Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) recently wrapped up a successful robotic process automation project that helps enhance the depot’s efficiency in delivering parts, components and aircraft to the warfighter.

An in-house team created bots specifically designed to automate tasks within FRCE’s Comptroller Department. Bots are programmable software robots that automate repetitive tasks in a digital environment.

“The work our team is doing directly contributes to FRC East’s ability to support the Fleet faster and more efficiently,” said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. James M. Belmont. “The bots the team created are a force multiplier for us. This is a great example of the creativity and innovative thinking that is propelling FRC East forward into the future.”

Earlier this year, FRCE successfully implemented a bot that automatically extracts information from a wide range of records and documents and then enters this data into the depot’s financial system. This initial project has already saved the Comptroller Department nearly seven weeks of labor related to data entry tasks.

FRCE is now gearing up to implement two additional bots. One is aimed at reducing the manpower required to process employee clocking data while the other focuses on increasing efficiency related to the creation of outgoing funding documents. Depot officials believe these bots could potentially save thousands of labor hours.

“With the current geopolitical environment, working and using our resources efficiently is more critical now than it's ever been,” said Anderson Braswell, who helmed the depot’s robotic process automation team. “It's inefficient to have our people bogged down doing repetitive tasks. By automating this work, we free them up to do more strategic analysis and perform other complex tasks.”

Braswell, who served as budget officer at FRCE before recently transferring to another assignment within Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), said bots were historically created at the NAVAIR level for use within the enterprise, with depots providing input regarding their specific needs.

The depot’s Information Systems Division worked closely with NAVAIR to enable FRCE personnel to utilize robotic process automation technology in-house, he explained, which was instrumental in streamlining the creation of bots suited specifically for the needs of the depot.

“We have the actual users designing the bot itself,” said Braswell. “We're bringing everything down to the most basic level. I think that's going to pay off and become the new model for the future because no one understands the process you’re trying to automate better than the person who literally does it every day.”

According to Braswell, FRCE’s in-house team consists of personnel selected from the depot’s Comptroller Department and Information Systems Division.

“We come up with the ideas and processes of what we need to do,” said Braswell. “Information Systems are the technical experts. By working together, we came up with a process for how to build our own homegrown bots and how to get those published to where everybody in the Navy can use them.”

In addition to the expertise provided by the Information Systems Division, Braswell cited the simplicity of the automation software as a key factor in enabling personnel from the Comptroller Department to design and create bots.

“You don't have to be a computer programmer to do it,” said Braswell. “It offers two options. You can either look at it in code – which is what Information Systems team usually does. There's also a graphical user interface that you can use that is very user friendly and works more like a flowchart.”

The bot FRCE put into use earlier this year to automatically extract information from financial documents was originally created at NAVAIR. Braswell said the RPA team modified it specifically for use at the depot. Within 10 months, this bot saved FRCE more than seven weeks of labor hours.

This success inspired the team to create a truly home-grown bot designed to reduce labor hours related to processing employee timekeeping. Nearly complete, Braswell expects this bot to be implemented at FRCE in the very near future. He said the team immediately went to work on yet another bot, which is also nearing completion, aimed at streamlining the creation of outgoing funding documents at the depot.

“Since all the documents are coming from us, a lot of this work is very repetitive,” said Braswell. “Any time you have a repetitive process, you can handle that with a bot. If it's repetitive and not very complex, it's a perfect candidate for automation.”

Ryan Jones, a command business financial manager at FRCE and member of the team, said the depot’s Comptroller Department is an ideal testbed for the creation and design of bots.

“With more than 4,000 employees, there is a massive amount of data that needs to be processed on a regular basis,” said Jones. “There's tons of clocking, expenditure and financial data to look at. Reports that need to be done. This work is crucial because it all coincides with the maintenance, repair and overhaul work done at the depot. It takes a lot of manpower to do all of this.”

Jones was an early champion and adopter of bots and automation at FRCE. In 2019, FRCE began using the technology to streamline the labor correction process. The success of this effort was the catalyst that resulted in the creation of the in-house team.

“It saved thousands of labor hours and allowed the office to spend more time analyzing, reporting and making corrections,” said Jones. “It made us realize that if just two people could do this, imagine what a whole team could accomplish.”

