The Five-Year National Shipbuilding Productivity Improvement Plan (The National Shipbuilding Research Program)

This paper examines how SENESCO, a small business shipyard, perceives and practices productivity theory within a company mission and management framework that balances safety, production, quality, and responsibility. The paper discusses the various ways in which productivity is achieved and improved at the SENESCO shipyard. Themes in this paper are consistent with goals and objectives of the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Crosscut Initiatives Panel. Concepts in this paper could be adapted or adopted by other small to mid-sized shipyards or smaller units of larger shipyards. Quantitative evidence of our productivity improvement will be shared in a subsequent paper.

Download Full-text

A Return to Merchant Ship Construction: The International Impact of the NSRP and American Technology

Journal of Ship Production ◽

10.5957/jsp.1992.8.1.28 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 8 (01) ◽

pp. 28-35

Author(s):

Antonio Sarabia ◽

Rafael Gutierrez

Keyword(s):

Research Program ◽

Production System ◽

Related Literature ◽

Ship Construction ◽

Know How ◽

Improvement Plan ◽

Technological Improvement ◽

Merchant Ship ◽

Cooperative Agreements ◽

Initial Results

In the mid-eighties, the state-owned shipbuilders of Spain were suffering from many typical shipyard problems, making them uncompetitive. After making a strong reentry in the commercial shipbuilding market, they engaged in a process of reorganization of the entire production system according to modern Japanese practice. The goal was to become competitive with the world's best. The know-how was acquired via cooperative agreements with leading Japanese shipbuilders as well as through the use of American consultants and National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) related literature. A comprehensive technological improvement plan has been launched and the initial results are very promising.

Download Full-text

Improving Shipyard Productivity Through the Combined Use of Process Engineering and Industrial Engineering Methods Analyses Techniques

Journal of Ship Production ◽

10.5957/jsp.1986.2.1.42 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 2 (01) ◽

pp. 42-45

Author(s):

Tommy L. Cauthen

Keyword(s):

Production Process ◽

Research Program ◽

Mass Production ◽

Process Engineering ◽

Productivity Improvement ◽

Shipbuilding Industry ◽

Engineering Technique ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

Combined Use ◽

Production Techniques

Despite the obvious compromises to efficiency that must be made when producing small quantities, the shipbuilding industry sometimes rules out or fails to consider some of the efficient techniques and methodologies of mass production manufacturing. In this paper a comparison and contrast is made between the methods of mass production and small quantity manufacturing. Also revealed in this paper are the benefits from the use of a mass production process engineering technique and a methods analysis technique during the performance of the National Shipbuilding Research Program SP-8 Panel Task ES-8-21. The use of a mass production process engineering technique is explained as a solution to a methods problem of excessive travel for tools in shipyard equipment installation by outside machinists. The paper concludes with a promotion of this specific application of mass production methodology in shipbuilding and a promotion of the re-evaluation of mass production techniques by shipyards as a vehicle for productivity improvement.

Download Full-text

The Canadair-I.A.M. Productivity Improvement Plan

Relations industrielles ◽

10.7202/029238ar ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 177-197

Author(s):

David A. Peach

Keyword(s):

Productivity Improvement ◽

Improvement Plan

This paper presents the experience of Canadair-I.A.M. Productivity Improvement Plan.

Download Full-text

IHI’s Experience of Technical Transfer and Some Considerations on Further Productivity Improvement in U.S. Shipyards

Journal of Ship Production ◽

10.5957/jsp.1988.4.2.104 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 4 (02) ◽

pp. 104-115

Author(s):

Hiroshi Sasaki

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Technology Transfer ◽

Research Program ◽

North American ◽

State Of The Art ◽

The United States ◽

The State ◽

Productivity Improvement ◽

The World ◽

The U.S

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI), a leading shipbuilder in Japan, has uniquely exported shipbuilding technology throughout the world for three decades. North American efforts, starting in the mid-1970's, were stimulated by the U.S. Government/industry National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP). The technology transfer, for which the U.S. Maritime Administration deserves much credit, has significantly modernized and improved U.S. shipbuilding systems with carryover into naval shipyard operations for overhaul of all types of warships. But, productivity levels achieved thus far in the United States, while impressive, are not nearly as great as those in Japan. This paper is based on analyses of the underlying differences of shipbuilding systems, technology, and practices between those in Japan and in the United States. It is hoped that descriptions of the state-of-the-art IHI technology will serve as guidance for further productivity improvements in the United States.

Download Full-text

Tinkering with cognitive gadgets: Cultural evolutionary psychology meets active inference

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19001018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Benjamin Badcock ◽

Axel Constant ◽

Maxwell James Désormeau Ramstead

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Psychology ◽

Research Program ◽

Active Inference ◽

Innovative Research ◽

Cognitive Faculties ◽

Cultural Evolutionary ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Cognitive Gadgets offers a new, convincing perspective on the origins of our distinctive cognitive faculties, coupled with a clear, innovative research program. Although we broadly endorse Heyes’ ideas, we raise some concerns about her characterisation of evolutionary psychology and the relationship between biology and culture, before discussing the potential fruits of examining cognitive gadgets through the lens of active inference.

Download Full-text