by Jeff Noonan
“Okay, Lee, you’ve got the big picture, except there’s no “magic” in it. The planners also track the return costs of individual job orders and carefully accumulate records of what the exact costs were for every kind of shipboard job. The return costs are the actual costs, in both labor hours and material dollars, that the shops incurred in accomplishing the job. These return costs are averaged over time and are used by the Planners to estimate the costs of future jobs.”
The captain paused and Bob Farmer began speaking. “The other thing that the planners do is develop material lists for every job. Just like the return costs, they keep records of all of the material items, like parts and new components or equipments, that each job requires. Then they go back to these lists when they are estimating the jobs. They develop lists of required material for each job and use these lists in two ways. First, they’re used to estimate the material costs for the job order. Then the lists are sent to the supply department so that the needed material items can be ordered. Supply then finds the best source of the materials and orders them. When the items are received in the supply department, they’re warehoused until the ship’s overhaul starts. When the parts are needed on the waterfront, supply sends them on to the production shop that needs them. The shop records their use and that information comes back to the planner so he has it on record for the next similar job order. At the same time, the shop is recording the man-hours expended on the job and that information also comes back to the planner.”
At that point, Captain Matyas interrupted. “This is something that I think needs to be said, loud and clear, whenever we are talking about the overhaul planning process. Too many people think that the shipyards’ work planning is a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing. It’s not. It’s a closed-loop system. The planners aren’t using magic. They’re using historical records to accomplish their estimating functions. It’s a foolproof system!”
Lee nodded, thinking hard about this system and looking for possible flaws. “What happens if the shop spends more than the estimate allows?”
The captain laughed and Bob Farmer grinned. The captain replied, “I get pissed and holler and shout and it don’t make a damned bit of difference. The shop spends what it needs to spend in order to get the job done and they totally ignore me!” The captain chuckled and then went on, “I have an individual Navy officer in my planning department assigned to every ship overhaul. We call them “type desk officers”. If a shop overruns an estimate, they bring this fact to the assigned type desk officer, who’s authorized to take money from a reserve account to pay for the overrun if he agrees that it’s a valid overrun. If he doesn’t approve the charge, it’s cost has to come out of the shop’s overhead which the shipyard’s production officer and the shipyard commander monitor closely. If the overhead goes too high, heads roll in the shops.”
Lee persisted, “But are there ever any significant overruns, or deviations from the normal costs?”
Bob Farmer took that question. “Yes, occasionally. When there are, we look into them hard. Usually it’s just a routine thing, like a pump that had to be replaced instead of repairing it, for example. When those occur, we make a decision at the lead planner level to either drop it from the database as an abnormality or include it if it repeats itself.”
Lee didn’t drop the question. “But have there ever been a lot of overruns or serious problems with the estimating loop?” He didn’t know why he was asking this, but his FBI training was kicking in now, and he was looking for holes in the logic that was coming his way.
The answers to his question startled him a bit. First the captain answered with a firm and almost reflexive defense, “No. Never. It’s a good system!”
But Farmer contradicted him immediately. “Sorry Captain Ray, but it has happened once. It was way back when the DLG modernization program was just starting, before you were transferred here. The traditional estimating system was used. But we forgot that these weren’t traditional overhauls. Where usually we have ship’s crews onboard doing maintenance and part of the work, the modernizations were done on ships that were decommissioned and had no Navy people onboard. Our estimates went to hell. The ships were sitting there cold for over a year and things deteriorated. We had to replace a shit-pot full of machinery and equipment that no one had planned to touch. Our first return costs for ships in the modernization program were almost double our early estimates. That caused budget overruns a bunch. Of course, we learned from this, and our subsequent estimates took all those extra costs into account. But that first ship was an estimating disaster.”
The captain quickly concurred, “Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that.”
The three stayed in the training session for another hour, then Farmer took Lee to the large floor where the planners were working in their little cubicles. He introduced Lee to a planner who specialized in shipboard gun mounts and left Lee to work with him for the rest of the day. During that period, Lee learned more details of the estimating process and discovered that there was another entity, the shipyard’s scheduling department, that also interfaced with the planners. The scheduling department put the job orders into a punch-card computing system to develop schedules for the delivery of materials and accomplishment of assigned job orders by designated production shops.
By the end of the day, Lee’s head was reeling. As he walked out of the P&E department, he passed Captain Matyas’ office and the captain hailed him. “Hey, Lee, come in here. How was your day?” The captain was smiling widely.
Lee smiled back and replied, “”Captain, I’ve never been fed so much, so fast, in my life. I’m going over to the Officers’ Club to have a drink and run a sanity check. I’m not sure my brain is still operable.”
Captain Matyas laughed aloud at that. Still chuckling, he stood and grabbed his hat. “I’ll meet you over there. I could use a bourbon myself!”
Lee gave him a thumbs-up and kept walking.
Lee had eaten in the officers’ club restaurant, but he hadn’t been to the pub yet. The restaurant was located on the second floor of the big club, and the pub was in the basement. He met Captain Matyas in the parking lot, and the captain led the way to the pub. Lee was amazed when he entered. Apparently this was a very popular place, at least at happy hour. Music was blaring, and the noise factor was unbelievable. It seemed like there were a hundred people there and everyone was talking at once. The two slid into two stools at the bar and ordered drinks. The bartender obviously knew Captain Ray and the service was prompt and friendly.
