OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE & 2020 CALENDAR
Our success as shipbuilders has global impact.
Shipbuilding is not only a career, it’s a cause, and it’s easy to lose sight of that reality when deadline and schedule pressures mask the greater purpose behind our work.
Throughout 2020, the NNSFORWARD Strategy will continue to guide our business transformation, and our company-wide mission will remain centered around three major themes: engagement, execution and continuous improvement.
Our Navy — and our country — depend on us to do what we say we’re going to do, when we say we’re going to do it. To be the best we can be as a team, we each need to give our best effort. I cannot stress enough how important your engagement, health and understanding of the business is to our success.
We are two years into a five-plus-year transformation journey. We made great strides in 2019, many of which are captured in the following pages of this publication. I encourage you to read these highlights and think about how your work will continue to impact our transformation as the NNSFORWARD Strategy continues to evolve.
Success depends on all of us. I’m confident that, together, we will not only rise to the challenge. We will set a new shipbuilding standard.
All the best, Jennifer Boykin
President Newport News ShipbuildingThousands of shipbuilders, their family members and friends visited Newport News Shipbuilding’s Family Day event on May 18, 2019. Guests helped Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin cut a ribbon to officially kick off the event, which allowed shipbuilders a rare opportunity to show their loved ones where they work and share their pride in shipbuilding.
The NNSFORWARD Strategy was developed in 2017 to outline business priorities for the future. The strategy centers around the five-year goal of being a best-in-class manufacturing company. Newport News Shipbuilding will do this by improving employee health, welfare, safety and engagement; improving work execution; transforming our business with technology; and growing our design business. The five objectives and corresponding improvement priorities listed below are the roadmap to help achieve these goals.
We will demonstrate to our employees that we care about them, their development and their overall well-being by focusing on their basic human needs.
• Improve skills and proficiency of workforce
• Measure and reduce rework of key processes
• Analyze and address safety near-miss data
We will transform all aspects of our business to become more agile and efficient with a focus on people, technology and culture.
• Continuously improve production using Lean tools
• Achieve cost and schedule goals of Integrated Digital Shipbuilding products
• Develop and progress technology (Industry 4.0 Maturity Model)
We will transform our business from our current way of thinking and acting to a lean thinking and acting organization.
• Define and implement Execution Operating System priorities and infrastructure for all programs
• Establish executable schedules for all programs
• Increase on-time delivery and quality of externally provided material
• Identify and reduce overhead cost drivers
We will sustain and expand current core products and services; shape and create new and innovative products and services; and collaborate to grow all HII segments.
• Develop aircraft carrier acquisition strategy
• Attract, develop and maintain critical design skills
We will set our company‘s new direction, communicate an inspiring vision, and model how we “win” as ONE team.
• Improve employee engagement and community involvement
• Establish and deploy Leadership Development (Factory) Program
• Strengthen discipline to nuclear standards
The John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) aircraft carrier christening attracted over 20,000 guests to the shipyard on Dec. 7, 2019. While the breaking of the bottle over the ship’s bow officially names the ship, the christening also celebrates the hard work of thousands of shipbuilders from Newport News Shipbuilding and suppliers nationwide who have contributed to the ship’s construction.
The NNSFORWARD Strategy’s Enable Our Workforce component focuses on shipbuilders and creating a work environment that allows them to be their best. Providing basic human needs like transportation, clean bathrooms and relevant training makes shipbuilders’ work days a little easier — and safer.
One way the shipyard is building upon our safety culture is by making personal protection equipment more accessible across the waterfront. Newport News Shipbuilding has contracted with a vending machine distributor to place about 300 industrial vending machines around the shipyard. Standardized items are now available at the touch of a button, while other items are still found in tool room locations.
Good food options are another basic need, and the shipyard worked in 2019 to offer more food options to shipbuilders in more locations, including additional canteens, food trucks and reclaimed spaces. As part of this effort, Newport News Shipbuilding opened its gates to food vendors during periodic “Food Truck Round Up” events. Hosted by Aramark Services and Newport News Shipbuilding Food Services, the events were well attended and featured vendors such as Firehouse Subs, Papa Johns, Bojangles’, Latin Soul and Sweet Frog.
We Also Moved Forward By:
• Reclaiming two additional spaces to provide on-site break room facilities with microwaves, tables, refrigerators and vending machines.
• Creating employee events such as Inclusion and Diversity Week and Fun in the Park to increase engagement.
