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Down a few decks, in a tight corner of USS Nimitz (CVN 68), a team of mechanics from Shop 38, Marine Machinery Mechanics, are overhauling a valve. A part is giving them some trouble, so they pull it out and inspect it. Anthony Emerson, a Shop 38 marine machinery mechanic, wipes down the piece, shines some light on it, and determines it has a deficiency that needs an engineer's input. It's exactly the type of work you would expect to see in the bowels of an aircraft carrier. But, as Emerson puts down his tools and moves across his workspace, the soft blue light of a tablet is illuminated on his work bench and he begins to type up the deficiency log to send to the engineers on the shipyard intranet.
Just a few years ago, this would not even have been a possibility. The security risks associated with mobile technology just wouldn't allow for using a tablet in engineering spaces. Incorporating new technology into these type of spaces is a methodical process—and thereby a slow process—due to the number of security concerns that first have to be addressed.
While mobile devices are a commonly used technology in just about all areas of life these days, they're less easily incorporated into the sensitive areas of our naval vessels. For naval nuclear work, it can be an even more difficult process.
"I feel like there will always be a sense of being a little bit behind just because of security," Emerson said. But, you have to go with technology that's tried and true and secure, and that takes a lot of time."
With the initial security hurdle addressed, Shop 38 mechanics have been able to start incorporating these mobile tablets into their workflow to test their potential for making processes more efficient—for them and the nuclear engineers they partner with.
For Jimmy Fournie, a Code 2310 nuclear engineer, the improvement that stands out most to him has been the improved turnaround time in getting feedback to the mechanics when they submit a deficiency log.
"It's really convenient to have these down here. As [the tablets] get better and have more resources, and as we all get better at using everything, it's going to be a really good tool," Fournie said.
Already, the shift from paper forms to digital forms makes managing information a lot easier on a big job.
"It's been a benefit for me that I can come in in the morning and look to see what kind of deficiency logs have been written on a big work package without having to physically have the package in my hands," Emerson said. It's a sentiment echoed by Cannon Dickinson, Shop 38, nuclear reactor ventilation supervisor.
"I think the visibility of all the deficiency logs and how we document them makes it easy to keep track of stuff," Dickinson said. "It's easy for the engineers to go in and make changes and for us to print out new copies. It just makes the whole process cleaner.”
While traditional paper logs haven't entirely disappeared from the mechanics' workflow—and syncing the old with the new can sometimes feel like a hurdle in and of itself—the potential for technology in this workspace grows the more the mechanics use it. Emerson said they have been able to quickly identify ways this technology could improve other processes on the job.
"It's perfect for what we do here," Emerson said.
Story was originally published on Page 3 of the June 10, 2021 issue of Salute. It may also be found at https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/58351.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.17.2021 18:01 |
| Story ID: | 411496 |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Mechanics, engineers implement new tech on Nimitz, by Adrienne Burns, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
