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Original Date: 07/21/2003
Revision Date: 01/18/2007
Best Practice : Fabrication and Installation of Electrical Hangers
Electric Boat Corporation, Quonset Point Facility reduced the time to fabricate and install an electrical hanger by using detailed work instructions, which are generated by a CATIA product model.
In the past, fabricating and installing electrical hangers were time-consuming tasks. Skilled trade workers were given a drawing of the cable run, and told a specific point on the run to attach the hanger. However, the exact positioning of the hanger to the overhead deck was at the discretion of the individual. As a result, highly skilled trade workers had a difficult time interpreting blueprints and identifying potential interferences (e.g., pipes, shelves, drawers) before they could fabricate and install a hanger. The process to find a location took approximately four hours per hanger. Since a submarine has thousands of hangers, this approach was very time-consuming. To resolve this situation, Electric Boat Corporation, Quonset Point Facility (EBQP) developed detailed work instructions, which simplified the fabrication and installation of electrical hangers.
EBQP uses a CATIA product model to generate the detailed work instructions. These instructions provide a precise drawing that shows the configuration and point-of-contact location for each electrical hanger. Templates are used to locate studs for the hangers, which reduce the layout time. Multiple stud locations are identified simultaneously by using a one-to-one template. Many different types of hangers are fabricated on the shop floor. However, the use of detailed drawings opens up other manufacturing options such as fabricating the parts in a specialized shop area or purchasing them from a vendor, and then delivering them in kit form to the assembly area.
Skilled trade workers now fabricate and install an electrical hanger in a fraction of the original time, and the precise drawings allow a less experienced trade worker to install a hanger in an average of two hours. The use of detailed instructions reduced the frequency of a rework resulting from improper installation by at least 70%. EBQP is also using this technique for other applications such as installing pipe hangers and lighting fixtures.
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Point of Contact for this survey.
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