The Naval Air Systems Command Engineering Investigation - Business Process Reengineering (EI-BPR) team was presented a Department of the Navy eGov Award May 14 at the Spring 2002 Technology Symposium in Virginia Beach, Va.

The eGov award, presented by the Department of the Navy’s (DON) chief information officer, honors project teams whose successful initiatives are leading the effective exchange and sharing of information across organizations within the DON. The EI-BPR Team was one of six winners of the award for spring 2002 out of a field of 24 entries.

“Winning this award is a testament to a great team that broke through so many barriers in order to deliver our product to the fleet,” said Jim Zidzik, manager of the EI/Naval Aviation Maintenance Discrepancy Reporting Program.

All Navy and Marine Corps aviation activities submit Engineering Investigation Requests (EIR) and Hazardous Material Reports (HMR) whenever there is an unexpected or unusual failure of aircraft components, airborne systems or support equipment. The legacy reporting process, however, was unresponsive to the Warfighters’ needs so NAVAIR chartered the EI-BPR Team to solve the problem.

The team established a reengineered EI/HMR process that would ensure the reporting, investigating, and tracking of critical fleet aviation discrepancies in a timely and efficient manner. In May 2000, a reengineered Web-based process was deployed that now provides a prompt and productive response to EI/HMRs. There are more than 5,000 individual users with the Navy and Marine Corps who are currently registered and participating on the Web site.

The reengineering team developed a state-of-the-art, innovative process using existing technology. The team’s solution has resulted in a positive impact on warfighter readiness, effectiveness and satisfaction. As a result, the EI/HMR backlog was reduced by nearly 50 percent, the cycle time was reduced from more than 280 days to less than 100 days, and a 0 percent loss rate was exhibited while saving $50.6 million in material reconciliation and $20 million in annual cost avoidance due to the automated re-engineered processes.

The team reduced shipment time from an average of 68 days down to 10 days by partnering with commercial premium shippers for all exhibit handling. The team also developed the only DOD Web-based system which interfaces with the Defense Message System to assure those fleet units without Internet access can still have direct access to the critical EI/HMR information.

“It’s not often we at NAVAIR get a chance to work so closely with the fleet and directly witness the results of our efforts,” said Cdr. Mike Berens, team leader for the EI-BPR. “To date, this reengineered process incorporates state-of-the-art information technology, and process metrics show that our hard work was well worth it.”

(Call Renee Hatcher at 301-757-5138 for more information about this release.)