New Horizons for Shipbuilding Process Improvement

"In 2004, we start an Initiative—Lean Six Sigma Initiative to achieve our Op Ex Goals. We will be conducting a number of on boarding sessions for Six Sigma with senior leaders in DOD, NAVY, and most importantly Defense Contractors. We will require Six Sigma training for direct reports."John Young, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition)The announcement of NAVSEA's Lean Six Sigma initiative has ushered in a new era in the ways that naval combatants are designed, built, and operated. As the Navy's budgetary constraints increase in the coming years, the challenges they face in the 21st century will grow. New levels of process performance are mandated. This paper first highlights the opportunities that the Lean Six Sigma roadmap brings to shipbuilding process improvement and then details the efforts to adopt Lean Six Sigma and align it with the continuous improvement initiative at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. Aspects of management strategy, design for Six Sigma, and replicating process improvements as part of integrating Lean Six Sigma with Knowledge Management are discussed.