Management Consultancy Case Studies

At a glance:

Client: Nigerian Air Force (NAF)
Industry: Defence & Aviation
Initiative: Modernisation of Nigerian Air Force’s procurement, logistics and
warehouse management policies, procedures & practices.
Overview: Conducting a critical review of NAF’s procurement and supply chain
management, followed by a strategic overhaul of key processes
and control systems, establishing a culture of best practice and
continuous improvement at Nigerian Air Force.

Nigerian Air Force (NAF) approached London Business Training & Consulting (LBTC) in early 2019 citing challenges with its Supply Chain seeking sustainable solutions for its ongoing issues. This requirement warranted commissioning a Management Consultancy project involving the following key phases:
1) Scoping
3) Delivery
2) Design
4) Post-delivery handover and support
This is an ongoing project whereby NAF and LBTC are continuously engaged with the potential for further on-site support delivered at the client’s premises in Lagos, Nigeria.

“We look forward to greater engagement with LBTC to raise the level of NAF’s Supply Chain Management to that of global benchmarks.”
AIR CDRE ADEWALE OGUNMODEDE,
Director, Logistics

Background
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, one of the largest in Africa consisting of 15,000 personnel and aircraft including Chinese Chengdu F7s, Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jets, armed helicopters and military transport. With seventeen (17) bases spread across Nigeria, NAF was planning an overhaul of its Procurement and Supply Chain Management. In this context it was seeking expert advice and support to achieve this objective.

Project Management

SCOPING: A Project Consultant visits NAF bases to meet with their logistics & material control teams and garner a thorough understanding of their Procurement & Warehouse Management systems, and their most acute challenges. The Consultant also interviews Procurement & Logistics Officers including Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors, to ascertain their level of expertise and the support they require to overcome issues facing NAF’s Supply Chain.

DESIGN: The Project Manager in conjunction with the Consultant in-charge of the scoping phase, and the ones responsible for the delivery phase, designed a suitable project plan which in this case involved a 3-week visit to London for a delegation of key Procurement & Logistics officers – especially those on a Leadership fast-track. A programme of meetings and visits were scheduled alongside debriefing and training sessions to agree and devise Action Plans to be implemented immediately upon the delegates’ return to work.

DELIVERY: Over a period of 3-weeks a delegation of 15 officers from NAF attended a programme of workshops and visits to develop solutions and establish links for its most pressing Procurement and Logistics challenges. This included meetings with the President of the Royal Aeronautical Society – Rear Adm Simon Henley, Chairman and Founder of the Aviation Logistics Network – Ralph Perkins, and visits to Davies Turner Warehouse facility in Berkshire and the Airline Economics exhibition at London Olympia.

COMPLETION: Upon completion a Project Closeout report was presented to the client detailing solutions that could be implemented for NAF and the advantages and pitfalls of doing / not doing so. The report also included a skills gap analysis of the 15-delegates who visited London with suggestions for their further development. Finally, LBTC proposed future engagement options that would benefit NAF including the Project Leader visiting a key air base in Nigeria for on-site support.

Programme
Meeting with Rear Admiral Simon Henley – President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, who incidentally was on a Parliamentary Committee regarding drones and their broad impact on British airspace.

Meeting with Ralph Perkins, Chairman & Founder of the Aviation Logistics Network – an independent association of international logistics service providers, specialising in the transportation of time-critical freight for the Aerospace Industry. Ralph is also the CEO of Davies Turner – one of the UK’s leading multimodal forwarders and logistics firms.

Visit to Airline Economics, Growth Frontiers
exhibition at London Olympia.

Series of workshops to highlight solutions
addressing NAF’s Procurement and
Warehouse Management challenges.

Impact
At project completion, NAF’s Procurement and Logistics function had acquired:

• a strategic analysis of its supply chain management;
• strategic solutions to address its most pressing issues;
• effective purchasing mechanisms that ensure JIT stock availability and avoid losses through slow-moving & dead stock;
• the ability to report Business Cases to Senior Officers presenting data driven solutions;
• an appreciation of how communication channels are underpinned by systemic data transfers;
• strategic demand plans that cater to “Mission-ready” inventory levels; and
• an awareness of the advantages in applying existential and emergent technologies to enhance Supply Chain Visibility & Traceability.

Future
A number of the issues plaguing the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) are systemic and therefore
the Procurement and Supply Chain functions needs to generate significant buy-in at the
highest levels of the organization, coupled with suitable resource allocation to implement
the actions identified through the first iteration of this Programme.
London Business Training & Consulting (LBTC) has proposed further support to be
delivered on-site over a 3-week period at NAF’s base in Lagos, Nigeria.

“The consultants possessed a wealth of knowledge and experience that was
shared with us in a highly interactive manner. We have acquired readily
deployable skills to address our imminent departmental challenges.”
AYUBA SALIHU ABUBAKAR, Deputy Director, Technical Spares