Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. – Ingalls Shipbuilding Project Start: August 2017 Technology insertion is a key driver to reduce Navy shipbuilding fabrication costs. The Navy ManTech Program is participating in this effort, with specific focus on manufacturing processes for ship construction.  The Naval Shipbuilding and Advanced Manufacturing (NSAM) Center and Huntington Ingalls Industries – […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. – Ingalls Shipbuilding Project Start: February 2017 The front line foremen, who are responsible for the safety, quality, cost and schedule performance of their crew, has more impact on production than any other member of management. The most laborious tasks of foremen are planning, progressing and projecting the crew’s work […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. – Ingalls Shipbuilding Project Start: January 2017 Painting in the shipyard is a major undertaking, as most every part of a ship will go through some degree of painting during construction. Only certain areas in the shipyard are dedicated to performing major paintwork and this limitation, coupled with the requirement […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. Project Start: Dec 2016 Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. – Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII-Ingalls Shipbuilding) is introducing a new panel line to improve productivity in ship manufacturing. A review of joining processes used in commercial shipbuilding worldwide has identified that Hybrid Laser Arc Welding (HLAW) can reduce the welding heat input used […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. Project Start: December 2016 Although the shipyard’s Engineering designs are digital, physical drawings are still a main end product delivered to downstream organizations. These drawings are often from a macro perspective such as a unit or assembly, however when individual parts require fabrication, they are drawn separately as details. These […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. Project Start: May 2016 Efficient utilization and allocation of resources for construction purposes is a common problem among all shipyards, but the problem is unique for each yard as each yard has dramatically different construction processes and build plans. One of the biggest cost drivers are lifts and moves […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. Project Start:  June 2016 Coordinating the daily tasks of ship construction for thousands of craftsmen is a challenging responsibility for the shipyard foreman. The amount of effort required to coordinate, scope, assign, and record the completion progress is extremely time-consuming and is currently performed in a manner alternating between […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc., Newport News Shipbuilding & EWI Project Start:  June 2016 The U.S. Navy and Huntington Ingalls – Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) have a joint initiative to reduce the construction cost of the FORD Class Carrier. The program addresses costs for contractor labor, shipbuilder materials, and government furnished equipment. The Navy […]

Project Participants: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems Project Start: April 2016 The Northrop Grumman Integrated Assembly Line (IAL) in Palmdale, California, is a highly automated final assembly line with many automated systems assisting in the production of the F-35 center fuselage. Systems such as the Inlet Duct Robotic Drilling (IDRD) system, automate production functions such as drilling, metrology, […]

Project Participants: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. Project Start: March 2016 The lifting and handling processes, procedures and equipment currently utilized evolved to address the specific requirements of each step, without regard for the entire process as a whole. Controlling documentation for each organization is not coordinated, is inconsistently applied, does not clearly delineate roles and […]