Looking around as his eyes adjusted, Lee soon realized that almost every secretary he had met in the shipyard was there, with the notable exception of Jane Herperowski. But she was married, he reminded himself. Even the older lady, Esther, who ran the military personnel office, was there. There were also about thirty Navy officers, ranging in rank from young ensigns up to the captain level. Obviously this was the place to be for single officers and eligible young women.
When the two had their drinks, Lee turned to the captain with his glass raised. “Well, Captain, here’s to learning how shipyards work.”
The captain clicked his glass to Lee’s and answered, “Two things, Lee. First, I’m plain Ray Matyas at a bar. I’ve never figured out all this military bowing and scraping, and I don’t particularly like it. Second, I don’t think you learned much today that you didn’t already know. What is it that you’re really looking for?”
He was watching Lee closely as he spoke. Lee had the immediate thought that there was a very sharp mind behind the mild-mannered facade.
He grinned. “Hell, I dunno. Captain Jones told me that I needed a training session, so I’m having a training session. I guess it doesn’t hurt anything. Maybe I’ll be more ready when I get back to my office.” He was the picture of a man caught in an embarrassing situation, his sheepish face telling Captain Ray that he had seen through to the truth.
Ray laughed. “Okay, I won’t tell on you. Tomorrow you’re going over to the supply depart
ment aren’t you?”
“Yeah. That’ll be more interesting for me. I’m really, honestly, not familiar at all with how the shipyard supply system works. Maybe I’ll actually learn something there.”
“Hello Ray. How the hell are you?” A dapper bearded man had taken the seat next to Captain Ray. Judging by the fact that the bartender brought him a drink without being asked, Lee assumed he was a regular here.
Ray replied, “Doing fine, I guess.” Then he turned to Lee and introduced the two men. “Lee Raines, I’d like you to meet Rick Burley. Rick is a former supply corps lieutenant that got out after serving in the shipyard supply department. He runs a company that helps the Navy find obsolete ship repair parts. Has a big warehouse in Philly that’s full of junk he overcharges us for on a regular basis. Rick, this is Lee Raines, the new combat systems officer.”
Rick immediately came back with “Only the finest materials at the fairest prices! Glad to meet you, Lee.”
Captain Ray and Rick were obviously old friends, and they engaged in a good bit of pleasant banter over Rick’s price fairness. Ray allowed that the Navy should activate Rick’s reserve unit just so Rick would have to try to buy things for the Navy from his “overpriced junkyard.” Rick came back with a retort and the two went on for another few minutes.
They were interrupted at that point by four shipyard secretaries, all obviously friendly with Captain Ray. He introduced the girls to Lee and then entered into a conversation with them. The group obviously had a long-standing relationship. While they were talking, one of the women, who was closer to Lee than the others, leaned over and began a conversation with him. The first words out of her mouth were, “Aren’t you married, Lieutenant? I don’t see a ring.”
Lee laughed aloud at that. “My gosh, you don’t beat around the bush, do you? Nope. Not married, but I am engaged. Seriously off the market, I guess you could say.” It was a little white lie that he was sure Maggie would forgive him for telling.
The secretary took it well. “Oh well, the good ones are always taken. Don’t forget to let me know if the situation changes.” She smiled and turned to talk to Captain Ray. When she did, Rick Burley leaned behind the captain to speak to her. Lee couldn’t help overhearing their exchange.
“Hi sweetie, Would you like to rub bellybuttons tonight?”
The woman turned a cold stare on Rick and promptly retorted, “Not now, not ever, you asshole. I’ve told you before that I never want to speak to you and I mean it!” She turned back to Captain Ray as Rick laughed heartily, apparently enjoying his little comment even though it was apparent that no one else did.
This was all too much for Lee. He finished his drink and excused himself. This place is too intense for me right now.
Back at the BOQ, he found that he had a message from the realtor. She had papers ready for him to sign. He changed into slacks and a shirt, and drove to Media. He finished the paperwork rapidly and had dinner at Packy’s, the pub he’d enjoyed the day before. After the hubbub of the officers’ club, Packy’s was a pleasant, quiet place to relax, he decided.
Later that evening, Lee called Maggie again, this time to tell her about the new house. She was happy with his description, but she wanted pictures sent immediately, if not sooner.
The next morning he stopped at his office to check on the daily operations. As expected, Tim had everything running smoothly, so he went on to the supply department offices. The supply corps captain was a far different person than either the serious Captain Warren Jones or the jovial Captain Ray Matyas. Captain Isaacs was a tall, distinguished-appearing man with a sprinkle of grey at his temples and a manner that made Lee think instantly of old money and fastidious aristocracy. Even his speech was carefully controlled and perfectly punctuated. Lee had the impression that, no matter what he had to say, this person would not consider it to be worth his time to listen.
