Australian Systems Engineering Workshop

The Plan to Reform Support Ship Repair & Management Practices, the “Rizzo Report”, recommended the rebuilding of naval engineering in the Department of Defence to deliver better and
more sustainable materiel outcomes The task of rebuilding was frustrated by the fact that there was no definition of the sum total of dependent and co-dependent activities that need to occur to
deliver and assure the ongoing delivery of materiel that does what it is required to do, where it is required to do it, when it is required to do it, and for as long as it is required to do it. Part of the
definition existed, and in most cases the activities that are defined are being done well. But it was recognised and accepted that large parts of the definition did not exist.

A functional modelling approach was taken to defining the totality of the functions that, if
executed, generated a “seaworthy materiel” outcome. The model defines what needs to be done, how the functions interrelate, the required enablers of each function, and where specific control is to
be applied to a function to address risk in the delivery of elemental outputs. The resultant Materiel Seaworthiness Functional Master Set has become the basis for naval engineering doctrine, policy,
and resourcing, and should ensure that we are never without a complete, reference definition again.