![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/11DCS21-194-114-Edit.jpg.jpg\")
Fields also noted the Ford class was designed in a digital 3D environment, rather than using traditional blueprint drawings. The associated step-by-step digital work instructions weren\u2019t ready for the first two ships, so Ford and Kennedy were built by craftspeople using paper drawings derived from the digital plans \u2014 though Kennedy was used to experiment with early digital work instructions and get employee feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with Enterprise, workers at the shipyard used laptops with digital work instructions for each step, with 3D images that can be enlarged and rotated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt provides the mechanics a lot clearer picture of what they\u2019re expected to be doing. It helps with first-time quality. It helps the younger craftspeople, who sometimes, we find it takes as much time to learn to read drawings as it does to develop the craft skills,\u201d Fields said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enterprise and Doris Miller will be fully built with these digital work instructions, in a first for the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fields said the Navy invested significantly in getting the 3D product model and the digital work instructions right, as they will be the basis of not only construction of carriers and submarines at Newport News but also for lifecycle maintenance work at the Navy\u2019s four public shipyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fields said Newport News Shipbuilding made a \u201cgenerational investment\u201d in buying laptops for all hourly workers so they could access the digital work instructions. But, he said, the investment is yielding other benefits, giving workers immediate access to resources like procedures, troubleshooting manuals and more, as well as better access to their supervisors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These same tools and processes will be used to build the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and the SSN(X) next-generation attack submarine. Future ship classes will all join this same digital environment, Fields said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Work on future aircraft carrier Enterprise is moving along more efficiently thanks to lessons learned from previous ships, as well as the introduction of digital work instructions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[160,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3354],"class_list":["post-43105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"X2CBCI3VC5G2VLC5BJXLTJXT4A","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2022\/03\/07\/navy-says-digital-work-instructions-lessons-learned-are-improving-construction-of-third-ford-class-carrier\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n