NORFOLK, VA (NSN) – Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) and deputy commander, Ship Maintenance and Modernization (SEA 21) for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), held roundtable discussions with SEA 21 and CNRMC leaders the week of Aug. 26.
The purpose of the event was two-fold: review and develop actionable metrics that allow for improved decision-making, and refine the acquisition strategies for upcoming surface ship availabilities to best position the maintenance community to achieve on time delivery, a key tenant of the NAVSEA Campaign Plan.
The meeting followed last month’s roundtable discussions with industry leaders during which they were presented with new workload charts for each port that re-baselined availability durations to account for the number of variables that can affect execution performance.
The new availability durations intend to level-load the ports and better position industry to meet schedule demands.
Availabilities are often planned years in advance of execution, so the desired outcome of the discussions is to ensure an effective acquisition strategy and associated contracting plans are in place to support the revised schedules. Further, a common set of metrics is required to not only assess performance but also to provide data-driven awareness of areas affecting mission success.
“We are focused on making data-driven decisions based on appropriate metrics,” said Anderson. “The team made a lot of progress in identifying where gaps may exist and where common operating metrics can improve overall business performance.”
The focus of discussions was on measures needed to best understand the correlation between planning and execution events, focusing on leading indicators as well as using these metrics to align regional maintenance center efforts.
A key outcome from the discussion was the recognition of how data acquisition could be automated, and how the improved use of data feeds the acquisition and contracting plan to better align the planned workload to the current port industrial capacity and growth as we move towards a 355-ship Navy.
The leadership team is approaching this methodology with a sense of urgency to refine acquisition plans, and establish methods to ensure effective and efficient measuring of the
right things, at the right time, with sufficient quality to take action in order to meet on-time delivery of our ships.
As NAVSEA’s deputy commander for ship maintenance and modernization, SEA 21 is the dedicated life cycle management organization for the Navy's in-service surface ships and is responsible for managing critical modernization, maintenance, training and inactivation programs.
CNRMC is a NAVSEA field activity and oversees the operations of Regional Maintenance Centers in their execution of surface ship maintenance and modernization. d modernization.