On Aug 23, a ribbon cutting ceremony signaling the stand-up of the Naval Air Systems Team Engineering Investigation (EI) Clearinghouse was conducted at the Naval Aviation Depot’s Engineering Building 4033.

Taking part in the ceremony were: Dick Day, Director of the EI Clearinghouse; Capt. Michael Persson (AIR 4.0B) Executive Director for Operations, Naval Air Systems Command; Mike Bartlett, EI Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Implementation Team Leader, NAVAIR Headquarters; John McKeown, Deputy Systems Engineering Department, NAVAIR Headquarters; Col. Eugene Conti, NADEP Incoming Executive Officer; Dennis West, Deputy Research and Engineering Group Head, NADEP; Gerry Cecala, EI BPR PEO/PMA Coordinator, NAVAIR Headquarters; Angela Day, EI BPR Customer Service Leader, NADEP; Larry Silvestro, EI BPR IT Manager; Jim Gregson, EI Clearinghouse Consultant; Robert Horner, EI Clearinghouse Watch Officer; and NADEP 4.0 Competency Managers.

In his welcoming remarks, Col. Conti said, "This is an opportunity to embrace a facility near and dear to my heart, since I was the H-46 Class Desk during a previous tour here. It's important to the fleet to get the information back and get it right. This is a superb effort for the fleet, and we support it fully." Mr. West then discussed the importance of the Fleet Support Teams, and Mr. McKeown reflected on the impact to the Systems Engineering Process. Mr. Bartlett provided background of the EI Clearinghouse, explaining that it was a key enabler in the EI Program and then introduced some of the Clearinghouse members. Capt. Persson offered keynote remarks recalling his fleet and program experience and the importance of Engineering Investigations to the fleet. He explained that the EI Clearinghouse was just one of several innovations resulting from BPR initiatives of EI BPR CP4-1.

Following the ribbon cutting, the group moved to the EI Clearinghouse offices where a detailed brief of the EI BPR Process and demonstration of the EI Web Enabled System was provided by Mr. Day, Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Silvestro. The Reengineered EI process incorporates features specifically developed to meet the BPR’s three primary objectives: Establish a transportation method which would provide the EI Exhibit within three days CONUS and seven days Non-CONUS; Provide a handling process that would achieve zero loss rates and provide for full disposition and accountability of the exhibit; And finally, meet the OPNAV requirement to provide a final EI report within 30 days of receipt of the exhibit.

According to Mr. Day, the EI BPR Implementation team is developing a Web site that will be the primary communication link between all participants in the EI Process: EI requests, Final Reports, all interim communications and dialogs, EI tools and models, as well as the individual status of EIs. The EI Clearinghouse will provide overall management and oversight of the EI process.

A Clearinghouse office will be established and maintained at each of the primary support sites--Naval Aviation Depots and Naval Air Warfare Centers. "Cherry Point was selected as the lead Clearinghouse site. A key function is to be the EI focal point to assist both the Fleet and the FST engineers to meet their objectives and goals as part of the EI Program," Mr. Day said.

According to Mr. Day, the EI Clearinghouse is available now to provide support but will not be fully operational until after the new EI BPR process has completed full validation planned for next summer. The fleet will have the ability to ship their EI exhibits via commercial express shipment to the investigating activity, significantly reducing the cycle time of the existing system. The EI BPR Implementation team is developing several tools which will allow the FST engineers to make decisions and process their engineering analysis more quickly. These include a Risk Model, Cost Model, Examination Plan, and communication dialog features, which all will be web-based.