Fabricate & Test
Engineers and artisans rapidly fabricate, assemble, inspect, and test repaired parts and subassemblies. In the digital shipyard, artisans use historical data collected from the digital twin to ensure specifications are met before being delivered to the ship for final assembly. During this labor-intensive stage, the physical strength of cobots is used to augment the fine motor skills provided by the artisans resulting in a higher quality end assembly.

Physical Cobots

Shipyard workers optimize fabrication with the use of CNC machine or alternative manufacturing cobots to enable efficient, precise, and automatic fabrication and testing of small components. Shipyard workers will place the proper material, part, or assembly into the CNC machine (or alternate machine), upload the digital thread file (or testing program), and start the machine. The worker will
simply oversee the cobot as it is fabricating or testing the new part. Shipyard workers load small to mid-size fabricated components onto physical robots. Once loaded, the robots use sensors and automated intelligence to navigate the Shipyard, from manufacturing to the Digital Warehouse, avoiding obstacles and humans.

Want to learn more? Read more here: The Digital Supply Network Meets the Future of Work

Perspectives

Augmented & Virtual Reality

As artisans fabricate and assemble their work orders, an AR/VR headset gives them additional insight and allows greater precision and efficiency in their work. The artisan will be able to visually see the modification through his/her headset as the machine is fabricating the part. The AR/VR headset alerts the artisan if the CNC is fabricating beyond the limits of the schematic uploaded from the digital thread. The artisan shuts down the machine and virtually calls engineering or quality professionals using the headset. With a live-feed capability, engineering and quality professionals see what the artisan is seeing, enabling real-time disposition and path forward to correct the machine error.

Want to learn more? Read more here: More Real Than Reality: Transforming Work Through Augmented Reality

Perspectives

Digital Twin

When an artisan receives the task for a new fabricated part, they log into the digital twin software. The artisan searches the system to locate the digital twin replica for the part or component which needs to be fabricated. The digital replica provides a detailed schematic of the part or component displaying all the information needed for the artisan to fabricate a new part. The artisan uploads the part schematic file into the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. The artisan completes final CNC programming, and presses “Start”, and the CNC begins to fabricate the new part. Leveraging digital twin and CNC machining fabricates the highest quality parts more quickly and easily than before.

Want to learn more? Read more here: Industry 4.0 and the Digital Twin

Perspectives

Enterprise Digital Tracking

Once the part is fabricated and has been accepted through testing and quality, the shipyard worker generates an enterprise digital tracking code and the code/label will be affixed to the new part. The part can then be easily identified and tracked throughout the remainder of the repair process. If the item is no longer required for a particular repair or assembly, the shipyard worker can move the part into storage where the part will be managed and tracked until a need or a demand is triggered for the part. The digital tag will be linked to relevant systems (Warehouse Management System (WMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), etc.), allowing workers to track part information and part history from conception to disposal.

Want to learn more? Read more here: Turnkey IoT Accelerators

Perspectives

Welcome to the Future of Maintenance Microsite

The digital transformation of the Nation’s depots, shipyard, and warehouses will leverage next-generation technology for everything from intelligent operations management and advanced manufacturing to digital supply network synchronization. Personnel at all levels will be better enabled to succeed in their roles through the introduction of these technologies. This digitally-transformed infrastructure will establish an architecture for the Navy to lead its mission readiness capabilities into the future.

This tutorial will provide an overview of the Microsite’s functionality to understand the benefits and potential application of these technologies. Click on the slides below to learn how to navigate the site, otherwise close this window to start exploring. Site best viewed in Chrome or Edge browsers.

Digital Shipyard Perspectives

Click on the text below to learn more about each role. 

