NAVAIR Depot Makes Fleet Readiness Top Priority
Navy NewStand
Story Number: NNS030318-10
Release Date: 3/18/2003 11:43:00 PM
By Bill Bartkus, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs
CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- In the fast-moving world of naval aviation, time can mean the difference between being ready to fight the battle when it must be fought or being less than ready to face the enemy from the strongest position.
At the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Depot North Island, the artisans who provide maintenance, repair and modification to the Navy's top-of-the-line strike fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet, have made time their top priority.
With that tasking, the key phrase is turnaround time (TAT). That's the time between a Hornet's arrival at the depot and its return to the fleet. TAT is crucial because, for that period, the aircraft is not available to the squadron. The North Island artisans and managers work diligently to find new ways to do things better and faster, because that's their way of supporting the warfighter.
The single seat version of the Hornet, the F/A-18C, or Charlies, is currently deployed aboard the carriers closest to the action. Their readiness is the fleet's readiness, and the fleet called upon the NAVAIR Depot team to enhance fleet readiness by moving an additional dozen Charlies through the depot with a reduced TAT.
Shawn Delaware, the depot's F/A-18 program manager, took on the challenge for his own team and the entire depot, saying, "Our goal was to reduce the number of F/A-18Cs in flow at North Island...these aircraft have more work content and are in production flow longer than the aircraft in the field."
He had 14 Charlies at the depot, and another six total at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego and Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif. "We felt we could expedite these aircraft to provide the fleet with at least 12 Hornets additionally available to their inventory by (the end of 2002)," said Delaware.
To do that, he instituted a separate F/A-18C production line with a dedicated group of artisans and production controllers to work on these particular Hornets. His team established a second shift to allow work on the aircraft 16-20 hours a day in order to meet the goal.
Teaming with organizations outside the depot was important to the success of the effort as well, as material is one of the biggest drivers for the depot to produce aircraft.
"Material plays a huge part in our ability to produce jets," said Walt Loftus, deputy F/A-18 program manager. "We needed to push everything out to the aircraft so when (it) went from metal to assembly, all of the parts were pushed there. When it came down to priorities, these F/A-18Cs were first."
To help with material requirements, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Navy Inventory Control Point, and San Diego's Fleet and Industrial Supply Center teams worked with the F/A-18 Strategic Business Office, trying to fill daily requirements for these aircraft.
"With the use of the newly developed master scheduler reports from MRPII (a workload control system) and discovery, daily requirements were easily identified and reported to the depot's NAVICP (naval inventory control point) suppliers and prioritized during weekly conference calls with these teammates," Delaware said.
There were many depot support providers, as well. The components program team, depot engineers and its maintenance control department all had a part in accelerating the aircraft through the plant. "Without these teammates, we could not produce aircraft out the door, let alone expedite them ahead of schedule," said Delaware.
"The fleet set our goal at 12 F/A-18C aircraft and we actually produced 19," Delaware pointed out. He was particularly proud his team had produced three of these critical Hornets with a TAT of only 65 days. "This was a major effort and a big drop from the average turnaround time."
NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts.
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