How Rolls-Royce's transformation is powering a new chapter for the Trent 1000

Transcript

Rich Maslen:We have a session titled here, How Rolls-Royce's Transformation is Powering a New Chapter for the Trent 1000. Now, the Trent 1000 has its own story itself with lots of headlines. So it's delighted I've got Rachel Walker here, who's the program director for the Trent 1000 at Rolls-Royce.

Rachel Walker:Hi.

Rich Maslen:She's been at the center of one of the most closely watched programs in modern aviation. While she may have only taken over leadership of the program last year, she was previously in charge of leading the durability improvements and helping to reshape not just the engine, but the way that Rolls-Royce approaches its product development, testing, and its in-service support. There's been some really major changes there. Now, we had a session in Lisbon when your colleague Luke Mallows Was describing what would happen with the Trent 1000 program with some really candid views and really sort of strong opinions on the industry. You know, picking up from that, Rachel, how would you describe yourself where the Trent 1000 is, how that story has evolved, and what we can look forward to moving forward?

Rachel Walker:Okay, really good question, Richard. So I'll maybe start with how I describe it to my team. The analogy I'm constantly using with them to inspire them is we're almost like the phoenix, this immortal bird that is constantly evolving, constantly improving, and reincarnating from its predecessors. We're at a pivotal moment now on the Trent 1000 where we have introduced our durability enhancements to up to triple time on wing. That's a real key enabler for us and a real step change in the performance of the engine moving forwards. So we're almost a phoenix on the rise right now, but we're not going to stop there. We're going to continue to invest and improve in this product. And our focus now is also going to turn to making it a world-class reliable product as well as a highly durable product.

Rich Maslen:Now, you've mentioned about the durability changes and everything. What confidence do they give you in the engine moving forward? You know, there's always going to be question marks raised now by customers. You know, how can you define to them that you're in a strong position and this engine is reliable?

Rachel Walker:Sure. So the, the, it's a fair question, and there are a number of ways in which we, we've demonstrated the capability. So the durability enhancements are being rolled out in 2 phases. The first phase basically introduces increased cooling flow to the engine, um, and what that does to the hot section, um, is make, make the life of that last longer. We have proved that firstly through rigorous analysis, state-of-the-art analysis techniques, rigorous testing. And actually on Phase 1, we introduced that on the sister engine, on the Trent 7000, back in 2022. So we now have a wealth of data, knowledge, and in-service information that gives us the absolute confidence in, in that capability. And in fact, the results coming back from that fleet, we're already witnessing up to triple time on wing. The second phase of the durability enhancements are further improving the life of that hot section of the engine through weight optimization. And again, that has gone through the same rigor of state-of-the-art analysis, extremely rigorous testing techniques where we have really pushed the engine well beyond the limits of what we expect to see in service. And we're extremely pleased with the results that we've seen. The HP turbine blade that we've got in that modification is now being rolled into the Trent 1000 and also on the sister engine, the So we, with the wealth of service data that we've got, the improved rigor that we have in our testing and our analysis, we're supremely confident in these changes now.

Rich Maslen:So there's lasting legacies from these improvements you're making into future designs as well to, to ensure that all future programs coming from Rolls-Royce are, are, you know, following the same, same level of procedures.

Rachel Walker:Absolutely.

Rich Maslen:Now you've spent much of your career in product development, an area that's changed a fair amount. So how has innovation changed during your time with Rolls-Royce, and how does that sit now alongside greater scrutiny and accountability that comes naturally with it?

Rachel Walker:Okay, well, I've been at Rolls-Royce for 18 years now, so I've been seeing some of these products right through the lifecycle from new product introduction. I would say that the innovation hasn't changed with the level of scrutiny. I would say we've always set our standards extremely high and we continue to do so. However, the focus of that innovation through the lifecycle of the product has needed to change. We're focusing on our innovation around time on wing, but also, you know, how do we service the engine better? How do we make improvements to aftermarket? How do we innovate to improve the turnaround time in our maintenance and overhaul shops? How do we innovate our advanced repair techniques and capability and technologies? So the focus and the shift of the innovation is more focus to, to that aftermarket and continuing to improve that end of things as well.

Rich Maslen:I guess the issue is how you balance between pushing the boundaries to develop the most efficient and most successful engine you can and ensuring it remains reliable in service. Where is that middle point and how do you make that decision on where you're going to pitch it?

