Electric Boat sees only smooth sailing ahead

No one is sure where the still-choppy regional economy is heading, but Electric Boat sees only smooth sailing ahead, with plans to add several hundred manufacturing jobs over the next two years and growth projections through 2020.
“We’ll be seeking a variety of workers, from welders, pipe fitters and machinists to engineers,” company President John P. Casey said at a Jan. 10 ceremony opening Electric Boat’s new 146,000 square-foot “Bay 4” production facility in North Kingstown.
The company plans to hire 250 more workers by the end of 2012, and another 250 by the end of 2014, at the Quonset Point facility in North Kingstown.
Casey also said about 300 engineers will need to be hired at the company’s Groton, Conn., production plant over the next year. The Groton facility must deliver finished submarines in two-year cycles and thus experiences slightly fluctuating production. Casey said that at times Groton might be forced to temporarily lay off about 150 employees, who would then be rehired within a few months.
“I can’t remember a time where the outlook has been as good as it is now,” he said.
“We have seen difficult economic circumstances over the last several years in Rhode Island,” said Democratic U.S. Sen. Jack F. Reed, who attended the opening, “but today is a day to celebrate.”
About 3,600 Rhode Islanders work at the two Electric Boat facilities. The company estimates that 550 employees have been added to the North Kingstown location over the last two years. Currently, 2,300 Rhode Islanders work in North Kingstown and 1,300 commute to Groton. Electric Boat is based in Groton and is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., in Falls Church, Va. The company is the lead design authority for the Virginia-class submarine.
Electric Boat has developed three product lines; Virginia-class submarines; maintenance and modernization of existing submarines and the Ohio-class, submarine-replacement program. “We have about 11,000 [workers at North Kingstown and Groton] that participate in these activities,” Casey said. The company takes pride in its training of skilled workers, but with the plans to hire 500 people in Rhode Island over three years, they will look to the state for some assistance. They will seek to target available training money and look to the state for help in screening candidates. According to Casey, finding applicants is not a problem but without state help delays could occur in their training.
The current U.S. Department of Defense budget calls for construction of two submarines each year for 2012 and 2013. “It was about a 10-year battle to get those two submarines into the budget.” Reed said.
The Virginia-class submarine is an advanced stealth, multimission, nuclear-powered submarine for both deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and shallow-water operations, according to the Navy. Its latest phase is scheduled to be budgeted next year, for fiscal 2014. Casey anticipates the program – like all military programs – will be debated in Congress. “We expect that the numbers will be similar to those in 2013 but it’s always a concern,” Casey said. He credited the state’s U.S. senators and representatives for their efforts in supporting the Navy’s submarine program.
Currently, the Navy plans to construct two submarines per year, from 2014 to 2017, and one additional submarine in 2018. “We have to be thinking in [terms of] decades because it takes a long time to develop a ship, build it and get it deployed at sea,” Casey said.
Ohio-class submarines were built in the 1980s and 1990s, and are nuclear-powered, ballistic-missile carriers meant to act as deterrents but are also fully functional. Designed to have a life of about 15 years, the entire class is scheduled to be replaced in the 2020s. The Navy has already planned to invest $1 billion in both 2012 and 2013 for its development. The North Kingstown plant fabricates modular sections of the submarine, including the combat control and engine-room decks. Each module is built complete with piping, air and electronic ducts that fit into place with other modules.
The most recently built submarine was provided ahead of schedule and under budget, two factors that are looked at favorably by the Navy.
The new building, called “Bay 4,” will enable Electric Boat to fabricate modules for Virginia-class submarines under one roof, simplifying the process and increasing efficiency.
In the past, frames would be fabricated, then the submarine’s shells. The third production step would connect the frames to the shells, then move each segment across the industrial park for further assembly. With the addition of the new building, the entire process is now under one roof.
“You are creating a much more efficient production facility,” Reed said. “Core efficiencies are going to be critical … as we look at tough budgets.”
The company also provides maintenance and modernization services to the Navy, as well as helping with research and development.
“Technology is also a key to our success,” Casey said.
Electric Boat is working on projects such as propeller-less submarines, the elimination of hydraulic motors and improving modular design. For newly completed submarines, it conducts post-shakedown work, provide six-months of practice runs, update systems and provide training.
Although military budgets from 2014 and beyond are subject to congressional review, Electric Boat’s business forecast mirrors the military’s. Should construction of two submarines per year remain the standard until 2018, the company’s economic outlook will stay positive, Casey said. •

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