Description
Organization: NAVSEA, PMS-317
Team Name: LPD 17 Design for Ownership Team
Related Acquisition Topic(s): Financial Management, Integrated Digital Environment (IDE), Integrated Product Teams (IPT), Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD), Simulation Based Acquisition
Description:
Since 1996, the LPD 17 Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Program Office, PMS 317, has utilized the Design for Ownership process, a sustained mechanism to involve the ultimate owners of LPD 17, the operators, maintainers, trainers, and warriors, into every facet of this 21st Century ship class' planning, design, testing and evaluation. In order to gain every advantage from this Sailor and Marine expertise, PMS 317 implemented the "Virtual Crew" in 1999 in conjunction with the Avondale Alliance. The Virtual Crew is the process wherein Fleet and Marine Corps subject-matter-experts directly interface with the LPD 17 Design Team in detailed reviews of virtually every space on the ship. Although the ship's keel will not be laid until late CY2000, detailed design review of computer models has and will continue to yield significant savings as problems are discovered before construction starts. By "walking through" three dimensional electronic models and explicit, graphic computer representations of LPD 17, the eventual owners of the ship prevent costly engineering changes and ensure that the ship will fully meet operational requirements when the USS SAN ANTONIO, first of the 12- ship class delivers in CY2003.
The LPD 17 Design for Ownership Team recruited members of the Virtual Crew from over 100 Navy and Marine Corps activities on both the East and West Coasts. These experts are brought together via video teleconferencing with the actual engineers from Integrated Product Teams who designed and modeled each space. Thus, the operator, maintainer and warrior partner with the designers to produce a more cost-effective and warrior- friendly space. The areas and levels of expertise vary as participants range from the Hospital Corpsmen in Fleet Surgical Teams to Battle Group Commanders, but each and every recommendation is reviewed and evaluated by the LPD 17 Integrated Product Teams regardless of origin.
Crewmembers gather in the LPD 17 War Room at the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Atlantic located in Little Creek, Virginia and at COMPHIBGRU Three in San Diego. After an overview and background discussion using flat drawings, the Integrated Product Team guides the Virtual Crew through the electronic model of the space. Using computerized design tools, the crewmembers are able to view the space from above, ask to have bulkheads or piping removed for a better view, or actually "walk through" the space. A crewmember can "sit" at a virtual console and conduct a reach or visibility check. Or, the Design Team can model a typical 95percentile Sailor or Marine and walk them through the space, checking for physical clearance. If a member of the audience inquires about distance between bulkheads in a passageway, the design "tour director" can stop and take measurements on the spot.
Everything from fire extinguishers to fire main systems, from flight deck visibility in Debark Control to coat hanger eye hazards in berthing compartments may be displayed, reviewed, and suggestions captured. In fact, at the end of each session, the Design Team compares notes with the Virtual Crew's scribe to ensure that all recommendations were recorded.
During 1999, the DFO and Virtual Crew team conducted 59 Virtual Crew sessions that reviewed over 300 individual ship spaces. The results were impressive. Better than 15% of the 515 recommendations provided by the crew have led to actual changes in the design. Another 37 of those recommendations validated the design. The remaining recommendations, were either not feasible or remain under investigation. The most significant achievement of the process is that the Alliance will incorporate these engineering changes into detailed design more than three years early, when changes can be made more easily and at less cost. A few typical examples of Virtual Crew successes include:
Relocated ladder to lower level in Main Machinery Room to facilitate firefighting and egress. The Virtual Crew discovered that a firefighter would enter the upper level on one side of the ship from topside and then have to cross the entire upper level of the space to access the lower level ladder. This would most likely be impossible in the event of a lower level fire. Having to correct this deficiency after ship delivery would incur costly design and structural changes to relocate the lower level ladder, install it through the solid deck on the other side and extend decking to where the ladder had been - perhaps as much as $500,000 per ship. The cognizant Integrated Product Team made the change without cost.
Redesigned the Pilot House. The Virtual Crew discovered that a centerline 12 inch beam blocked visibility in the ship's Pilot House. This had originally been a structural support for the Close in Weapon System (CIWS), but when planners deleted the CIWS they overlooked the beam. The result was both a safety hazard as well as a limitation to certain tactical maneuvering functions. Based upon the Virtual Crew's discovery, the beam was removed. The shipbuilder could not have made this change until after LPD 17 delivery and the subsequent change on the 11 follow-on ships of the class would have cost at least a million dollars per ship.
With the help of the Virtual Crew, the cognizant Integrated Product Team rearranged the ship's shore power cable stations to improve handling. The initial design had limited room for manual handling and cables passed very close to the Rolling Airframe Missile Launcher making crane usage hazardous. Using the Virtual Crew's suggestion to rig the shore power cable supports from the foc'sle, the new arrangement will enable a crane with power boom to handle the weighty cables from the pier. This change proved timely and significant because within days of the Virtual Crew event, a fleet Sailor fell and died while manhandling shore power cables.