Rachel Walker:So we have a very rigorous technology development, technology readiness level that that we put all of our new technologies through. That combined with the learning that we've had not just on the Trent 1000 and 7000, but our whole Trent fleet is applied right across our program. So we have a wide portfolio of products now that we also have enhanced digital capability in. So through our intelligent engine, we're able to gather lots more data through our fleet. And then we have A wealth of service inspection data that comes back. We're able to build all of that new learning, all of that new knowledge into new technology development programs. So we're better placed than ever with all of that insight and that information to feed in.

Rich Maslen:Now, I guess the important thing for you is safeguarding relationships you have with airlines, you know, who are your customers ultimately. How has that relationship changed over the last few years? And, you know, how do you now work more closely with airlines to ensure that entry into service of your engines and development of them and support of them is all correlated together?

Rachel Walker:So what I would say is partnership is really key for us. We talked earlier about trust, and building trust has been a really important aspect for us on the Trent 1000 program to build that back with the customers. And I really can't thank all of our airline customers enough for the partnership and the collaboration that we've had right through from, you know, how they, how they manage their operation. We work together on that, but also things like how we continue to push out time on wing through using those advanced inspection techniques. We work absolutely in partnership with the airlines, but also when we look at things like how do we maintain the engine through washing and using that to maintain time All of those partnerships are really, really key and things that we would want to strengthen and continue into our next programs as well.

Rich Maslen:Obviously, you can't have a conversation about anything now without sustainability and the environment being involved in it. It's a hard conversation to have when you're talking about engines, but how are you looking to incorporate developments within the power plants or looking at new power plants moving forward to ensure as an industry we meet these ambitious goals we have and we just try and deliver something that does have a sustainable future.

Rachel Walker:Yeah, sustainability is actually something that's very close to my own heart. I do have ambitions to be the next generation that leads us through net zero at one point in my career. And, you know, ducted gas turbine technology, we believe, is the right solution going forwards. We are obviously looking at things like sustainable aviation fuel. We have proved that capability out. We know the technology of our engines can already run with that. In fact, we've done a transatlantic flight on the Trent 1000 with SAF. But I would also say that the work that we're doing right now on durability enhancements and reliability, all of that is equally as important to sustainability. It's not just a thing in the future, it's happening right now. Because if anything we can do to replace fewer parts in the engine, to extend the life of the engine, all of that matters in the ecosystem of sustainability. And all of that learning we can carry through to our future programs as well.

Rich Maslen:Now, you mentioned about wanting to make, make a difference during, during your career. Now, I did a bit of research. It says you started with a PhD in aerospace engineering, which is amazing. So But then you've moved now more into commercial and strategic roles. Was that a deliberate plan of yours, or did it just happen by chance?

Rachel Walker:A bit of both, I would say. I've never had a master plan. I've always had a North Star of where I would like to be. So maybe 10 years ago, actually, my North Star is where I'm— what I'm doing right now. So I feel like I've arrived in a role that I've always wanted to do, which is Fantastic. But largely, it's— I've always wanted to find roles that would challenge me and where I can make a difference. And Rolls-Royce has been a great company to work for in that sense because there's been no end of opportunities for me to get involved in all those different aspects of the business and given me that breadth, which has really helped me in my role today.

Rich Maslen:That's good to see. And just something that's quite interesting, can you pinpoint one thing that's become critical for you as you've moved through your senior roles at Rolls-Royce, and perhaps something you didn't really consider earlier on in your career that would become important?

Rachel Walker:So I would say probably making sure that you remember that hearts are as valuable and as important as minds. I learned quite early on in my career that making— getting that emotional investment in what you're doing And giving the team real purpose and understanding what their purpose and their role is and galvanizing everybody around that common vision is so powerful. I think we have brilliant minds in our company. If you get their hearts with it, you're unstoppable.

Rich Maslen:Obviously, we heard from Tim just earlier on, who's a very passionate leader, you know, leading the program now. How are you going to sort of keep the teams of people motivated in what they're doing when, you know, perhaps there is still this little level of scrutiny there until it's proved?

