Jag’s military drive
How Armed Forces are helping UK car maker
AFTER dodging bullets, mortar and rocket fire in Afghanistan and Iraq, building a car may seem like a stroll in the park. And canny Jaguar bosses have recruited more than 100 ex-services personnel – from the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force – to ensure their make- or-break ‘baby’ XE saloon is crafted with military precision, with 150 more ex-military recruits sought.
The move is already paying off, with the former squaddies bringing ‘can do’ attitudes, skills, flexibility and improvisation.
Much is riding on the XE – Britain’s plucky challenger to Germany’s all-conquering BMW 3-series. It will be Jaguar’s big volume seller and parent Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has spent more than £500m on a special body shop and final assembly line – covering the equivalent of 24 football pitches.
It creates a ‘factory within a factory’ at Solihull in the West Midlands. Later this year a second Jaguar, the F-Pace sports utility vehicle, will join the XE on the line. Jaguar has bet the house on this car as it seeks to crank up production of its leaping cat brand to match the success of Land Rover. So a bit of military discipline is helping it meet its mission objectives.
For example, one ex- services team, maintaining an astonishing 613 hi-tech robots used to construct the XE, adapted a rapidresponse system learned maintaining fighter jets, Apache helicopters, and support equipment.
For Jaguar they built a system of individually- stocked ‘crash trolleys’ which can be wheeled out in an instant to deal with any machine failures.
Each trolley’s contents are specific to a particular type of problem, like the contents of the ‘pod’ in Thunderbird 2, from the television sci-fi show. Others have, off their own bat, made some of the day-to-day processes ‘leaner’ and more efficient.
Andy Macfarlane, 41 – pictured, spent 22 years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, including four tours of Afghanistan, before moving to Jaguar Land Rover at the start of this year. As a Warrant Officer First Class looking after Apache helicopters he was the ‘sergeant major of the workshop’ and admits he has had to temper his tone in civvy street. ‘Having a fresh pair of eyes is helpful. In the military you are encouraged to ask why,’ he says. ‘I’ve amended a few of the processes to make them leaner. We’re always on the lookout for continuous improvement.’
Richard Bainbridge, 27, was a fuel specialist in the Army’s Royal Logistic Corps for six years where he served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now a group leader product coach in the XE Body Shop at Jaguar Land Rover where he has worked for two years, he said: ‘It’s two very different worlds.
‘Life in the services gives you confidence to speak to people whatever their rank. I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I like things in order. Thinking on your feet never leaves you. And I’ve been made very welcome at Jaguar.’
Julie Taylor, 37, spent more than eight years in the Army’s Royal Logistic Corps rising to the rank of captain before joining JLR in February. She has moved from getting ammunition, rations, fuel and spare parts to front-line soldiers in Afghanistan to ensuring cars get from the factory to their showrooms.
‘Some of the logistical planning is similar in terms of getting things to the customer on time,’ she says.
Edward Connett, 34, was in the RAF as a general technician fixing aircraft ground support equipment such as generators, hydraulic and pneumatic gear and military vehicles, including at Afghanistan’s Kandahar base.
The former senior aircraftsman joined JLR a year ago as a maintenance group leader in the aluminium body shop for XE production. He was also part of the tight military team which put together the rapid response ‘crash trolley’ system copied from the RAF.
‘We’ve got it set up now so that if there’s a major robot incident we can quickly wheel out the relevant trolley, depending what the problem is.’ He estimates that around 40pc of the 60 maintenance team are ex-military.
Jaguar XE engineering boss Nick Miller, a former Territorial Army captain in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, said: ‘They are a fantastically adaptable, quick learning and original group.’
He added: ‘The military discipline and thought processes they bring are invaluable.
They are disciplined, have logical thought and prepare in advance. They think ahead: “What if this goes wrong? How might we best prepare?”
‘They are targeted, have clear objectives, and a real can-do attitude. And they are fitting in very well with our traditional workforce. It’s great that Jaguar Land Rover are taking this approach.’