Moving forward, Jones said the lessons the team has learned enhancing efficiency within the Comptroller Department will benefit the entire depot.

“Efficiency is something that every department is trying to optimize,” said Jones. “Anything we can do to speed up processes makes other departments realize that they too can use this technology. If you have a task that's taking too long, and there's a way to speed that up, we have the tools to make things more efficient.”

Braswell agreed and said embracing process automation technology and using it creatively will be crucial as FRCE prepares for the future.

“The way we do business today is not the way we're going to do business tomorrow,” Braswell said. “We can’t remain static– we need to think outside of the box and figure things out now. You can't be afraid to explore the art of the possible.”

Learn more at www.navair.navy.mil/frce or https://www.facebook.com/FleetReadinessCenterEast.

The Italian Navy AV-8B Program Office and the U.S. Navy’s AV-8B Weapon Systems Program Office (PMA-257) recently recognized Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) for its outstanding support of the Italian AV-8B Harrier fleet.

Italian Navy AV-8B Deputy Program Manager Cdr. Sergio D’Agostini presented six FRCE employees with letters of appreciation citing the successful completion of Harrier upgrades the team performed at Naval Air Station Grottaglie in Italy. AV-8B Weapon Systems Program Office (PMA-257) Program Manager Col. Mark Amspacher was also on hand to recognize the FRCE personnel.

FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. James Belmont said he was pleased to see the team’s hard work and dedication recognized by the Italian Navy.

“I am very proud of the FRC East team,” Belmont said. “They went in and not only completed their mission – they exceeded all objectives. To see them recognized like this by one of our allies highlights their professionalism, expertise and dedication. Our people are our greatest asset at FRC East and I think this demonstrates that.”

The team from FRCE traveled to Naval Air Station Grottaglie earlier this year to perform LINK-16 modifications to four Italian Navy AV-8B Harriers. LINK-16 is a standardized communications system used by the United States, NATO and coalition forces to transmit and exchange real time tactical data.

The multidisciplinary team comprised Matt Dryden, Jesse Kerr, Eric Ellenberger, Roger Freeman and Victor Smith.

According to Dryden, FRCE’s project manager for AV-8B International LINK-16 modifications, the initial goal was to complete four planes within 90 days.

“The team was so efficient that they completed the fourth Harrier with nearly a month to go,” Dryden said. “The Italian Navy contacted me before the completion of the fourth aircraft with the desire to add a fifth aircraft to our schedule. The team agreed. I think that really speaks to their professionalism, dedication, and that mindset of supporting our allies and getting the job done.”

Dryden said the modifications went smoothly despite the team working in a foreign environment, outside of the standardized hangars they are accustomed to at FRCE or Marine Corps squadrons.

“Things like the physical layout of the hangar and tooling are different in Grottaglie,” said Dryden. “With the Marine Corps squadrons, we're all lockstep and our standards are the same. In Grottaglie, they were a little different, but this team familiarized themselves with the layout and became accustomed to their temporary working environment. There was also a language barrier that this team overcame through the use of translation tools on their mobile devices.”

Dryden said members of the team worked closely with the Italian Navy prior to the start of the modifications to ensure the process went smoothly. He also cited the flexibility and expertise of the FRCE team as crucial factors in the project’s success.

“Our three artisans and our Fleet Support Team engineer deserve all of the credit,” said Dryden. “Here at the depot, we were all in support of this team, but they were the ones who were out there where the wheels hit the road. They took this project and accomplished the mission well under budget and ahead of schedule.

“We finished 18% better than the original estimate, which was for only four aircraft,” continued Dryden. “We actually finished around 30% under budget when you factor in the completion of the fifth aircraft.”

In addition to the LINK-16 modification team, FRCE Engineer Justin Cox, was also recognized for his work with the Italian Navy’s Harrier program while stationed at Naval Air Station Grottaglie for the past several years.

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.

Learn more at www.navair.navy.mil/frce or https://www.facebook.com/FleetReadinessCenterEast.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) has hired its first permanent employees from the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge Program. SkillBridge matches military members with industry partners to gain valuable training and work experience during their last 180 days of active duty service, to ease their transition into the civilian workforce.