Rachel Walker:Ironically, it's that, it's that scrutiny, that hurt that we have caused our customers that is driving us to want to improve. So my whole team are deeply committed to wanting to restore confidence in this product and to offer a world-class product, a world-class service to our customers. So ironically, it is that scrutiny that we've turned into a positive and that drives us and really binds us in wanting to succeed. That said, it's not been easy. You know, it has been a very challenging environment for the team to work in. So one of the things we've done differently on the Trent 1000 more recently is to adopt an agile methodology. And with that sprint mentality, It's standard practice to stop at the end of a sprint and do what you call a demo and a retro. For anybody who's not familiar with, with Agile, as part of that, you're celebrating the successes, you're taking stock of what you've done. So every single month at the end of our sprints, our whole team come together. They share what they've managed to progress. They share the lessons they've learned on the things they haven't. And we, you know, we celebrate those small wins together as we go. That's been really important for my team's resilience. And I'm also on first-name terms with our Domino's delivery driver as well. And that's, that's certainly helped with our engineers. It's—

Rich Maslen:it all comes down to well-fed workforce works, works well.

Rachel Walker:Indeed.

Rich Maslen:And I'll put you on the spot a little bit here. Obviously, I did a bit of research and things, and I checked your biography, and it says you have a passion for solving complex business problems and driving lasting transformational change. It sounds really impressive. It also sounds really exhausting as well. But in your experience, what's harder? Is it fixing that technical problem or bringing a team of humans together to sort of develop the solution?

Rachel Walker:So what I would say is, like I said earlier, I am very privileged to work with some of the greatest, most innovative minds, I believe, in the industry. So fixing the technical problems is almost the easy part for us. So we are very good at solving the technical issue. One of the things that we've transformed more recently in Rolls-Royce is then how do you get full alignment of that through the, the organization. So through this One Rolls-Royce mindset, that has been a real shift for us, that, that's been a key enabler, particularly more recently on the Trent 1000. I felt hugely supportive that we knew what we were going after, we knew what we needed to do, and actually we had the backing of the whole organization behind us to get there. It's been, it's been pivotal for us.

Rich Maslen:And you're in a strong position now as the lead on the Trent 1000, a great advocate for females in engineering as well, which is lovely to see. You know, what progress have you seen there? And sort of slightly differently, what can you say to people that want to go into engineering now? You know, It's not necessarily seen as such a great industry as, as it was previously. People who want to be, you know, YouTube sensations and things like that now. So getting them into, into science is a lot harder. So, you know, what would you say to them to, to, to sort of push them in, into the industry?

Rachel Walker:Well, it's actually a subject that's very close to heart because I too have 2 young daughters at home. And I, I do like to think that I, I inspire them in a way. They want to— one wants to be a rocket scientist and the other one wants to get into robotics. So young engineers already in the making at 6 and 9. So what I would say to people now is engineering is— it solves the world's problems. No matter what you look to, net zero or, you know, any problem that needs to be solved, it needs engineering, it needs innovation. AI isn't going to do that for us. It's not going to replace the creativity of the human brain. So I've seen leaps and bounds in terms of, you know, females in engineering, in terms of the number of role models that we have. But particularly, as I said, coming through Rolls-Royce in the last 18 years, the number of senior figures has grown significantly, which is great to see. I still think we've got a long way to go, and I think the only way to We're not going to solve that just purely by, by women wanting more women in engineering. We need everybody to want it, and we need to almost reverse that or prevent that subconscious bias from a very, very early age, which is when I come back to my daughters, my husband and I almost over-rotate with them to make sure they're, you know, they're not exposed to that.

Rich Maslen:Thank you.

Rachel Walker:You know, they want to be rocket scientists at the age of 6.

Rich Maslen:It sounds wonderful, and, you know, I hope, hope they succeed in that. One final question and a quick answer. If someone was to follow you around for a week in your role, what would surprise them the most?

Rachel Walker:Oh, well, I'll come back to my team again. I think they would be blown away by the creativity, the innovation, the problem solving, even day to day. I would like to think that they would be really interested in, in what we do, but equally just the variation of my role. It just— and this is why I love it— it covers such a wide spectrum of so many angles: commercial, engineering, speaking to customers, all of it. It's, it's, it's just an amazing place to be. And as I say, I feel so privileged to have landed in a job that I love so much.

Rich Maslen:That's lovely to hear. Congratulations for that.

Rachel Walker:Thank you.

Rich Maslen:Everybody, a clever round of applause for Rachel, please.

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