call it “street cred”.  Here’s just a few of the phrases I've heard that highlight this:

• "ILS is for people who couldn’t become real engineers".

• “Go and speak to the grey beards in ILS.”

• “ILS is too expensive…. We’ll cost it later.”

This unfavourable stereotyping does not encourage bystanders to pursue work within the field. Worryingly, these comments originate from the domain within which we primarily work – Defence – the most likely source of future ILS professional candidates. It’s now cultural. And, while some of these may be tongue in cheek, there's no smoke without fire.

 

What if?

For the last few years, part of my responsibility has been to provide an overview of what we do in ILS to new starters and graduates. An introduction that overlaps with my personal life e.g. when I’m asked at a dinner parties “so, what do you do for a living?” (for the record I’ve discovered “Defence Consultant” lands better than “Reliability Engineer”). In delivering this messaging, I've found myself continually attempting to improve our "street cred" by answering specific queries in order to better represent the discipline. Questions like:

• What if I could prove to you that ILS was cool and/or fashionable?

• What if I could make ILS more appealing to young professionals?

• What if I could dispel the above stereotypes?

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We’re constantly bombarded by swanky graphics and images on social media of what the future could look like within Engineering, and other specialist disciplines (see recent FCAS image for example). Why can’t we do similar for support? Or just better than what we currently do? We've frequently used examples like a bicycle to demonstrate what we do! Admittedly, I'm guilty of this, but it's hardly edge of the seat stuff.

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ILS can provide a career involving technical challenges, problem solving, modelling, variety, and exciting projects to work on (to name but a few). So why do we struggle to answer the above questions?

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Then, when watching an old Avenger’s movie with my two sons, I discovered something I could use as a case study which has helped me to talk about the discipline and address some of the above questions. And I felt I should share it with you. Specifically, the short sequence from 0:52 to 1:28 in this clip. Warning – action hero fight scene violence discretion required.

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So that’s why there’s a Hulkbuster cover image to this article!

Here we have a Hollywood budget demonstrating what a gold-plated support solution could look like, delivered by one of their biggest brands – the Avengers.

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Proof, no less, that Stark Industries apply the principles of ILS in delivering the Ironman capability. To clarify, let’s look at some of the facts from the clip:

• Ironman (Hulkbuster!) received 1st Line support from VERONICA.

• Following battle damage to the left arm of the Hulkbuster suit, a local spare was provided, and full automated repair conducted within about 30 seconds of the incident! Minimal downtime.

• Ironman and Stark industries could not have built VERONICA and this type of support functionality as an afterthought:

  • It must've been inherent in the conceptual design and subsequent requirements e.g. I need to be able to repair major damage in seconds, and in the battlefield.

  • This would require some form of Damage Mode Effects Analysis (“DMEA” – hands up anyone who’s done one of these as an extension to their FMEA activity recently? Maybe even a task better suited to COTS procurement?).

  • This indicates Stark Industries considered a maintenance policy early that has driven design influence.

 

I could go on. These are some of the fundamentals of ILS, such as designing for support. Anyone recognise the phrase “repair as far forward as possible?” Often this is what we strive to do as a discipline, and here we see Stark Industries doing the same. That’s pretty cool. And if you don’t agree, my two sons beg to differ (and they’re cooler than you!).

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OK, the link may be a bit tenuous. For starters we don’t have Stark Industries budget, nor do we design and manufacture Ironman suits (yet). However, we can claim to work with the closest thing to this today. Who wouldn’t want to work for/with major Defence Manufacturers, like Stark Industries, and help design in future support capability like VERONICA?

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Call to Arms

Reflecting on the intent of this article, i.e. Building a Bright Future for Careers in ILS, some great work is already being done. TD-Info deserves credit for allowing early career professionals to attend their events for free, as well as for initiatives like Vanguard. It’s also been encouraging to witness an increase in numbers (including new faces) at events like SupportNet - which CDLS deserves credit for.

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But we can all play our part to support these initiatives by driving from the bottom up. This starts with our messaging to those who are new to the subject, those first engagements at the coal face. Using the Avengers case study has helped me, it may help you as well (to pitch ILS to the masses!).

There is no silver bullet here, and I don't have all the answers, so I hope you weren't expecting them all (I apologise if you were). But if nothing else I hope this sparks debate and - more importantly - stimulates thought for that next chat about ILS.

 

After all, remember what the "L" in SHIELD stands for?…..