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Home : Media : News
NEWS | Sept. 26, 2024

New electronic crew boards developed by PSNS & IMF-led team now available at all shipyards

By Max Maxfield, PSNS & IMF Public Affairs

A team lead by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility has completed the newest version of electronic crew boards. The crew boards became available to all four public shipyards as of Aug. 30, 2024.

According to Seth Zwiefelhofer, digital transformation process manager, Code 900DX, Digital Transformation, this two-year effort was aimed at creating a one-stop-shop interface within Execution Priorities that brings in information from multiple Maritime Systems Environment applications to help production supervisors with their pre-job planning.

He said the crew boards module within the EP application also contains roles for work team members to be able to pre-plan their own work and take ownership of their assignments without the need for individual MSE application accounts.

MSE is a computer system Naval Sea Systems Command uses in conjunction with a suite of computer applications to improve cybersecurity and software maintenance processes. NAVSEA applications that run on MSE are web based and share a similar look and feel. With crew boards software being within EP, supervisors and work teams would have a familiarity with the software features, such as creating filters.

Zwiefelhofer said there has been a big push from NAVSEA to standardize processes across the enterprise. An application used across NAVSEA that includes job orders, shipyard priorities, work team members, issues, turnover notes, and goals for the shift was requested.

“The additional functionality was provided as a way to continuously improve the user experience,” he said. At that point the application started to really take form as a one-stop-shop product that supervisors and employees could leverage.”

According to Zwiefelhofer, the standardized tool will benefit individuals and commands alike.

“Having all four public shipyards following this process will make it easier for mechanics and supervisors to work at other yards and seamlessly integrate into work teams,” he said. “This also creates the foundation for future, enterprise-wide, software developments that will aim to improve the functionality for all production.”

Over the course of two years, a diverse team with about 60 personnel from around NAVSEA worked on the project.

Key personnel involved in the process included:

• Six software developers from Code 109, Information Technology and Cyber Security Office, at PSNS & IMF

• 25 pilot team supervisors or work leaders

• 11 software developers and one product owner from NAVSEA 03, Cyber Engineering & Digital Transformation

• 14 personnel making up the corporate governance board, including, two from PSNS & IMF; two from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; four from Norfolk Naval Shipyard; and six from Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard

• One Code 100TO, Transformation Office member from each of the four public shipyards

“To accomplish what we have over the years, it required this diverse and cross-functional team spread across the enterprise,” Zwiefelhofer said. “The last two years has been the absolute embodiment of ‘Winning as a Team.’ Without C/109 putting together an application that provided the foundation, this wouldn't be possible. Without the efforts of NAVSEA providing the direction to DPO to code it into the corporate software, this wouldn't be possible. Without the other shipyards wanting to be a part of this and staying engaged in the long process, this wouldn't be possible."

“Most importantly, without the supervisors’ and mechanics’ feedback and enhancements to illustrate how they needed this application to function, this definitely wouldn't have been possible,” he continued.

The birth of crew boards

Crew boards were originally created and tested as dry-erase white boards, as part of the Naval Sustainment System—Shipyards Start-of-Shift sprint conducted in 2021. In late 2021 and early 2022 they were expanded to additional projects across PSNS & IMF. Crew boards were found to be an effective tool during the Start-of-Shift sprint in the trades muster areas, specifically on the USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) project.

A team of PSNS & IMF employees spearheaded the initial development of digital crew boards as part of the NSS-SY initiative, and were recognized for their efforts during a ceremony May 4, 2023. Thirty one PSNS & IMF teammates were presented with Navy Civilian Service Achievement Medals. The team effort was also recognized by NAVSEA as finalists in the NAVSEA Excellence Award competition, Commander’s Innovation Award category.

The first iteration of digital crew boards facilitated a two-way information pathway—even more effectively than their dry-erase board predecessors did — at the start of shift. They helped ensure the lead shop was able to see what is going on with the assist trade, which helped supervisors and crew members stay more up to date with current work and be quicker with reactions to changes. The boards showcase the power of having real-time information available to crews and upper management.

Current evolution

The latest iteration of electronic crew boards builds on the successes of previous PSNS & IMF teams who created the dry-erase board original and created the first digital version.

“The beauty of the current crew boards software is that the application exists within a corporate application,” said Zwiefelhofer. “Whether being displayed on a large screen monitor in a muster site or on an individual tablet or laptop/desktop, the application provides the flexibility to support a diverse range of constraints or usage cases throughout each shipyard and project.”

Zwiefelhofer credited feedback and suggestions from the shops and codes that assisted in the versatility of the current product.

“During the beta testing, we recruited supervisor representatives from each production shop to ensure that the application would support their individual processes,” he said. “During PSNS & IMF implementation, we also started gaining the feedback and beta testing for support codes involving Code 135 (Non-Destructive Testing) and Code 139 (Nuclear Inspection) to gauge if this application would also suit their needs in providing support to the production shops.”

While the first iteration or interim electronic crew boards were much better than the dry-erase board version, Zwiefelhofer said this current version will better serve a wide variety of shops, codes and eventually other commands within the NAVSEA enterprise.

“Six-months ago, supervisors were using a local application that provided many enhancements to their work preparation, but with one-way communication from the MSE environment to the application,” he said. “The big enhancement to the crew boards software being in EP is that there is an ability to provide two-way communication that can receive and send information to other corporate applications. Being able to update Remaining Duration Unit or validate qualifications/training in continuous, real-time updates within the crew boards module are clear examples of requested enhancements from the supervisors and an action we were able to deliver on.”