The valve piece fit easily in my hand, and when I saw it, I was angry.\u00a0 Somebody installed this part in 1988, and it had been just fine sitting untouched in the air system for nearly 30 years.\u00a0 It served no purpose anymore, but when it started to leak, it held up my submarine\u2019s schedule for a week.\u00a0 Since we didn\u2019t carry a replacement on board, all we could do was order a new part and wait.\u00a0 Some manufacturer probably had to dust off an old milling machine to make us a nice, new piece, and we paid them handsomely.\u00a0 With one AutoCAD file, we could have built a replacement part using additive manufacturing (AM) and fixed that valve the same day it broke at a lower cost.\u00a0 Improving our process for troubleshooting and repairing critical components will be a huge driver for preventing fleet downtime and maximizing utilization of our most important assets, submarines and their crews.\u00a0 The ability to create parts without an extensive supply chain would also drastically reduce the amount of storage space required on board a submarine, providing more room for equipment directly related to our missions.\u00a0 The ability to make parts at sea could potentially be the difference between completing a mission critical to national security and coming home early.\u00a0 This will also have the added benefit of allowing a submarine to maintain its ability to act independently if cut off from its supply chain in a time of war.\u00a0 In addition to advantages for assets at sea, the Navy and its shipbuilding partners could realize significant cost savings associated with standardized, AM valves and equipment in the initial production of submarines and their long-term maintenance.<\/p>\n
In the short term, the Navy has started a multitude of programs to develop the capacity to 3D print parts.\u00a0 The Department of the Navy (DON) established the AM Implementation Plan and the \u201cPrint the Fleet\u201d initiative[1]<\/a> in 2014.\u00a0 The AM plan seeks to \u201cEnable end to end process integration of secure on-demand manufacturing.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Through this on-demand process, we will eliminate most of the supply chain from our process flow for performing critical troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair.\u00a0 It will also allow for solution development at a unit level followed by information sharing between boats and shipyards, speeding up the fleetwide learning curve.\u00a0 In the medium time horizon, \u201cby the time we start rebuilding these shops over the next five to 10 years, I have no doubt that you\u2019re going to see additive manufacturing be an integral part of a lot of the work that\u2019s being done out there.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u00a0The shipyards major work stream is finding and fixing issues with submarines as they age, many of which were not anticipated by the original designers.\u00a0 These problems have no easy solution and require the customization provided by AM.\u00a0 The Navy is \u00a0planning the advanced AM capabilities it needs in its shipyards and manufacturing partners, but these technologies are not readily available to Sailors yet.\u00a0 The service is not moving fast enough to deliver necessary technology to operational units.<\/p>\n Overall, the submarine force has lagged other communities in AM.\u00a0 This year, \u201cA prototype, 3-D printed-metal drain strainer orifice for a steam line will be installed on the carrier\u00a0USS Harry S. Truman<\/em>\u00a0for a one-year test and evaluation trial.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 One valve on one carrier is not enough.\u00a0 The components produced by these AM machines have been tested in other similar industrial environments.\u00a0 The Navy should be aggressively pursuing on-board testing of these technologies and rapidly shifting to 3D printed replacement parts as our ships age. \u00a0At Electric Boat (EB), the largest manufacturer of submarines, \u201cRight now we\u2019re using additive manufacturing, but we\u2019re using it for non-ship parts only.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 EB should be incorporating and testing AM parts immediately.\u00a0 Building the capacity on newly constructed Virginia Class submarines will greatly enhance the organizational capability to produce replacement parts as the Virginias begin to age and require repairs.\u00a0 Developing this capability is key to the long-term health of all future submarine classes.\u00a0 To address the problem more rapidly, the Navy should leverage the Defense Innovation Unit to support emerging technology in the AM sector in addition to boosting its current investment in contracts with Lockheed Martin[6]<\/a> and Concurrent Technologies Corporation.[7]<\/a>\u00a0 The large up-front cost of these investments will pay massive dividends in the long-run.<\/p>\n The major questions facing these initiatives are can the Navy adapt its supply chain to incorporate the AM technology fast enough?\u00a0 And as we move into a future where technology including AM and AI becomes a regular part of day-to-day operations, what level of training and knowledge do the operators need in order to successfully complete their missions?<\/p>\n Wordcount 784<\/p>\n [1]<\/a>Naval Sea Systems Command, \u201cPrint the Fleet,\u201d https:\/\/www.navsea.navy.mil\/Portals\/103\/Documents\/NSWC_Dahlgren\/WhatWeDo\/PrinttheFleet\/InHouse_DNeck_Print_the_Fleet_Trifold.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Department of the Navy (DON), \u201cAdditive Manufacturing (AM) Implementation Plan V2.0 (2017)\u201d (PDF file), published May 4, 2017, downloaded from Defense Technical Information Center, http:\/\/www.dtic.mil\/dtic\/tr\/fulltext\/u2\/1041527.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Megan Eckstein, \u201cNAVSEA Looking for Early Wins as it Kicks Off 20-Year Yard Modernization,\u201d USNI News, September 5, 2018, https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2018\/09\/05\/navsea-looking-early-wins-kicks-off-20-year-yard-modernization<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> \u201cU.S. Navy Installs First 3D-Printed Metal Part Aboard a Warship,\u201d published October 12, 2018, Maritime Executive, https:\/\/www.maritime-executive.com\/article\/u-s-navy-installs-first-3d-printed-metal-part-aboard-a-warship<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Society of Manufacturing Engineers, \u201cQ&A with Electric Boat on Defense Manufacturing,\u201d published May 5, 2016,\u00a0 http:\/\/sme.org\/mfg42016-nedkaminski-qanda\/<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Joe Pappalardo, \u201cHow Putting A.I. Brains Into 3D Printers Will Change the Game for the Navy,\u201d published October 1, 2018, Popular Mechanics, https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/technology\/infrastructure\/a23546501\/us-navy-3d-printer-machine-learning-parts\/<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> \u201cNavy Awards Potential $6.4 Million Quality Metal Additive Manufacturing (Quality MADE) Contract to Concurrent Technologies Corporation,\u201d press release March 27, 2018, on GlobeNewsire, https:\/\/globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2018\/03\/27\/1453836\/0\/en\/Navy-Awards-Potential-6-4-Million-Quality-Metal-Additive-Manufacturing-Quality-MADE-Contract-to-Concurrent-Technologies-Corporation.html<\/a>, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Additively manufactured parts could drastically reduce the time required to perform repairs on board submarines and eliminate portions of the Navys bloated supply chain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11880,"featured_media":36072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[3340,4773,4774],"class_list":["post-32716","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-additive-manufacturing","category-industrial-production","category-submarines","hck-taxonomy-organization-united-states-navy","hck-taxonomy-industry-manufacturing","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\n