Corona Warfare Center's Patented System Saves $65 Million, Wins Top Navy Award

By Troy Clarke, Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- A team from Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona received a top Navy Information Management/Information Technology Excellence Award at the 2011 DoN IT Conference Jan. 25.

The team received the award for developing a calibration management system that is projected to save the Navy nearly $65 million by 2017.

The system, called the Metrology Bench-Top, or METBENCH, was praised by the Navy's chief information officer (CIO), who presented the annual award which recognized outstanding contributions by individuals and teams who are transforming the Navy and Marine Corps through information technology.

"The award Corona received is a great example of [innovation, efficiency and effectiveness]," said Navy CIO Terry A. Halverson. "Calibration of equipment is very important in the fleet. This system will increase mission effectiveness while decreasing our expense."

Calibrations are critical to nearly every aspect of naval operations and helps ensure equipment functions properly and accurately, ranging from a ship's propulsion plant to an F/A-18 Hornet's laser target designators to night vision goggles.

METBENCH program manager Richard Schumacher said the system seamlessly integrates more than 136 automated calibration procedures for 835 items across NAVSEA's calibration footprint. "This significantly increases calibration efficiency and improves equipment availability for the Navy's 1.85 million pieces of test equipment needed to conduct about 800,000 calibrations per year," Schumacher said.

He said Corona developed the cost-saving system in response to a fleet request in 2006 to address calibration systems that were ending their lifecycle. The METBENCH team took the unique system from concept to sea trial within 12 months and completed installation for the surface fleet last September. The system is currently aboard 144 surface ships.

Schumacher added that Corona's approach to shipboard calibration fully utilizes the Navy's distance support architecture to best support the fleet deployed anywhere in the world, and the METBENCH system makes these tasks as easy and transparent to the sailor as possible.

The new single system replaces five existing IT systems scheduled to be phased out and provides Navy information management for more effective decision making, improved efficiency of tasking, as well as enhanced mission effectiveness, program managers say.

The METBENCH system relies entirely on open-source and government off-the-shelf technology and consists of several integral components, such as automated procedure execution; advanced calibration procedure development; and both afloat and ashore calibration asset management. Program managers say these key elements complement one another and help align Navy systems commands, fleet users, technical agents, type commanders and ashore calibration activities.

In conjunction with the surface fleet roll-out of METBENCH, NAVSEA began to install the ashore portion of the system in fiscal year 2010 at several calibration laboratories. The full system capability, including the lab management function, will be up and running at all NAVSEA enterprise calibration laboratories during fiscal years 2012-2014. The ashore automated calibration capability has already improved efficiency for the Navy by $1.2 million.

Halverson says Corona's approach is exactly what the Navy needs and why the METBENCH team received the award.

"You've got more effectiveness, more efficiency. That's a win-win scenario." Halverson said. "And it's innovative. It's showing what can be done when people think a little outside the box. The NAVSEA example of that is a classic."

The award-winning Corona team members include John Griffith, advanced measurements program manager; Richard P. Schumacher, METBENCH/MCMS program manager; Juliusz Adamczuk; Zaide Figuerres; Jeff Walden; Rey B. Cheesman; Winston Y. Chou; Luis A. Cortes Jr.; Brett A. Currier; Stephen V. Frankini; Jeffrey M. Frappier; Michael L. Genung; Jeffrey M. Greene; Catherine F. Jose; Edvin Khanlarian; David G. Kinkade; Scott Jackson; Lawrence S. Lichtmann; Jeff Margosian; Vartan Nazarian; David B. Stice; Marisa Villasenor; Jove F. Yambot; Gary G. Yeakley; and Zarch Zakarian.

NSWC Corona, a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command, is responsible for gauging the warfighting capability of weapons and integrated combat systems, through assessment of systems' performance, readiness, quality, supportability, and the adequacy of training.

For more news from NSWC, Corona Division, visit www.navy.mil/local/nswccorona/.