US Coast Guard Product Lifecycle Management System Data Requirements Interface Mapping

The US Coast Guard (USCG) needs to transition from paper-based documentation to digital support of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activity for their fleet. The transition to digital MRO support is expected to provide significant cost avoidance for USCG engineering and maintenance personnel. The US Navy has made progress in their transition efforts, but their digital MRO support requirements and resultant solutions are unlikely to be fully responsive to USCG priorities. A tailored approach that meets USCG requirements will yield optimal results. This paper describes a National Shipbuilding Research Program effort that is reviewing sustainment data requirements for the USCG that can be harvested from the 3D Product Build Model. Additional data required for the USCG product lifecycle management (PLM) product are being determined and then mapped through an interface between the respective PLM products. The paper also describes the required software connectors between the new construction Product Build Model, the new construction yard's PLM, and the USCG PLM for future fleet MRO availabilities. INTRODUCTION The following paper will describe the ongoing effort of a National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) project that will provide the United States Coast Guard (USCG) with improved capabilities for making life cycle support of their fleet of cutters more efficient. The use of modern digital tools that provide authoritative data to engineering and maintenance personnel will facilitate searches for needed information, thereby providing significant opportunities for cost avoidance. The initial construction data is being developed by the shipyards in their 3D product models, so the project scope centers around the extraction of the relevant shipyard data and its capture in a future USCG product lifecycle management (PLM) system. BACKGROUND The ongoing support of existing ships in any Navy or Coast Guard organization is a major cost issue for the applicable government. These costs generally exceed the costs associated with the initial design, construction, and outfitting of the applicable ships. The support can be categorized in several ways. Ships and their systems need to receive regular maintenance to ensure effective operation. When ships or their component parts and systems fail to function properly, they must be repaired to restore proper operation. The two categories of support noted above can be performed either while underway, while pierside at a naval or coast guard base by the sailors themselves, or while pierside by specialized maintenance personnel. Ships will also go into a shipyard from time to time for an overhaul period, and the scope of that effort often includes more extensive inspection and repair activity, particularly if the ship undergoes a drydocking evolution. The overhaul period may also include planned upgrades and modernization of multiple shipboard systems. This overall scope of support effort is often referred to as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).