NAVSEA and Four Public Shipyards Come Together for Kaizen Improvement Event Focused on Digital Initiatives Across the Shipyards

Photo By Daniel DeAngelis | NAVSEA Executive Director Chris Miller speaks at the Kaizen Improvement Event recently held at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, discussing digital initiatives across the shipyards.  

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

11.13.2025

Story by Kristi R Britt 

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Members from the four public shipyards and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) recently came together at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia to host a Kaizen Improvement Event, focusing on digital initiatives across the shipyards. A Japanese term meaning “change for the better” or “continuous improvement,” this event was set to examine how NAVSEA can deliver agile software to the shipyards faster based on user requested feedback and to examine anything prohibiting adopting of these digital tools.

“Folks from all four naval shipyards and headquarters came together to tackle shared challenges, identify root causes, and provide actionable solutions that will increase agile delivery and tool adoption in the yards,” said NAVSEA Executive Director Chris Miller who spoke at the event. “Our project sups and mechanics deserve World Class! This event was a great example of how collaboration across commands yields effective problem solving and ultimately better outcomes for the Fleet.”

Supported by the NAVSEA Force Improvement Office (FIO), the event used digital crew boards (DCB) as the focused user case. Attendees worked to create a value stream map of the actual current state of the software delivery process, mapping out the entirety of the process in order to identify waste for removal and plotted pain points. Together, the team performed root cause analysis and left the event with solutions identified for critical challenges.

“We took a hard look at DCBs and what improvements can be made and how those improvements can possibly scale to other digital transformation efforts,” said Problem Solving and Improvement (PSI) Lead Jessi Staats. “The FIO support these events in a way that not only leads to improvements but educates attendees on use of various Get Real – Get Better toolsets. The goal is to have folks get more familiar with these tools to use them on their own teams for their own problems.”

Staats continued, “Knowledge of these tools is only half the battle. NAVSEA FIO along with Office for the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) Office of Warfighting Advantage are really seeking to change the culture where each person and each team has instilled a mindset of always learning, honest self-assessment, and a relentless pursuit to self-correct.”

FIO Director Sabrina Lemire added, “Building on this mindset, the event created an environment where we could see the Get Real-Get Better behaviors in actions: ‘Focus on what matters most,' ‘act transparently,' and ‘build learning teams.' Changing our mindsets and exemplifying these behaviors consistently are non-negotiable when it comes to challenging the status quo and no longer accepting the phrase ‘we’ve always done it that way.’”

Thanks to this event, participants stepped away with a better understanding of the process overall and what actions could be taken to improve how it works. In addition, participants saw firsthand that they can make small improvements and build momentum to improve paid delivery of DCB updates. With next steps in place, the stakeholders returned to their workplaces ready to take action and improve the way they do business.

Interested in learning how you can help? To personally share your voice in communicating changes you wish would be incorporated in these tools, please reach out to Erin Small at [e-mail] to learn how you can provide feedback to the development team for consideration.
In addition to these events, the NAVSEA FIO is also in partnership with the OPNAV Office of Warfighting Advantage to deliver training on problem solving to folks on teams who want to learn more about these proven problem-solving tools for them to use on their own teams. If you are interested in learning more about these trainings, please visit the FIO Training Page at https://flankspeed.sharepoint-mil.us/sites/NAVSEA_ForceImprovementOffice/SitePages/Instructor-Led-Training.aspx.

• Date Taken: 11.13.2025
• Date Posted: 11.17.2025 13:47
• Story ID: 551396
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US