Crosscut Initiatives Panel

Leadership 2010 – Improving Supervision
Standardize Interoperable Curricula Across Shipyards
Improving Shipbuilding Industry Image
Workforce Preparation Improvements
Employee Sources & Skills Summit
Emerging Workforce Development  
Lean 101: Training Customized for the Industry
Develop Skill Standards for the Industry

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Leadership 2010 – Improving Supervision (completed)
This effort adapted the Training Within Industry program for use by the shipbuilding and repair industry to realize savings through improved retention, increased productivity and increased first-time quality. Ship affordability is greatly impacted by a shortage of trained, qualified workers, particularly in such areas as the Gulf Coast. The Leadership 2010 training program includes the following learning modules: delivering effective on-the-job instruction; improving job methods; achieving positive job relations; and training employees to solve problems unique to their organization or workplace. All shipyard employees and Crosscut Panel members who have used the Leadership 2010 materials reported they are clear and useful. Individuals from other industries also reviewed the materials at the TWI Summit Conference in May, 2009 with similar response. The learning modules are available on www.GoShips.com. Click here to download a copy of the final report.

For more information, Contact the Panel Chair.

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Standardize Interoperable Curricula Across Shipyards (completed)
To enhance worker interoperability among shipyards, this project team designed four example standardized, best-practices-based training course modules that are exportable to other yards. The purpose of the modules was to standardize training across shipyards to avoid the high costs of repetitive training course development. A workshop and simultaneous web-cast was held to instruct shipyard personnel in training course development using standard methodology. Interest within the shipyard community resulted in requests for three additional workshops. Request the Final Report.

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Improving Shipbuilding Industry Image (completed)
One issue common to most U.S. shipyards is the shortage of skilled employees and the aging of the existing craft production workforce. Shipyards are discovering that there is a critical shortage of skilled employees in the current economic environment of the United States. Attracting and retaining a skilled workforce is a critical to the future of the U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry. This project used exiting and newly developed shipyard imagery that illustrate the variety and excitement of shipbuilding careers, including contrasting it with imagery of routine, dull work. The project developed several short “commercials” for the web. The web commercials can be viewed at the project’s website www.goships.com. The Final Report details the team's research on workforce image issues and the development of the web commercials.

For more information, contact the Panel Chair.

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Workforce Preparation Improvements (completed)
The project developed resources needed for a competent new shipbuilding industry workforce by teaming shipyards with learning institutions and other workforce stakeholders to synthesize management tools, learning services and enabling technology. The goals of this project were: adapt existing NSRP skill standards to web-based technology that other complex industries such as aerospace use to manage their workforce skills; determine a representative core knowledge course catalog and trainer skill set that effectively connects shipyards and community colleges; and develop a methodology to adapt existing Manufacturing Skill Standards Council entry-level skill standards to shipbuilding and repair in ways that will assure a return on investment. Please click here to request a copy of the Final Report (available to the public).

For more information, contact the Panel Chair.

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Employee Sources & Skills Summit (completed)
Crosscut Initiatives Panel conferences and surveys have revealed that employee sources and skills are falling behind requirements to replace aging workers and cover workplace turnover in shipyards as well as manufacturing in general. U.S. manufacturing is in competition with other industries in the U.S. and in other nations. There is strong demographic evidence of a gap in required skills and interest in shipbuilding and manufacturing in general. National efforts to revitalize American manufacturing require collaborative efforts. The goal of this project was to organize and conduct a conference that will further connect shipbuilding and repair workforce development and skills initiatives with other national manufacturing and professional-technical education initiatives to achieve a more consolidated understanding and action plan. The summit shared specific manufacturing industry, workforce, board and related education provider new employee needs, common problems and best practice solutions to achieve greater national, regional and local unity; and made recommendations toward improving shipbuilding and repair efficiencies including cost reduction.

The project developed a questionnaire/survey to gather data prior to the Workforce Summit to enhance the Workforce Summit's effectiveness to address the goals. The survey also obtained input from attendees regarding their level of interest in various issues that were used as topics for breakout sessions during the Summit. The survey results are available to the public. Click here to download a copy of the survey results. The final report provides an overview of the project and also information about the Workforce Summit that was held. It provides the conclusions and recommendations from the project. Click here to download a copy of the final report. Some of the presentations from the Workforce Summit are also available on the Crosscut Initiatives webpage.

For more information, contact the Panel Chair.

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Emerging Workforce Development (completed)
This project sought to maintain a capable and age-diverse shipbuilding workforce through achieving a better understanding of the interrelated actions of recruiting, educating, and training of entry level and job-changing workers, and professional development and retention of current employees. The process of building and maintaining a shipbuilding workforce has encountered a few obstacles in recent years and recruiting of qualified entry-level workers is perceived as more difficult now than several decades ago. A shift of secondary and post-secondary curriculum away from the academic and applied skills, competencies and abilities required of entry level manufacturing-shipbuilding candidates has occurred. Knowledge of and need for new workforce development issues are largely confined to individual shipyards and are not comprehensively shared in the industry or educational community. Best practices of new workforce development from related industries such as heavy manufacturing and steel construction trades are not well understood by shipbuilding professionals. This project addressed these issues by gathering and analyzing current information, engaging pertinent stakeholders in conversation, sharing best practices, and exploring new ways that shipyards and educators can help each other. Available to the public. Click here to download the PDF version of the document.

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"Lean 101" Training Customized for the Industry (completed)
The goal of this project was to customize a training course and associated simulation for the shipbuilding and repair industry. The purpose of the training course is to show applicability of Lean principles to shipbuilding and repair. MEPMSI, the project lead, hosted two successful training sessions at Jeffboat and Electric Boat for approximately 40 total industry representatives. A brief synopsis follows:

• Concepts of pull, just in time manufacturing, quality at the source, set-up reduction and cellular manufacturing were stressed in the interactive lecture.

• Students were interactive participants in a company called Time Wise, Inc. and produced clocks of different configurations. The lecture and simulation demonstrated ship construction related processes using a clock as a manufactured product.

• Throughout the lecture numerous case studies were presented linking the "building blocks of Lean manufacturing: to actual examples of ship construction, ship repair, fabrication and assembly.

• Established Lean techniques such as Value Stream Mapping and Kaizen were discussed to reinforce how improvements are achieved through looking "at the whole" and determining how processes and systems affect the whole environment.

If you are interested in this training, please contract Terry Shehata at MEPMSI.

For more information, contact the Panel Chair.

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Develop Skill Standards for the Industry (completed)
A previous NSRP project funded in 1996 developed a limited set of industry skill standards. A database that covers manufacturing crafts, in a format that applies to a wide variety of shipyards, was developed and distributed to the industry in CD format and is availablefrom National Technical Information Service (NTIS) [Report #NSRP 0527].  More information on manufacturing skill standards can be found at www.msscusa.org. The database continues to be referenced by many shipyards, particularly when writing job descriptions.  These efforts expanded and updated the database and worked toward affiliating the industry with national efforts in skill standards to ensure the database remains broadly applicable and accurate. The skills database incorporates new craft and professional positions and is reformatted to the universally accepted skill standard format of the National Skills Standards Board (NSSB). 

For more information, contact the Panel Chair

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Last Update: 8/10/2010