Vigor Reduce Corrective Action Requests from 100+ to zero
Vigor Industrial, a leader in shipbuilding and repair, experienced serious reporting difficulties on the USS Gridley project. Objective Quality Evidence (OQE) deadlines were missed. 103 Corrective Action Requests (CARs) were raised by the Navy — and 60% were coatings / OQE related. 480 hours were spent cleaning up paperwork discrepancies. Vigor needed to streamline their processes, ensure greater accuracy and reduce corrective action requests.
Before commencing their next Navy project —the USS Kidd— Vigor overhauled their quality assurance (QA) program. One of those changes was taking their reporting process and workflow paperless with TRU. The result? Zero CARs, a clear audit trail and a “consistent, clean and quick” OQE review process.
Vigor took a three-pronged approach to optimize their QA program and reduce Corrective Action Requests before the USS Kidd project:
- Use third-party inspectors for greater objectivity.
- Take inspection authority away from subcontractors.
- Leverage TRU for document management and reporting.
Employing third-party inspectors and removing the subcontractors’ inspection authority gave Vigor greater control over the OQE review process. This also streamlined the process because subcontractors couldn’t go directly to the government — and Vigor was able to schedule and conduct preliminary inspections before calling in the Navy.
TRU’s impact at a glance
- Without TRU: 103 CARs. With TRU: 0 CARs.
- Fewer than 15 admin revisions made on USS Kidd project.
- TRU eliminated 480 hours of review time.
- Consistent, clear, accurate OQE packages handed off to the Navy.
Integrating TRU results in a smoother review process
Vigor has been building and repairing ships to a high level of quality for years — and they didn’t need to reinvent their proven workflows. Instead, they needed a reporting solution that optimized the accuracy and speed of their existing processes while reducing corrective action requests submitted by the Navy.
That’s why they turned to TRU — a paperless reporting application that transforms existing reporting processes into secure, digitalized workflows. TRU collaborated with the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) to build out the eight appendices for NSI 009-32, making TRU the perfect tool for meeting the strict compliance requirements of the U.S. Navy.
On-site training and support from the TRU team
As Vigor was first implementing the software, the TRU team provided on-site, hands-on training sessions. This lowered the learning curve and allowed the Vigor team to ask questions.
The USS Kidd Navy team was included in these sessions. This helped to establish expectations and allowed the Navy to give input into how TRU would be used on their project. Several ship building specialists from the USS Gridley team also were present, offering insight into the process problems TRU was aiming to fix.
All standard items and specifications available within the app
TRU eliminated the need to carry binders of documentation in the field. All applicable documents —specifications, standards such as NSI 009-32 and all reports and appendices— were contained within the TRU’s Document Library. And because TRU automatically syncs to the cloud when a connection is available, inspectors had up-to-date access to every document they might need both in the office and the field.
“I can’t even put a dollar sign on my ROI because it was that drastic.”
That’s what Lindsay Docherty, Director of Quality Assurance at Vigor Industrial, said after implementing TRU. Even the ship building specialist on the USS Kidd project, Mark Donaldson, said the “review process for OQE packages is consistent, clean and quick” with TRU.
TRU allowed Vigor’s inspectors to conduct preliminary inspections on the iPad before bringing in the Navy, minimizing admin errors. Plus, all applicable documents were readily available within the app to be included in the appendices.
Implementing TRU didn’t come without its challenges — namely that the Code 132 / QA team wasn’t present at the initial training and as a result was hesitant to embrace the new technology. However, after seeing TRU’s success on the deck plate they were willing and eager to utilize the tool, further proving the project a resounding success for Vigor.
Looking forward: Leveraging TRU on the USS Sampson
The USS Kidd project is now complete, and the results are in: no OQE packages were returned due to admin issues and no CARs were raised by the Navy. Now, Vigor is using TRU on the $42.2 million USS Sampson project.
To learn more about TRU and its potential to promote accuracy, efficiency and compliance across industries, request a consultation with our team. We’ll discuss how we can configure our reporting software to your proven workflows — and how it can drive down cost and risk throughout your organization.
