In September 2006, the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) agreed with the Navy that there was a need to develop an enterprise approach for ship acquisition and service life programs. The result of this effort, titled the Navy Product Data Initiative (NPDI), is a proposed Navy Integrated Product Data Environment (IPDE) specification defining a set of high level requirements that will enhance both the configuration management and interoperability of ship product model data. The proposed specification and compliance assessment documents were delivered to the Navy in July 2008. The requirements contained in the NSRP-proposed specification represent the naval shipbuilders’ consensus to address a set of common needs that will enhance the creation, management and use of ship product model data throughout a ship’s life cycle. It is recognized that achieving the significant benefits that are expected from the implementation of these requirements will require additional Navy, shipbuilder and IPDE vendor analysis and commitment. The work of the NPDI Team and the resulting set of requirements, as documented in the proposed specification, should become the starting point for a continuing effort to improve the utilization of ship product model data across the entire Navy Enterprise.
Specification implementation at the shipyard depends on how invoked on the contract and the maturity of current shipyard IPDE; ultimately requiring a business case analysis and coordination with the applicable PEO/Program Office
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