FRCE recently became a SkillBridge industry partner, with its first three-person class beginning training in March. Joseph Cooper, a former petty officer second class with the U.S. Coast Guard, was the first to begin work when he was hired as an aircraft worker on FRCE’s C-130 program. The other two members of that first cohort, human resources assistant Melanie Cooper, and logistics management specialist Mike Carmer, started work at the end of September.

SkillBridge provides service members the chance to gain civilian training and work experience while they are still in the military. Meanwhile, the industry partners benefit from the chance to evaluate the service member’s work performance and employment potential while they are still receiving their military pay and benefits.

“SkillBridge gives employers the opportunity to work with military veterans who bring a higher level of maturity and character to the workplace, as well as the service member’s real-world experience,” said Chris Clower, FRCE SkillBridge program coordinator. “For an employer like FRC East, where about 60 percent of the workforce have served in the military, the qualities that make service members effective in their jobs make them valuable civilian employees as well.” 

SkillBridge interns at FRCE go through initial new employee training and safety classes. They receive training in resume writing, interview techniques and job-search strategies. Service members said these classes help them translate their military experience into terms that are relatable to the civilian workplace.

“They teach us to take our military training and experience and express the value to the civilian employer,” said Sgt. Darehle Perry, a Marine who is currently attending SkillBridge training at FRCE. “I can tell a supervisor how I solved this problem, or learned how to lead my subordinates effectively. I gained a lot of valuable skills in the military, and I need to be proud of that and communicate those skills to a potential employer.” 

After their initial training, SkillBridge interns are prepared to perform a specific federal job. They receive on-the-job training with a supervisor and work with a mentor to hone their skills. After that, they have the opportunity to work in various jobs based on their job skills and interests.

Cooper’s Coast Guard experience was in avionics and electronics, but he learned to work as a sheet metal mechanic at FRCE. He said he learned a great deal from his mentors in the production shop.

“I thought I knew how to drill a hole before I got here,” he said. “It’s more complicated than I thought. There’s a reason the mechanics are called artisans, because they are very meticulous and precise.”

In addition to providing job-related experience, the SkillBridge program also helps service members navigate the administrative details that come with transitioning to post-military life. Clower said creating a clear plan can help alleviate some of the stress service members may feel about leaving the military.

“You’re leaving the service on Friday, and everybody tells you you’re prepared, but you’re really not,” said Clower. “On Monday morning, reality sets in and you look in the mirror and you realize that this is real. This is the next chapter of my life.”

According to Clower, the goal for the SkillBridge program at FRCE is to continue to bring service members in as they near the last 180 days of their military service, providing them with training, job skills and, in the best cases, job offers. Cooper said his SkillBridge participation has made his transition from the Coast Guard to civilian life much less stressful.

“I learned so much about myself, what I want to do, and where my strengths and weaknesses are,” said Cooper. “Now I can say I have a job, and I don’t have to worry about leaving the military and not having a plan for my future.”

FRCE is North Carolina’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while serving as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.

New position descriptions developed at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) are bringing the depot in line with commercial industry hiring practices and allowing for increased flexibility in employee professional development, all with an eye on improving efficiency and utilization.

FRCE worked hand-in-hand with local human resources professionals and higher-echelon personnel agencies including the Navy’s Office of Civilian Human Resources and the federal Office of Personnel Management, along with union representatives and training experts, to become the first Defense Department depot to develop mixed trade aircraft mechanic positions. These new mixed trade positions allows aircraft maintainers at FRCE to gain qualification in multiple areas of expertise, where previous job descriptions locked them into just one. Employees working under the new mixed trade initiative will develop a broad skill set that can encompass airframes, sheet metal, electrical and composites.

“It only makes sense to move FRC East in a direction that has been the industry standard for many years now,” said Tina Rowe, head of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Production Department (MRO-P) at FRCE. “To remain competitive in this industry, as part of the defense organic industrial base, we must continue seeking change and finding better ways to do business. In this case, that means moving away from trade-based position descriptions and giving our workforce the opportunity to use all of their talents to benefit our nation’s military aviators, instead of pigeonholing them into just one area.”

Andrew Rock, who currently serves as head of the depot’s Engine Branch and was instrumental in the switch, said the end goal of the new position description is increased efficiency and utilization by decreasing downtime.

