Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) personnel are hearing more and more about the implementation of Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and the changes it will bring to the command and to the Navy as a whole.

Navy ERP is an integrated business management system that modernizes and standardizes Navy business operations, provides unprecedented management visibility across the enterprise and increases effectiveness and efficiency. The Navy ERP Program uses a product from SAP Corporation, the largest provider of ERP solutions in the world.

The Secretary of Defense has challenged each military service to pursue an aggressive transformation of their war fighting capabilities in order to meet the emerging 21st century threats. In order for the Navy to be fully prepared for this transformation, NAVAIR deployed the pilot program, Sigma, in October 2002, to help pave the way to a Navy-wide ERP that will deploy at NAVAIR on Oct. 1, 2007.

“It was no mistake that NAVAIR was chosen as the first deployment,” says Capt. Mike Paul, Sigma program manager and NAVAIR’s Navy ERP implementation lead. “Our personnel have the experience and the talent to make the implementation of Navy ERP a success.”

With an upgraded and more government focused version of the SAP software, Navy ERP will support broad-reaching scenarios, including Budget to Authorize, Plan to Perform, Plan to Pay, Acquire to Dispose, Personnel Check-In/Check-Out, and Post to Report. These processes, used extensively by the Business, Financial, Comptroller and Program Management communities, will update and standardize processes, eliminate redundancies and be more economically efficient.

NAVAIR and Navy ERP are working together to make the transition to Navy ERP as smooth as possible. NAVAIR set up war rooms at each site and identified site implementation teams, which are working closely with site leadership to deliver timely information to site personnel.

NAVAIR subject matter experts have been involved in two, completed testing cycles at the Navy ERP lab and are working with other experts from around the Navy on a third cycle. They are also actively preparing data for conversion; cleaning up data; reviewing training material as part of implementing detailed transition plans. The command training team is developing “delta” materials, which prepare the workforce for differences between Navy ERP and Sigma, as well as schedules for Web-based and classroom training sessions. These teams have also begun role mapping activities to ensure NAVAIR personnel have access to the Navy ERP system needed to do their jobs.

“NAVAIR and the other systems commands have been chosen to implement Navy ERP first to get the Navy’s financial backbone in place,” explained Ron Rosenthal, Navy ERP Program Manager. “During the next increment, the Supply community, the Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers will transition to Navy ERP, and then Maintenance will transition.”

After NAVAIR, SPAWAR, Navy Financial Management and Budget (FMB), NAVSUP and NAVSEA will transition. The Regional Maintenance Centers, Fleet Readiness Centers and Depots will complete the implementation effort in 2012.

For more information about ERP, visit NAVAIR’s SIGMA website at https://sigma.navair.navy.mil/ or the Navy ERP Website at http://www.erp.navy.mil/.