Chopper Collaboration

A current news story confirms our current austerity times. The UK and France are about to save costs by sharing warship capability. The cash saved amounts to the billions any new, now redundant, aircraft carrier costs.

One tv talking head was aghast that the idea wasn’t already firmly lodged in our collective psyche. He used the incredible example of a Franco-German helicopter. Apparently, this beast is approved by 12 countries for use. Yet each one conducted its own tests. He couldn’t believe this. Especially these years down the credit crunch line.

He reckoned that something as simple as the European countries sharing wind tunnels would have cut the costs associated with this enormously. By as much as £4bn. His closing comments were that if it was good enough for one country, then it could surely easily be accepted on the same basis by another.

Four billion quid. What a lot of money.

I wonder how you can promote similar collaboration within your client base to help them save money, whilst still using your wares? In my early days, the software house at which I sold offered ‘public’ training courses. Despite the cheaper rate, take-up was practically zero. Perhaps times have changed.