In 2017, Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) introduced a 30-week series of weekly seminars on the Critical Path Method (CPM) in Waterfront Operations geared toward changing their approach concerning scheduling and executing availabilities in an effort to improve on-time delivery.

Last month, those seminars were reintroduced to MARMC in a more effective three-week course, which includes more practical exercises and course interaction while encouraging participants to, “conceive, believe and achieve” the full potential of the CPM.

The CPM is a project management technique for process planning that defines critical and non-critical tasks with the goal of preventing delays in project completion. It is a philosophy based on the workflow, the series of activities within a given work item, crossties to other work items, key events and milestones, and how much float there is in the schedule.

The new three-week course titled, “MARMC The Plan: Critical Path Method Course,” kicked off April 22, at the Tidewater Community College Workforce Development Center in Suffolk, Virginia, with 20 students from various departments in the command. While the content is still the same, the new facilitated workshop format allows participants to be more engaged by discussing current availabilities with current data.

“They spent three weeks together talking about real schedules and real projects today while sharing their own knowledge and experiences with each other – not just hearing from the instructor,” said Mike Boisseau, course developer and facilitator. “We took a look at an entire availability starting with planning (A-360 days) to execution and completion. The exercises really drew them together and allowed them to build relationships.”

The CPM encourages maintenance teams to not just look at availabilities from a perspective of work items, but to dive deeper into scheduling and planning in order to recognize the pitfalls that could slow workflow.

“The course is very eye-opening when you take a look at the availability from a critical path perspective,” said Project Manager Gill Powell. “It makes a difference when you can recognize what’s going on with your critical work and you’re able to push that up to the leaders to really focus on priorities that have the most effect on on-time delivery.”   

The course concluded with a leadership panel discussion with MARMC Commanding Officer, Capt. Dan Lannamann; Executive Director Dennis Bevington; Waterfront Operations Manager Chuck Baker and Availability Support Division Director Norm Schimming. Participants got to talk with leaders about the CPM and in general improving on-time delivery. 

“We are modernizing how availabilities are monitored and the Navy’s management of ship maintenance,” Baker told the group. “This is not just the flavor of the last three years; it is the flavor of the future. And it is not just for Waterfront Operations, this is something the entire command will get behind and it will redefine how we accomplish our mission of on-time delivery.”

Although this was the first course, it is just the beginning. MARMC plans to hold three more courses this year. 

“They came together as a team – even though they’re not on the same project team – and I believe they have accomplished something in these three weeks,” said Boisseau. “The challenge now is to go and implement what they have learned. We’re all about on-time delivery, but it starts with understanding how it’s supposed to work. Conceiving it, then believing in it, then going out and executing – achieving it.”

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