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August 2012www.marinelink.com 49Smart Growth at Marinette MarineScott A. Wellens (right) the director of facility and process improvement for Marinette Marine Corpora- tion (MMC), a Fincantieri company, is a member of the NSRP executive board. The Wisconsin shipyard is busy with several projects, including the Navy?s Lit- toral Combat Ship. That means updating the infra- structure and bringing in new workers. ?We had to grow,? Wellens says. ?We will es- sentially double the size of our physical plant in a just a few short years. Rarely, do you ever get a chance to do everything in a short period of time. We couldn?t stop production because we had to keep building ships as we were expanding. With our process improvement efforts, we want to make the buildings work for us so we can improve the efficiency of build- ing the ships. We needed to create a sequence that improved our flow and re- duced the travel time from one stage of construction to the next. We?re balancing our work stations and leveraging the learning curve. ? ?We knew we would be hiring a number of people because our existing work force was about 600 to 700 people, and we have to grow to between 1,300 and 1,400 people,? Wellens says. ?That?s more than double the work force. ? ?We?ve set up programs with University of Wisconsin at Marinette for some of the drafters, designers, and those types of professional positions,? Wellens says. According to University of Wisconsin-Marinette Dean and Campus Executive Officer Paula Langteau, the school has been working with MMC for the past five years to help the shipyard meet their growing need for qualified shipbuilding de- signers, thanks to funding from NSRP to develop the curriculum. ?In 2007 we developed a classroom continuing-education course called ?Applications of Mod- ern Shipbuilding Design? for Marinette Marine,? Langteau says. ?We also started offering the course online for the rest of the industry.? Based on the initial success, UW-Marinette developed four follow-on classes in specific disciplines, such as structure, electrical, piping and HVAC, and design for production. All five courses are now offered online in a certificate program which is available to the entire industry. ?This package of courses made UW-Marinette the first institution in North America to offer fast-track, distance-delivered courses in a full certificate program in modern shipbuilding design,? she says. Today MMC is not just sending designers to the course. Langteau says the company has begun to send production staff through it. ?We are told they can be more productive if they have an understanding of the full design concept.? Training people for professional positions was a good project for NSRP be- cause what works at Marinette could be applied to the shipbuilding business as a whole, she says. ?Our delivery platform is unique as well,? Langteau explains, ?enabling students to connect remotely from anywhere in the world to access our courses.? MR#8 (42-49):MR Template 8/9/2012 9:46 AM Page 49