• Establishing survey centers across the shipyard to allow all employees access to last year’s Gallup employee engagement survey, which went digital for the first time. The benefit of a digital survey is it allows Newport News Shipbuilding to receive department survey results faster.
• Continuing to address parking issues. Some of Newport News Shipbuilding’s efforts include making improvements to employee transportation, including purchasing more than 1,200 Hampton Roads Transit 365GoPasses, and increasing the number of vehicles and shuttle and taxi drivers to improve employees’ wait times. For more information about employee transportation, visit the NNS to Go app and reference the parking and transportation tab.
• Implementing a production support system that brings support resources, such as lead mentors, industrial engineers and financial analysts, to the craftspeople on the waterfront to increase efficiency.
Shipbuilder Samuel Muscarella (X11) tests out an industrial vending machine in the Joint Manufacturing Assembly Facility. The industrial vending machines make personal protective equipment more readily accessible, saving shipbuilders time and keeping them safe.• Formally defining expectations of a Newport News Shipbuilding leader, and implementing new training to align with the expectations.
• Making training more relevant and engaging. One example is crane operations training, which incorporates virtual reality simulators so that users can safely experience a realistic environment and equipment before using a real crane for validation. Simulators provide a more engaging experience for future crane operators, and reduce overall training days and the time cranes are taken off of production for training use.
• Establishing three digital cafés in buildings 600, 520 and 903 to help shipbuilders resolve IT issues with company-issued computers and mobile devices more quickly.
The NNSFORWARD Strategy focuses on business transformation and leveraging shipbuilders’ collective talents to work smarter, not harder. That means better understanding the interaction between shipbuilders and technology, and identifying new ways to make shipbuilding more efficient.
Consider this: With the implementation of Integrated Digital Shipbuilding, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) will be the last aircraft carrier built using paper drawings. It’s a game-changing reality, and digital shipbuilding is not limited to new construction alone.
In fact, Newport News Shipbuilding reached a transformational milestone last year with the delivery of the first 3D-printed metal part to the U.S. Navy. But before the part could ever be printed, a team of shipbuilders conducted testing and analysis, developed a NAVSEA-approved material test plan, removed technological and cultural barriers, and established first-ever technical requirements to introduce the idea of 3D printing to the shipbuilding industry. Thanks to the team’s efforts, the first metal additive manufacturing test report in U.S. naval shipbuilding history was established, and the 3D part was placed aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). And it’s just the beginning. As 3D printing and other digital shipbuilding efforts continue to improve quality, and reduce cost and schedule across shipbuilding programs, the possibilities for future implementation are endless.
Today’s tablet is yesterday’s slide rule thanks to augmented reality, which integrates digital information with shipbuilders’ environment in real time. The technology provides shipbuilders an interactive way to access relevant construction information faster and more efficiently.
We Also Moved Forward By:
• Expanding the supplier community into the Great Lakes and along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts to help support hundreds of thousands of man hours of large structural assembly work.
• Creating more than 2,400 3D visual work instructions and over 150 visual build sequences to provide the right information at the right time to build Columbia -class submarines and Enterprise (CVN 80).
• Achieving several construction firsts, including pouring the first Columbia casting using digital model-based design data, and using new technology to vertically flip a submarine hull in less than an hour, an action that typically takes multiple days. The new technology is being used to support work on Virginia - and Columbia -class submarine bow and stern modules.
• Deploying more than 600 digital devices with corresponding training to the deckplate, and increasing Wi-Fi access in the North Yard.
The third element of the NNSFORWARD Strategy is Execute Efficiently, which strives to create a culture that embraces lean thinking and processes to streamline and transform the business. Newport News Shipbuilding is working to execute efficiently through Kaizen, which means “change for better.” The Lean philosophy brings together a diverse group of people, gives them a problem and enables their success. It’s about turning up the volume on shipbuilders’ voices and removing their frustrations.
Kaizen contributed to recent success in the Ring Module Shop where shipbuilders set new Block IV cost records in the building of Virginia -class submarine Idaho’s (SSN 799) sail module. Shipbuilder input led to the creation of a build team across all three shifts dedicated specifically to construction of the sail. The approach improved communication and reduced rework. The module was delivered to the Blast and Coat Facility 14 days ahead of schedule and was the most structurally complete Block IV sail delivered by the Ring Module Shop.
