The Changing Nature of the U.S. Navy Ship Design Process

In the spring of 1990, the NavSea Chief Engineer initiated a project to improve the design, acquisition and construction (DAC) of U.S. Navy ships. The project's objectives are to reduce the time and cost of acquiring and operating Navy ships while improving their quality. unlike previous studies on the subject, the project utilizes a rigorous process analysis approach and attempts to use quantitative measures as the basis for recommending improvements. The paper is, of necessity, a status report on the progress of this project. Topics covered include: the DAC process; a look at the current state of ship acquisition time, cost, and quality; the methodology for process improvements; and early findings.

supporting

confidence: 77%

Improving the Ship Design, Acquisition and Construction Process

Ryan

Jons

1992

A Logical Integrated Approach to Naval Combatant Design

Reed

1981

NAVSEA promulgated the Ship Work Breakdown Structure (SWBS) in 1973 to provide a single language to span the entire ship life cycle from early design/cost studies through disposition. This system and its predecessors have been primarily used as an accounting system for weight and cost estimates in the latter stages of ship design, i.e., contract and detail design. The position is taken that the SWBS system can be the center of the logical approach to ship design for each and every phase of the design. Using this approach, systems engineering/ship integration can be done ensuring the consideration of each functional area in early stages of design. A matrix approach is developed which tracks the design by looking at each functional area for various systems disciplines, such as cost, manning, survivability, reliability, etc. The overall approach allows for the disciplined analysis of each functional area of the ship, with decisions/selections made by using a ship system/ship impact oriented design philosophy. Properly set up and orchestrated, this logical approach should lead to a thoroughly developed and balanced ship design, which is managed by initially putting everything from R&D, weight estimating, cost, etc., into the system that becomes even more valuable as the design matures, i.e., SWBS.

Streamlining Then a Vsea Ship Design Process

Riggins

1981

The objective of this paper is to examine the NAVSEA ship design process and propose changes to achieve more effective use of organic engineers. The paper summarizes the changes which have taken place in the ship design process and the ship acquisition environment over the last 15 years, and the incompatibilities which result. Findings of the “NAVSEA Engineering Resources Alternatives” (ERA) task are cited as bases for the need to modify the design process. Causes of the changes are traced to three kinds of factors: changes in the content of design products, reduction in NAVSEA engineering manpower available for ship design, and new emphasis in ship acquisition management. These trends have resulted in an overlay of added procedures on the existing process. The result is a patchwork approach to design which does not make effective use of NAVSEA organic engineers. Thus, the evolution has reached a point which demands a basic restructuring of the design process. ERA conclusions, DOD acquisition policy, and NAVSEA priorities are examined as primary considerations in restructuring the ship design process. This examination leads to development of a set of criteria for the new process. The final part of the paper develops a proposal for the revised NAVSEA ship design process based on the stated criteria. Recognizing that major changes to NAVSEA design activities should not be attempted instantaneously, there is some discussion of means to transition to the new process.