Lee was only in Captain Isaacs’ presence for a short time. When Lee arrived at the captain’s office, he found that the door was guarded by the same secretary who had asked him if he was married the evening before. She smiled and gave him a pleasant “hello” before showing him into the office. When Lee entered, Captain Isaacs looked up from some papers on his desk and frowned.
“Ah yes. Mr. Raines, if I remember correctly.” It was a statement, not a question, and it was said as the captain reached for his telephone. Lee was uncomfortably standing in front of the desk as Isaacs totally ignored him, talking into the telephone,
“Yes, Captain Isaacs here. Please come to my office. Mr. Raines is here for his training session.” With that he hung up the telephone and turned back to Lee. “Please be seated, Mr. Raines. Mr. Boyette will be with you shortly.” With that, he turned back to his paperwork, totally ignoring Lee.
Lee turned toward the door. “I’ll wait outside for him.” Receiving no response, he left the office.
The secretary looked at him and smiled sympathetically. “He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?”
Lee smiled back. “No kidding! He must make working here a real pleasure for you, eh?”
Her face wrinkled into a disgusted grimace. “No shit, Sherlock!” Then she smiled again. Lee knew that he had a friend there.
A well-dressed man walked up then with his hand outstretched toward Lee. “Hi. I’m Charley Boyette, the head civilian in this funny-farm. C’mon with me, and we’ll try to get you smart.” He was open and cheerful, the total opposite of his boss, Captain Isaacs.
Lee shook his hand and remarked, “Glad to meet you. I’m looking forward to this. I’ve never been too sure what you supply types do for a living.”
Boyette grinned at him. “Not much, really. But we do it well.”
Lee gave the secretary a lazy wave as he left, following Boyette into the bowels of the huge brick building.
In spite of his stated lack of supply knowledge, Lee soon found himself bored by the well-prepared, but tedious, explanation that Charlie Boyette had ready for him. He listened carefully for a half-hour while Charlie droned on about supply system basics until Lee was ready to scream with tedium.
Finally Lee spoke up. “Charlie, I’m familiar with the basics since I’ve been around the Navy and its supply apparatus for the past decade or so. Then yesterday I learned from the planning people that, in the shipyard, the planning department is the entity that identifies material requirements for ship overhauls. Then they send material lists over to the supply department, who orders the material and then warehouses it until the shipyard’s production shops are ready for it. So we can dispense with that part of the training. Just show me any places that you supply guys do things differently from what I just described. Oh, yeah, show me how you get orders from the shops, if you do and tell me how you know that the shops are getting the materials that you, or they, order. But I really don’t need to hear a lot of stuff about federal stock numbers or that kind of stuff.”
Lee had been afraid that he was going to offend Charlie with this, but the supply man seemed delighted. “Thank gosh! I didn’t know what I was supposed to teach you. The captain just told me that some fresh-caught Navy officer needed to know how the supply system works. Now we can get something done! First I’ll show you how we interface with the planning and production departments, then I’ll walk you around so you can see it all in action.”
Lee smiled. “Thanks, Charlie.”
Charlie Boyette thought for a moment, then began, “The first thing that you need to know is that the planning department’s material lists are neither the biggest part of our material purchases or the hardest requirements for us to fill. The planners would like you to think they’re the ones who control everything. But we actually get more material requirements from the production shops than we do from planning. Plus, the planning material lists come so early in the overhaul cycle that we have a bunch of lead time and there’s no hurry filling their requirements.”
He paused to take a sip of coffee, then went on, “But the shop requirements come in while th
e production people are actually working aboard the ship, and they never have the luxury of lead time. They only order stuff when they run into a need out on the ship. By then they need it yesterday, and we find ourselves jumping through hoops trying to get it fast enough that it doesn’t hold up the overhaul. We actually do more work directly with the shops than we ever do with the planning department.”
That comment startled Lee. “I’ll be damned. I never thought about the waterfront. I’ve been thinking that all the materials were identified early on and were just waiting for the shops when they needed them. Now we’re getting somewhere. How do the shops get orders to you? How do you get the stuff for them that fast?”
Charlie was in his element now. He had Lee’s attention, and he was able to brag about his department. He’d been no happier than Lee with all of the previous minutia.
“Okay. Here is how it works. Every shop has a small group of what they call ‘shop planners.’ These guys get the calls for material items from the shop workers aboard ship. Then they do the research to get the material properly identified, after which they forward the requirement to us, often by having it hand-carried. Then we go to work, finding a source for the item and ordering it from them. Usually the item is ordered directly from the OEM10, but sometimes we don’t have a way to get to the OEM, so we basically go to retailers who stock the item. Sometimes the OEM has gone out of business, or has stopped the production of an item, so we go crazy trying to find it. In some rare cases, we have to contract with small manufacturers, even local machine shops, to get an item manufactured. In these hard-to-find cases, we have standing contracts through GSA with a couple of what I call ‘retailers’ who have the ability to either buy the item, or have it manufactured, and get it back to us in a hurry.”
One of Charlie’s subordinates had been standing in the door, waiting to speak to his boss. Finally, Charlie paused and excused himself to talk to the man. Lee took advantage of the break to collect his thoughts and jot down some notes.