Shipbuilder Jovan Jackson (O63) reviews suggestions for reducing the build duration on a submarine module during a Kaizen event, which aims to engage shipbuilders in the decision-making process and remove their frustrations on the job.
We Also Moved Forward By:
• Conducting 28 Kaizen events and training nearly 40 team leaders on Lean principles.
• Launching multiple reporting and analysis tools to improve material visibility, and implementing a “Pick to Kit” program in the manufacturing shops to expedite material delivery to the craftspeople.
• Implementing yard-wide program and production standards and establishing phased reviews as part of Newport News Shipbuilding’s Execution Operating System.
• Developing a new overhead cost collection tool to better track where Newport News Shipbuilding is investing.
Shipbuilding will always be the company’s core business, but like any successful company, Newport News Shipbuilding must improve upon what it does well and find ways to expand. The fourth element of the NNSFORWARD Strategy focuses on securing work for continued stability and growth.
In 2019, Newport News Shipbuilding was awarded the two largest U.S. Navy contracts in the company’s history.
In January 2019, the shipyard was awarded the CVN 80/81 two-ship aircraft carrier contract, which secures Newport News Shipbuilding’s employment and financial stability through 2032 and provides the nation’s warships at the most affordable cost.
The year closed with news in December that Newport News Shipbuilding and teaming partner General Dynamics Electric Boat were awarded a contract to build Block V Virginia -class submarines. The contract work continues modernization of the fleet over a five-year period, with construction starting in 2019 and deliveries scheduled from 2025 through 2029.
We Also Moved Forward By :
• Partnering with the U.S. Navy to provide aircraft carrier and submarine maintenance to increase the readiness of its fleet.
• Creating new approaches and technologies with the U.S. Navy to expedite the submarine design process.
• Partnering with the U.S. Navy to bring new technologies and capabilities to the Ford -class life cycle.
• Investing in the next generation of engineers and designers to design and maintain the U.S. Navy’s fleet.
Shipbuilder Danny Davis (X15) operated a plasma-burning machine last year to cut the first steel plate for construction of Columbia (SSBN 826), the lead boat of the new class of ballistic missile submarines. The Columbia class will be the first submarine class built using fully digital blueprints.
The final component of the NNSFORWARD Strategy is Lead the Way, and it’s about setting the company‘s new direction, communicating an inspiring vision, and uniting as one team to innovate, rethink and reinvent the business of shipbuilding.
But to truly lead the way, Newport News Shipbuilding’s success also requires a heart for service, coaching and mentorship. When leaders see their primary role as creating conditions for success and removing barriers for their teams, more is achieved. By inverting the pyramid, the whole enterprise is brought to bear on the products and services delivered by the frontline. Newport News Shipbuilding’s leadership development efforts, such as the Leadership Factory, are based on the inverted pyramid philosophy.
Another way Newport News Shipbuilding is leading the way is in the community, and one need look no further than the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center, a state-of-the-art facility that opened in summer 2019 in southeast Newport News. On the top three floors, Newport News Shipbuilding designers and engineers work to implement new digital technologies into the shipyard’s engineering and manufacturing processes. And on the first floor, shipbuilders, in partnership with the city of Newport News and Old Dominion University, share their knowledge and expertise to help grow and develop a new generation of engineers, scientists and mathematicians who will help the shipyard lead the way in the digital age of shipbuilding.
We Also Moved Forward By:
• Volunteering hundreds of hours in the classroom with Girls with Engineering Minds in Shipbuilding (GEMS), Young Men Engineers (YME) and other outreach programs to bring awareness to STEM and shipbuilding careers.
• Conducting monthly Leadership Business Forums to continue leadership development and improve leaders’ business knowledge.
• Identifying and evaluating leadership talent, needs and alignment to promote development and ensuring Newport News Shipbuilding has the right leader in the right place at the right time.
• Developing a formal talent acceleration program that includes experiences, training and mentorship.
Shipbuilder Isaac Wigfall (X51) demonstrated modeling and simulation for area youth during the grand opening event for the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center in Newport News’ southeast community. The center offers Newport News Shipbuilding an opportunity to bring STEM awareness and training to community youth who one day will be the shipbuilders building our future.• Building Newport News Shipbuilding’s 17th Habitat for Humanity home, donating thousands of pounds of food to the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank, and participating in the Heart Walk, United Way and other community projects to demonstrate how kindness makes a difference in the community.
Several calendar images courtesy of the U.S. Navy. All other photography, design and production by Newport News Shipbuilding Communications Division.