Define my role: Define what I care about (metrics, KPIs):
  • Individuals that oversee all shipyard operations (All models within the facility)
  • Responsible for overseeing overall maintenance activity schedule and execution
  • Meeting shipyard cost, schedule, quality and safety targets
  • Maintain safe operations
  • Availability of the right skills and supporting infrastructure (equipment, etc.)
Define my role:Define what I care about (metrics, KPIs):
 
  • Individuals that oversee maintenance activities and associated shipyard workers
  • Responsible for planning, assigning, and monitoring the execution of all work associated with a vessel
  • Directs adjustments to be made based upon outside factors (i.e., schedule change, material or engineering delay, etc.)
  • Assigns tasks and priorities based on available capacity, materiel availability, and required skills
  • Managing and resolving delays
  • Daily throughput and completion of work orders
  • Availability of the right skills, materiel, and supporting infrastructure (equipment, etc.)
  • Labor and equipment utilization
  • Actual vs. budgeted direct and indirect hours
  • Oversee safe operations
1st Line Supervisors, Artisans, E&Es, and quality personnel
Define my role: Define what I care about (metrics, KPIs):
  • Skilled and nonskilled shipyard employees or contractors performing the physical labor
  • Performs maintenance/repair tasks as directed by work orders
  • Labor and equipment utilization are maximized
  • Work is performed within allotted workload standards
  • Skills and training
  • Completing tasks within the allotted time at a high level of quality
  • Ensuring that parts are returned to the fleet in acceptable repair condition
  • Executing safety measures
Enabling Technologies

A key part of digital transformation of the Nation’s depots, shipyards, and warehouses are the enabling technologies that provide the foundation for the various technologies used throughout maintenance and logistics operations. These enabling technologies ensure connectivity, enable enterprise-wide visibility, and provide the security needed for system stability. Click on the text below to learn more about each role.

A 5G network provides the connectivity that is essential when employing a broad web of interconnected technologiesA 5G network increases the speed of data transfer, lowers latency issues, increases the bandwidth capabilities, and increases the capacity of data that can be sent.  
Cybersecurity supports the protection from cyber threats for all internet-connected systems such as the hardware, software, and stored data. Strong cybersecurity systems protect against unauthorized access to the sensitive information stored within military data systems.  
A Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution integrates organizational data, systems, and processes. This allows artisans and depot managers to access the technical data and product specifications needed as well as create and monitor digital twins for repaired parts and weapons systems. 
Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) solutions use a model based approach to support the setup of a complex system from initial concept to ongoing operational analysis. Using an MBSE approach supports orchestrating the combination of several complex systems and deepens the understanding of processes through integrated analytics. 
Robotic and Intelligent Automation (R&IA) can drive efficiency across manual and repetitive processes. Automating tasks reduces back logs and creates time for staff to work on more value-add tasks. Given the large number of tasks that need to be performed across the shipyards, depots, and warehouses this will free up the artisans and managers to focus on higher complexity, higher value tasks. Automation can also drive analytics for leadership to make more informed decisions. 
Control Tower provides deep supply chain data visibility through intuitive and innovative dashboards. Control Tower tools enable deep dives of data analysis to understand the reason for changes behind key performance indicators and augment problem solving and continuous process improvementControl Tower capabilities can help proactively manage supply chains in real time, allowing leaders to focus on the most critical supply chain segments, while the rest of the supply chain can continue functioning in a business-as-usual fashion. A comprehensive Control Tower provides the visibility across the entire shipyard, depot, and warehouse to view the current state of all processes and quick identification of any pain points or areas requiring action by leadership. 

Control Tower

Six months prior to an aircraft arriving at the depot and during normal on aircraft maintenance at the 0-level, depot artisans perform a conditional maintenance inspection of the aircraft. Data from this inspection is used by various maintenance systems to plan for all logistics support required to complete its future heavy maintenance event. It also provides information to production managers concerning the amount of time as well as artisan skill sets required to perform that work. This information is used to determine proper staffing levels for future work. While finalizing the repair plans for that aircraft, the depot production manager receives two automated alerts from the Control Tower regarding potential issues to depot operations. The first alert indicates throughput of an assembly cell has dropped and the second forecasts supply shortages of critical parts needed to fix the aircraft based on the digital aviation supply data feed. Based on the alerts, the production manager addresses critical personnel shortages in the assembly cell and coordinates with other agencies to develop a plan to alleviate the projected parts shortages.  

Want to learn more? Read more here: The Supply Chain Control Tower

Perspectives