PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii –
Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) goal to transform digital capability through the Naval Sustainment System-Shipyards (NSS-SY) program offers an important edge for increased production across the U.S. Navy’s four public shipyards.
With the oversight of the Information Technology (IT) pillar of NSS-SY, new and improved laptops are expected to fill the workspaces of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) by year’s end - an IT refresh and upgrade that is highly anticipated.
“The new laptops are part of a larger, Navy-wide tech refresh effort,” said Fletch Vynne, of Boston Consulting Group, the contractor that oversees implementation of NSS-SY at all four public shipyards. “With older laptops, we observed slow boot up times, computer crashes and program latency.”
The acquisition of new laptops are part of a two-phase approach that will replace laptops no longer supported by Microsoft beyond November 2022. The second phase will see an influx of new laptops to replace low-performing models, according to Vynne.
Currently, PHNSY & IMF has received more than 3,800 new and faster desktops and laptops since February 2021 and is scheduled to refresh the remaining 1,200 computers by the end of 2022. The new laptops have 512 GB solid-state drives with 16 GB RAM, which is a significant improvement in performance time and durability over the old hard disk drives, according to Darwin Uesato, IT Strategies & Client Services Division Head.
“This accomplishment will significantly reduce wasted time for users waiting every day for computers to boot up, and will process information faster, making the workforce more efficient and productive,” Uesato said.
This efficiency has decreased service times PHNSY customers. With the new refreshed laptops, appointments that used to take closer to 45 minutes now average between 20-25 minutes, according to Daniel Bumanglag, Information Technology Specialist, Cellular Device Team.
“The new laptops enable our cellular device team to deliver appointment sessions in half the time,” said Bumanglag. “We’re able to pass the time savings back to the employee so they can get back to the mission of keeping the fleet ‘Fit to Fight.”
According to Uesato, a key success factor of this NSS-SY IT pillar initiative incorporates building strategic relationships with U.S. Pacific Fleet, whose leadership and support throughout the Indo-Pacific region provides the shipyard with access to the right IT tools that are crucial in performing our mission of ship modernization, maintenance and repair.
PHNSY & IMF is a field activity of NAVSEA and a one-stop regional maintenance center for the Navy’s surface ships and submarines. It is the largest industrial employer in the state of Hawaii, with a combined civilian, military and contractor workforce of approximately 7,100. It is the most comprehensive fleet repair and maintenance facility between the U.S. West Coast and the Far East, strategically located in the heart of the Pacific, being about a week’s steaming time closer to potential regional contingencies in the Indo-Pacific.