that’s their baby. Tey didn’t want to let anyone else use it [and possibly] damage it.”
Te slow nature of government acquisition was another hurdle.
“If I were to give one piece of advice to another company about to do this, I’d say it’s gonna take time,” Rudolph said. “No matter what. But if you’re going to get into it, you have to put skin in the game … you’re in it for the long haul.” Turcotte added, “I have 37 years in government, and I’m still continually surprised by how rules-bound the government is, especially in acquisitions.”
Tat government moves more slowly than private industry is hardly news, but it doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. Arse- nal leadership kept Electralloy informed as the process moved through government wickets. Lesson learned: Being as specific as possible helped manage expectations. For example, “We’re not going to be able to do step X in two weeks; it’s more like three months,” as Turcotte recalled.
A READY WORKFORCE
Metal processor Sean Stephenson applies resin to composite fiber on a bore evacuator at the Watervliet Arsenal in October 2015. Metal proces- sors undergo rigorous training and require substantial skills in metallurgy, welding, composite manufacturing and heat treatment. Retaining their skills and experience, and the high level of readiness they provide for the Army, was the core problem the arsenal sought to solve with the P3.
PUTTING ‘SKIN IN THE GAME’ Te team reassured workers early on that the partnership repre- sented job security since it brought much-needed workload. It then opened a broader discussion with employees. To address concerns about wearing out the equipment, Rudolph and Elec- tralloy suggested establishing a baseline for “what level we’ll maintain [equipment] at, what parts do we need to keep on hand, and so on, and then once we all agree on the baseline, we’ll assume responsibility for maintenance.” Te government, from the line employees to arsenal leadership, needed to see that Electralloy had skin in the game, and gathering employee input first demonstrated that commitment. “Our employees saw that and said, ‘Hey, this company is good for us efficiency-wise and safety-wise,’ ” Turcotte recalled.
In 2011, when negotiations began, public-private partnerships (P3s) were new territory for the Army. Te arsenal was used to dealing with industry through direct sales, “but we weren’t real comfortable with sharing our processes and capabilities with a company,” Turcotte said.
Watervliet Arsenal also lacked the statutory authority to enter into such partnerships. Te designation that allows an Army installation to be part of a P3 was granted only to depots until a 2013 rule change.
Additionally, arsenal workers were apprehensive about losing their jobs and protective of the equipment. “Te fear was real at the employee level,” Turcotte said. “When Electralloy came to us and said, ‘We want to use your forge,’ the guys who run it,
If the deal had reduced the number of government employees, as public-private cooperation sometimes does, fears of job loss could have been harder to allay. But the government insisted that the workers at the forge be government employees. Tis high- lights another lesson learned: Know what problem you want the P3 to solve, and let that guide where you can give and where you can’t. Because the core problem was retaining a skilled govern- ment workforce (and not, for example, growing revenue), this wasn’t a point where the arsenal could compromise. “Tat was a key factor in our negotiation,” Turcotte said. “Tracy had to get comfortable with the idea that he’d have employees under gov- ernment control.” Te arsenal found a way to compromise and ease Electralloy’s apprehensions on that score, by making some of its cannon-forging processes similar to Electralloy’s solid-steel
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