Carderock Division

The sailors who keep the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Yorktown running smoothly can perform their jobs much faster and with more accuracy today than they could a few years ago. Now everything onboard ship, such as piloting, maintenance diagnostics, propulsion and electronic systems, and internal communications, is computerized. And Document Management Solutions, Inc. (DMSi) was instrumental in helping the Navy update some of these systems.

The USS Yorktown is a shining example of the Navy’s Smart Ship Program, a program designed to reduce workload and manpower requirements while maintaining mission readiness and safety. With the motto “Work Smarter, Not Harder”, the Smart Ship Program integrates new technology with infrastructure changes, enabling fewer people to run the ship more efficiently. Integral to the smooth running of this ship is a central online repository of maintenance and operational documentation. When a sailor needs to find out how to repair or service any system on the ship— from the electric toaster in the galley one of the ship’s four 20,000 HP diesel engines—he or she can access the data in seconds through the ship’s onboard intranet.

It might not have been this easy if it hadn’t been for The Technical Manual and Training Branch, Code 944 at the Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station (Philadelphia) part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock Division. In 1998, the engineers working in the branch wanted to find a way to improve the electronic document delivery system that had recently been implemented. NSWC had purchased several applications in an attempt to create a paperless documentation environment. However, once the products were installed NSWC found that the total system was far from adequate. Even though the initial design was for a paperless environment, the Warfare Center found that they still needed the ability to produce paper documentation. The original configuration could not produce the paper documentation adequately. The components of the original system included:

• A document management system (Texcel Information Manager) that managed data coded in the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
• An SGML editing tool (Arbortext ADEPT Editor)
• An electronic composition system for paper documents (Arbortext Publisher)
• An Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) system (INSO DynaText)

Specifically, with this combination of products, the conversion time from SGML to the paper version was very slow. It could take up to 20 minutes to covert just one of NSWC’s 25,000 150- to 500-page Hull Mechanical and Electrical technical manuals. When revisions were made to a published document there was no automated way to produce just the changed pages, requiring them to reissue an entire manual when just a few pages had changed. And the original publishing system could not product fold-out pages. In addition, the IETM system required special hardware, expensive software, and extensive training for the end user.

To help solve the problem, NSWC contracted with DMSi (Document Management Solutions, Inc.) of North Andover Mass., a systems integrator that specializes in integrating SGML and XML systems into a total publishing solution. After evaluating the installed applications, DMSi recommended that NSWC replace its Arbortext Publisher system with a high-powered composition system from XyEnterprise, called Xyvision Production Publisher (XPP). In addition to speeding up the SGML to printed page conversion time, XPP can also automatically produce hypertext-linked Acrobat files. This would enable NSWC to replace its expensive and cumbersome IETM system with the easy-to-use Adobe Acrobat system for viewing documentation online and save considerable licensing costs. In addition, XPP provides the capability called “Auto Looseleaf” that produces just the pages that have changed in a document since the last published edition.

To provide the glue between the Texcel document management system and the XPP Auto Loose-leaf application, DMSi installed its own XPP add-on called Remote Interface for Paginating Loose-leaf Updates (RIPL). RIPL provides the automation controls needed for an external database to independently manage an auto loose-leaf update process.

RIPL keeps track of the update process by maintaining a log and automating the XPP loose-leaf update process, greatly reducing errors and the time required for creating and distributing insert pages.

 Time and Cost Savings

With the new systems in place NSWC has seen dramatic improvement in their production and delivery of paper and electronic documents.

• The time to convert SGML files from the database to composed pages has been reduced from 20 minutes to 3 minutes, a 500% improvement.
• The ability to produce just the changed pages using XPP’s Auto Looseleaf and DMSi’s RIPL implementation will result in considerable monetary savings in printing and distribution costs.
• Replacing the costly IETM system with the free Acrobat Reader will result in a cost savings of more than $50,000 per site

 Advantages of a Vendor-Neutral System Integrator

Perhaps the biggest advantage of contracting with a systems integrator like DMSi is that NSWC knows that DMSi is vendor-neutral and will recommend the best tool for the job at hand. DMSi specializes in integrating SGML and XML document management systems into an automated publishing system. Because of this targeted expertise, DMSi can integrate an entire solution in a less time and with fewer people than a larger, broad-based integration company.

 About the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division

The Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Carderock Division provides research, development, test and evaluation, fleet support, in-service engineering, and test ranges for surface and undersea vehicle Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical systems, and propulsors; provides logistics research and development; and provides support to the Maritime Administration and the Maritime Industry. The Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station (Philadelphia) is the NSWC’s in-service engineering agent for all hull, mechanical and electrical ship systems, as well as the provider of test and evaluation for these systems.

Today, the NSWC Carderock Division’s scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel continue to foster that reputation throughout the Navy, across the nation, and around the world. NSWC’s Carderock Division is a major element of the technical capability within the Naval Sea Systems Command.