Home | Workforce Development | Grants Development and Management | MEP Affiliate Sites | SeaPort-e | Client List | Press Room | Success Stories | Contact Us Time Wise® Success Stories Cranes get a lift from Lean (See full story in The Periscope, Volume 63, No. 2, February 2005) "Our people are fired-up and enthused about implementing Lean initiatives," said Kevin Durgin, crane maintenance general foreman [at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.] Lean is relatively new to the Shipyard’s Crane Maintenance Program, though there have been months of planning and training in preparation for the maintenance pilot on category 2 bridge cranes. In the spirit of the ‘One Shipyard’ philosophy, representatives from each Crane Maintenance Division attended a Crane Maintenance Lean Conference...."We observed their processes and that provided us a firm foundation in the development of our program," said Eugene Raymond, head of the Crane Maintenance Division. "We immediately established our crane maintenance team and enrolled them in Time Wise for Ships training." "They came up with a plan and estimated that a 30% reduction in maintenance cost and crane down time could be achieved with the Lean process," said Durgin. "Today, we are estimating the first crane under the Lean improved process will be completed in about 336 man-hours compared to 426 man-hours last year," said Raymond.