In 1960 B & W Shipyard commissioned new yard facilities introducing new building methods with large blocks (modules, sections) assembled in the building dock by gantry cranes. To ensure effective operation of such facilities, computer based sophisticated planning and control systems were developed. The anticipated improvements in production efficiency of the new system remained, however, for the first decade of operation as it was with traditional shipbuilding. Upon thorough analysis of the situation the yard management was forced to acknowledge that the excessive complexity of systems applied had made the understanding of fundamental parameters for successful planning and control of new systems ambiguous.
The Institute for Research and Engineering for Automation and Productivity in Shipbuilding (IREAPS) is an organization which conducts an industry/government cooperative program for enhancing U.S. shipbuilding capabilities through development and implementation of improved systems and manufacturing technology. The primary thrust of the IREAPS program is the conduct of research and development projects for a variety of design and production processes in the shipyard. Such projects are initiated and pursued only upon consensus of the participating organizations and are not considered complete or successful until they have been implemented under actual shipyard production conditions.
American shipbuilding management and planning has become a topic of increasing discussion in recent years and various proposals for change have been advanced. Many of these propose adoption-of certain techniques and approaches successfully used --in other major shipbuilding countries such as Japan and Korea, where shipbuilding management is based on organizational, decision making, and operating structures and procedures founded on quite different cultural backgrounds, human relations, and traditions than those found in the U.S. While some of the techniques and approaches found successful in those countries may be transferrable, it must be recognized that the environment in the U.S. cannot be changed in the short run. This makes successful application of some of these methods difficult. Factors which make Japanese and Korean shipbuilding competitive include value engineering, quality circles, labor incentives, high productivity manufacturing processes; rationalized ship design and production, effective organization, labor relations and flexibility, good supplier and customer relations, and effective production planning management and control. There are some factors which are distinctly different, such as the lack of adversity between shipbuilder and client on one hand and management and labor on the other hand. There is a general recognition and acceptance in these countries that adversary relations and potential litigous actions hinder achievement of ship production efficiency and on schedule low cost (and therefore price) delivery. Similarly most supplier, client, and labor issues with shipbuilding management are resolved by various informal approaches with little if any delay. This is quite different from the generally formal approach used in the U.S.A., where procedure, documentation, and even conflict resolution methods are often defined.
Planning Research Corporation has been working with the U.S. Navy for the past 2 years in providing a unique production management system for Navy Intermediate Maintenance Activities (IMAs). This system, successfully adapted from commercially proved techniques and underpinned by engineered labor performance standards, is in use at the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activities (SIMA) Norfolk, Virginia and Mayport, Florida. Additionally, implementation of the system is underway on an incremental basis at SIMA, San Diego, California. The engineered labor performance standards, developed as Engineered Time Values (E.T.V.), provide a means to accurately plan, schedule and progress work, to exercise production control on a real-time basis and to analyze factors affecting productivity in order to effect remedial action. A key feature of the Engineered Time Values (ETV) System is the Productivity Management Information Component (PMIC) which supports these functions through the use of interactive computer equipment. 197 In the planning function, ETV information resident in the PMIC is accessed by the assigned planner using a visual display terminal. The planner selects.
Productivity is looked upon by most as the key to our American standard of life; however, as evident by the successes overseas, the United States seems to be only now coming to grips with the true essence of productivity -- human resource management. This paper will look at the changing nature of productivity as it relates to job design, participative management, and the increasing use of incentives, feedback, and goal setting. Likewise, a brief discussion of organizational design and recent developments toward work motivation will point up that the real key for productivity improvements lies with management. This then will help establish why there are real productivity issues that need to be addressed in the Navy shipbuilding program in the areas of engineering design, waterfront management, and Navy Project management. The essence of these issues relate hinderances to achieving productivity improvements due to: (1) poor organizational structures which preclude inclusion of productivity considerations early in the design phase; (2) improper attention and training provided to the first level supervisors at the waterfront and the failure to recognize the valuable contribution these people could provide; and, (3) the crucial requirement for having qualified and experienced ship production personnel on Navy management teams.
Productivity improvement is a most difficult concept to come to grips with in the operations of a central, national government. The term "productivity improvement is most generally considered to mean the beneficial results of acts of innovation or change which are undertaken for the purpose of producing a greater output from a given input of resources. To some, this concept represents the very antithesis of bureaucracy, since it is claimed that by nature bureaucracy is growth prone and resistant to change. This paper describes a productivity program which is being implemented within the Navy industrial base. Three years of successful experience have shed considerable light on the management of change in large military organizations with a rigid institutional structure. The paper draws attention to major dimensions of the Navy's program and to the process of managing for productivity improvement.
The Research and Engineering for Automation and Productivity in Shipbuilding (REAPS) program aims at increasing U.S. shipyard productivity. The organization, activities and current and planned development projects of the program are reviewed. The 1980 symposium focuses on developing a consensus on a format for long range facility plans, with an emphasis on cost effectiveness and environmental impacts.
Quality circles have been found to improve productivity an average of 12% in 3 to 6 months in a controlled research pilot study performed by Business Innovations, Inc. for the U.S. Department of the Navy. Human relations and job satisfaction were also found to improve within a few months of starting quality circles at four companies. Quality circles (QC's) have been adopted widely by U.S. and Japanese industry and are increasingly finding acceptance in U.S. industry, including shipbuilding. The average return on investment for quality circles is 6 to 1. QC's are a simple, but effective, technique for problem solving which involves employees and increases motivation, communication, and productivity. They are a phenomenon of group dynamics not quality control techniques. Implementation of quality circles needs to be carefully planned and should involve all levels of management and employees. An alternative to quality circles at foreman and management levels is "productivity teams". These involve more sophisticated training and the use of industrial engineering techniques. Productivity Panels and quality circles area low cost, high return investment for shipyards to cut costs and turn around companies with lagging sales due to decreased international competitiveness.
It can be taken as true that an organization which specializes in one area produces at lesser cost than an organization which, in one plant, produces and assembles in substantially different areas. Shipyards which manufacture and assemble many different products recognize the advantages of specialization; they try to purchase materials and equipment in as finished form as available for further assembly and installation. In some areas shipyards go further and subcontract the installation of material directly into ships. The thesis proposed here is that the productivity of U.S. shipyards would be increased and ships would cost less if a deliberate policy of extensive subcontracting of material and its installation labor within shipyards were adopted. In time, shipyard staff would become primarily specialized efficient organizations which coordinate the work of specialized, independent contractors. The organizations would be the same in principle as those which have developed for most large, land-based construction.
