Very clearly, Philadelphia now has an ultramodern, state of the art commercial shipbuilding facility.

Kværner Philadelphia is located on 114 acres of the old Navy Yard. Just about all that has been retained of the original facility are the two graving docks, now flanked by the covered construction, grand block and painting shops. Straddling the building dock is a gigantic 600 ton capacity gantry crane. Don't look for stockyards or warehouses, though. Kværner Philadelphia operates on the just in time philosophy.

In contrast to traditional shipyards that have extensive procurement operations along with their accompanying overhead costs, world class yards like Philadelphia focus on the core competency of the shipbuilder building steel hull ships--procuring other important competencies as products and services from other experts.

Over 70% of the value of each ship built in Philadelphia will be outsourced to suppliers:These will be delivering turn-key systems, subsystems, major components and piece parts on a just-in-time basis. They will be working both off and on site.

While Kværner has been building the shipyard, the Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corporation has been cooperating with it to build a network of prime and sub-suppliers. Over 1,400 potential suppliers have already registered at its www. philashipyard.com website.

One of the reasons for creating a commercial shipbuilding facility in Philadelphia was that, in addition to creating jobs at the yard itself, it would provide a catalyst for growth the regional economy as a whole.
The yard has signed a $20 million, three year contract with Bethlehem Lukens Plate for the supply of ABS grade plate steel. The grades will be rolled on Bethlehem Steels mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Burns Harbor, Ind. Charles Mattia, general manager,marketing for Bethlehem Lukens, says Kvaerner's presence in the Delaware Valley is good for local companies, like Bethlehem Steel, and the states economic initiatives. He notes that a key part of this contract is BLP's commitment to provide required plate tonnages to exacting specifications and delivery schedules. Bethlehem has teamed with a local contractor to form Prime Plate, which will supply the yard on a just-in-time basis with already blasted plate, coated with a weldable primer.

PEOPLE
Despite what Kværner has put into the shipyard in terms of expertise with equipment and software, its biggest contribution to the success of the venture is probably a human one.

About 30 experienced European shipbuilding managers are helping workers become familiar with such technologies as flux core welding. What we are teaching, says Rolf Pettersen, VP Human Resources, is a totally new way of doing shipbuilding. That includes the philosophy of being multiskilled, an approach that is fully supported by the yards one union, the Metal Trades Council.

When we visited the yard, the labor force had reached 265 and the eventual goal is around 1,000. Part of Kværner's commitment is to recruit first from target areas that include former Navy yard workers and, thus far about 70% of the blue collar workers at the yard have come from that source.

What's the biggest difference between training Europeans and Americans?

Americans need a lot of positive feedback, says Pettersen. Kværner's European expatriates have had to learn to bridge some cultural gaps, but they've been very impressed by the Philadelphia shipyard labor force and especially by the American can do attitude. And the feedback that they are getting from the Philadelphia workers is we can beat Warnow! ML 

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