“In the end, it can’t help but boost efficiency and utilization because now one aircraft maintenance professional will be able to do all facets of a task instead of waiting on another trade,” Rock explained. “Reducing the number of interruptions to the maintenance process can’t help but improve our turnaround times and get the aircraft back to the mission even faster than before.”

Getting the aircraft maintainers qualified in multiple trades requires a significant amount of on-the-job training, Rock said,  Even with robust training plans and intensive learning, not every mixed trade artisan is going to be qualified in every trade – and that’s to be expected, Rock said.

“Now we get to figure out what our new hires are good at, because they’re in a training program that basically encompasses all of the aircraft trades, and they will shine in the areas where they should shine,” he said. “We don’t expect anybody to come in and be stellar at all the trades – that could happen because we do have people with the drive and aptitude to do that, but it wouldn’t be the norm. The important part is that they will be have the opportunity to qualify in all of the trades, and will be qualified in the areas in which they have demonstrated proficiency.”

The mixed trade initiative at FRCE began its rollout on the V-22 aircraft line. Rock, the former head of the V-22 Branch, said the new position description is a natural extension of the “beginning-to-end” concept the line instituted on the V-22 line a few years back, where one cross-disciplinary team of artisans worked an aircraft from its induction at the depot through to its return to the Fleet.

“With that ‘beginning-to-end’ concept, we put a work leader who was an air framer with a strong sheet metal mechanic and a strong electrician and they run that plane from start to finish,” he explained. “It doesn’t matter what phase the aircraft is in or what work they are doing with it, the entire team worked on the aircraft and it was a true team effort to get it across the finish line. When we first started working this way, it was a new concept.

“This new mixed trade position description on the aircraft lines will allow us to continue doing this same thing,” Rock continued. “Eventually, this way of doing business won’t be new, but will be second nature to the entire workforce.”

Don McLean, an overhaul and repair supervisor on the V-22 line, said the change has been generally well-received within the workforce.

“There are a lot of folks here who are excited about the opportunity to get their hands dirty in another part of the process,” he said. “We have a lot of smart people who now have the opportunity to grow in their jobs, and we have the flexibility to find the place in which they really excel. Your job now isn’t to learn just one trade, but you need to be proficient at multiple things.”

McLean said he’s already had two former sheet metal workers express an interest in composite work, with one of the artisans already qualifying to perform general basic composite repairs.

“That artisan has already been picking up a lot of the work, and we’re working to introduce him to some other trade skills, as well,” McLean said. “The intent is to get all of our workforce qualified in multiple trades.”

“I know that, as a sheet metal mechanic, when I got promoted to supervisor I had to work with electricians and air framers and all those other trades, and I really had to lean on coworkers to help me understand where exactly the whole maintenance process was going,” McLean continued. “With these new artisans, once they start moving up in the ranks, they’re already going to know what each step entails from each trade and it’s going to benefit everyone in the long run.”

In addition to increasing efficiency on the production environment, the wider knowledge base and broader skill set will benefit the depot in other ways as the mixed trade initiative matures, said Allen Williamson, V-22 branch head.

“It extends beyond the floor,” he said. “We’re really good at promoting from within, so when you have an artisan leave the production line to go work as an in-service repair planner, an industrial engineering technician or in the business office, they’re going to have a holistic understanding of aviation maintenance. That will benefit the customer, as well.”

Other industrial facilities across the Defense Department have taken notice and begun reaching out to see how they can make the change to mixed trade positions, Rock noted.

“I was recently on a phone call with an Air Force facility that wanted to gather some of our lessons learned and to pick our brains and see how we cracked the code on this,” he said. “They’re excited that we’ve done it, and now they hope to benefit from it, too.”

Rowe said the team will continue working to develop the mixed trade concept and expand it to additional positions beyond the aircraft lines, within MRO-P.

Watching FRCE make big changes to the way the depot does businesses has been exciting, Williamson noted.

“We have become a facility where we institute a change, we monitor that change, and then we make adjustments based on that feedback,” he said. “It’s a great time to work here at the depot, with all the changes that we’re making in order to bring ourselves up to speed with commercial industry.”

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.