Page 31: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2014)

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Hampton Roads, Virginia is the premier region for ship building and repair in the U.S. The nine sizeable yards in Hampton Roads feature dry docks that can accommodate the largest ships, and are home to a specialized workforce of more than 40,000 professionals. We want career trades pro- fessionals who stay on top of the most advanced techniques and materials in the defense and commercial ship repair industry to join our teams. Our 250+ companies reward expertise and performance to ensure efÀ cient and effective high-quality work is accomplished every day.

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Our companies are hiring 18,000 of the best in the business this decade.

Competitive Wages. Excellent BeneÀ ts. Great Teams.

Visit Our Member Directory and Job Board! www.VirginiaShipRepair.org penditure improvements will add to the shipyard’s already expansive facilities, giving MMC 550,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehouse and receiving space. Marinette Marine Corporation is part of the Fincantieri Marine Group, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, since 2009, and since then has enjoyed a high level of investment in technology, technique and people. “We came to America with a great commitment to this country,” said

Valente. “We stand by this with invest- ments that we made here at Marinette totaling $74m, and an additional $25m in our other facilities. Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, which is focused on commercial shipbuilding and just de- livered two Platform Supply Vessels to

Tidewater Marine; and Ace Marine (in

Green Bay) which is focused on build- ing in aluminum, primarily for the Coast

Guard (RB-M) program.” “So we have come here, and the invest- ment is only the fi rst step,” said Valente. “We have also brought in new technol- ogy and know-how, to further develop our local workforce so we can be the best shipbuilders in America.”

In the Spring of 2013 Marinette Ma- rine held a ceremonial ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of its newest facility, and to mark the completion of Fincantieri’s $74m invest- ment in the shipyard. “With new facilities, computer-con- trolled manufacturing equipment, the best engineering minds in the business, and the industry’s fi nest master crafts- men,” said Goddard at the event.

The $74m invested since Fincantieri took over in 2009 is easy to see, as MMC has doubled its indoor production space and increased its workforce by 60% to 1400 employees. The shipyard, with purpose designed facilities, has geared up toward not only cutting edge technol- ogy to maximize production effi ciency but also to minimize energy consump- tion. The investment in MMC was nec- essary for the yard to meet and exceed the US Navy’s requirement to deliver two LCS per year, leaving the company with additional capacity to pursue other programs, such as the USCG’s Offshore

Patrol Cutter. “In terms of processes, we have refi ned the way in which we handle production control,” said Valente “It’s the way in which we organize the fl ow of work.

As you heard Mr. Goddard say (Chuck

Goddard, President and CEO, Marinette

Marine), we have cut eight miles out of the fl ow. We have also developed better relationships with our suppliers, devel- oping some important partnerships na- tionwide.” “The challenge here was to transition this yard, which already had a very long history building ships,” said Valente. “But the history was building ships one at a time most of the time. We have brought in a different mentality, an in- dustrial mentality with the focus on se- ries production.

So today we have fi ve of the LCS ships in production, as well as the ARV, a re- search vessel. This is building six ships at the same time, and with that you have to develop a different mindset; a cultural development focused on industrial, se- rial production.

This requires not simply the latest technology, but the incorporation of shipbuilding process know how.”

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