Integrated Product Support
Providing shore planning
expertise for the US Navy
since 1999
Planning for the Future
We are recognized experts at planning for the future. We provide clarity to what the future brings, determine what it takes to support that vision, and develop and monitor workable plans to help make that vision a reality.
For the Navy, we provide vital support to future ships and aircraft. We provide niche engineering expertise ensuring that supportability is part of the new weapon system’s design, that there is cost-effective support of the system throughout its life cycle, and that upon delivery, each new ship and aircraft is fully supportable by the Navy’s shore establishment.
Tailored Expertise
We know that the best solutions can only come from the best people. We create teams with the right talent for each project. Team members are Subject Matter Experts from within theESHgroup, from the particular naval weapon system program office, and at naval installation being planned.
To study a potential homeport for the Navy’s newest submarine design, theESHgroup first staffs itself with shore engineers, ship acquisition specialists, graphics artists and prior submariners. We then arrange to work with a temporary composite military/civilian group at that base, at appropriate times consisting of sailors from the local submarine squadron; public works and environmental engineers; training and supply specialists, and waterfront operators, plus ship design and logistics support managers from the submarine design office.
Site Visits
We excel in conducting site inspections and site surveys. We carefully plan in advance what we intend to accomplish during the visits. With our Subject Matter Experts and our composite teams of professionals, we then accomplish all that we set out to achieve. Results of each visit are documented for use in follow-on activities and analyses.
After learning that the design of the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier would be with a hull and flight deck “slightly” wider in some places than current carriers, we wanted to assure the Navy that the new ship would physically fit into existing aircraft carrier drydocks. We inspected drydocks and met with drydocking supervisors to assess the potential ramifications of bringing the new ship into the dock, and on the ability of the large portal cranes to maneuver around the docked ship. Result: by our identifying several tight-fit areas, the Navy could safely position and maintain the new carrier in the drydock without resorting to constructing new drydocks or modifying the ship’s design. We illustrated this with a digital model of the ship in a virtual model of the drydock.
3D and 2D Models
We analyze situations and communicate solutions through the use of 3D and 2D digital models when it is helpful to do so. Visualizations are vital to more clearly understand complex real-life situations. We use graphics taken as screen grabs of a 3D analysis to succinctly help to convey key points in our written reports.
We were asked to determine the scope for a new logistics support facility at an overseas installation for one of the Navy’s newest surface combatants. We did this by using the blueprints from a similar facility in the US, appropriately scaling the footprints of certain functions up/down to fit the expected overseas workloads. We then created a representative 3D facility from those 2D blueprints. So not only did we provide the data for a new facility, we also showed what it would probably look like.
Risk Avoidance
We help the Navy avoid risk, as an inherent part of our everyday work. That means taking proactive measures to place shore planning risk squarely within a green section of the standard red/yellow/green system safety chart, signifying a risk of low probability with low severity. In practice, we take steps to ensure the Navy’s shore establishment is capable to fully support that new ship or new aircraft when it arrives for the first time at that particular naval installation.
To institutionalize the optimum shore facilities planning for any new ship, we created a curve of needed activities, carefully timed with (1) the lead time to budget and construct a new facility, and (2) the acquisition phase of that new ship. And we noted that the earlier we could assess the future ship-to-shore interface, the larger the chance the Navy would be able to either design out a potential problem, or create a budget item for the new facility. Result: a low risk of a future supportability issue.
Gap Analysis
We figure out what the Navy’s supportability shortfalls for ships and aircraft are at each naval base by comparing minimum acceptable future requirements against locally available assets. The nuances of conducting these gap analyses are what make us so indispensable to the Navy’s planning system. We have the knowledge and experience to create and validate solid future requirements with fleet operators, so that the resulting gaps that must be closed/satisfied with construction projects and mitigating actions are credible.
Future ships often come with significant changes in how the ships are managed and how their sailors are trained. We carefully study drafts of the Navy’s operating plans to determine how these proposed changes would impact shore support requirements, in quantifiable terms. For one new futuristic surface combatant, the changes resulted our development of a new requirement for a 240,000 square foot command and control facility (with 18 different types of spaces) for 20 such ships at each of several proposed homeports. We then showed that each homeport had a net quantifiable gap, with proposed unique optimal solutions.
Recommending Solutions
We are widely recognized as being stingy with our proposed solutions. We believe in the philosophy of doing more with less, with reusing existing versus building new, and with creative planning for the long term. We believe in heavily leveraging locally available assets. The results are solutions of acceptable financial and operational risk. We fully support the Navy’s goals of the right facilities, at the right time, at the right price!
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a completely new concept for a surface combatant, one that relies on modular mission packages (think 20-foot sea containers) to flexibly tailor specific type of ship needed for the mission at-hand. This created new requirements for the Navy to manage, house and maintain hundreds of containers, each containing expensive and sensitive equipment. The Navy planned to conduct proof-of-concept of this system at one of its bases, and urgently needed a support facility for the containers. TheESHgroup proposed the requirements, and after a site visit recommended the construction of a temporary fabric storage facility close to the piers for those several years of testing. Experience gained from operating this temporary facility would then serve to drive permanent requirements for a family of support facilities around the world. The fabric facility (a very strong tent) became the Navy’s sole urgent construction project funded and built in that year!
Delivering the Plan
The Navy has recognized us for our delivery of practical, useful and easy-to-follow plans. The plan for how to support a new ship or aircraft at a particular base is not finished until all of our site visits, modeling, gap analyses and recommended solutions are incorporated into a finished, ready-for-executing planning document.
Our staff conducts rigorous quality control reviews for each delivered plan, ensuring consistency of approach and a properly integrated execution plan for the Navy. Promised delivery dates are always adhered to, with deliveries personally made to the client. Sometimes, due to the number of copies desired, the use of a hand-truck is needed!
Award of Merit
– PEO, Aircraft Carriers –
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award
– EPA –
Letter of Appreciation
– NAVAIR –
Award for Pollution Prevention
– NAVSEA –
Environmental Award
– CNO –
Environmental Security Award
– SECDEF –
Achievement Award
– PEO, Aircraft Carriers –
Environmental Excellence
– CNO –
Award of Merit
– PEO, Aircraft Carriers –
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award
– EPA –
Letter of Appreciation
– NAVAIR –
Award for Pollution Prevention
– NAVSEA –
Environmental Award
– CNO –
Environmental Security Award
– SECDEF –
Achievement Award
– PEO, Aircraft Carriers –
Environmental Excellence
– CNO –