Navy ship programs face significant challenges in managing costs, quality, and delivery. However, current software tools fail to effectively manage all the data generated during program stages, which guarantees that the program will not reach its milestones. Today, the Navy has software on hand that can effectively manage their program data from concept to delivery.
Definitions
Model-Based Product Support (MBPS) is the result of SEA 06L, now PEO-MLB, selecting a commercial off-the-shelf application suite to create, collaborate, manage requirements and specifications, reporting, track and manage problems, and analytics.
In commercial industries, MBPS is called Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). PLM is a strategic business approach that integrates people, data, processes, and business systems. It provides a product information backbone for companies and extended enterprise and manages the entire lifecycle of a “product” from its inception through the engineering, design, manufacture, maintenance, and disposal. In this case, the product = the ship.
PLM is not a static software application suite; it evolves based on users’ needs. PLM enables users to:
- Find information fast, using a single data source
- Trust that information with revision and security control
- Comprehend information using intuitive 2D/3D visualization
- Understand the context with rich information relationships
- Know when and what to do with improved schedule and workflow automation
- Quickly track and solve program issues
- Make data visible to others, enabling automatic notification, and reporting
Data from PLM systems link directly to Enterprise Resource Management systems (ERP). PLM data represents the “digital ship,” while data in ERP represents data for the actual physical ship. When organizations combine PLM and ERP to feed and share data, there are considerable time and cost savings for requirement development and management, trade studies, change management, reporting, reduced data entry—not to mention completely enabling transformation to the Digital Twin/Digital Thread.
Naval Implications
Embracing MBPS early in a ship program would enable the Navy to effectively manage their efforts in developing and implementing an Integrated Product Environment to perform their tasks more effectively, reducing critical program risks. Additionally, users would continue to use existing Navy software applications such as the Navy Data Acquisition Requirements Tool and software applications such as Microsoft Project and DOORS to feed data to MBPS, enabling a single source of trust to manage the data. Using PLM means program staff reduce up to 85 percent of time searching for and verifying information and managing change orders. Users would also save up to 40–50 percent of their time managing requirements and conducting program reviews.
System-Wide Change
Recent ship program performance has shown that the Navy cannot accept business as usual. As President Eisenhower said in April 1953: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Naval Information Warfare Systems Command must do a better job managing ship programs, ensuring the Navy gets the ships they are asking for in a more cost-effective and timely manner.
One of the original strategic intents for the MBPS was to enable program staff to have an integrated decision-making environment in the early stages of a program.
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), PEO-Ships, and wider leadership must embrace MBPS and understand how team conduct daily tasks. From there, NAVSEA leadership must:
- Generate a sense of urgency to adopt MBPS in PMS organizations
- Develop a vision/strategy
- Communicate the vision of MBPS clearly and often
- Remove obstacles
- Establish a small team to guide MBPS adoption in PMS organizations
- Plan for and create short-term wins
- Avoid premature declarations of victory
- Embed changes in Navy culture
These steps will guarantee the successful rapid deployment of MBPS in PMS organizations to help ensure program success. With NAVSEA leadership, adopting MBPS into a PMS organization would take 90 days with minimal impact on operations.
