Navy Tests 3D Learning Tool to Accelerate Readiness

BILT demonstrates maintenance force multiplier aboard test ship

GRAPEVINE, TX, September 7, 2022 – U.S. Navy sailors may soon be able to use the same 3D app to make repairs at sea that consumers at home use to assemble barbecue grills and fitness equipment. BILT Incorporated announced today its successful participation in REPTX, the Navy’s first-ever Repair Technology Exercise, to test and evaluate innovative products and services for expeditionary maintenance operations. The technical demonstrations were conducted aboard the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, the former USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964) based in Port Hueneme, California.

“BILT is poised to support sustainment and maintenance operations immediately,” says BILT Senior Federal Program Manager, Michael Rosales. He says hundreds of 3D instruction sets could be downloaded onto a single mobile device to save space, weight, and fuel. During the exercise, BILT worked with other participating companies in a test scenario that sailors could encounter at sea.

The 3D digital work instructions app walks users through maintenance and repairs typically performed in port. Partnered with other tools like 3D printers, Rosales says BILT could provide the Navy with increased agility in upskilling new recruits on ships and submarines. The BILT platform provides program managers with data that can be used to track performance and help support after-action reviews. Updates to instructions can be made in near real-time. Users can provide feedback for continuous improvement and increased efficiency. BILT is available both on and off the grid and could help standardize the way warfighters learn their jobs. U.S. Navy maintainer dressed in fatigues tests electrical components aboard a Navy test ship “REPTX gave us the chance to observe and ideate from the sailor’s perspective,” says BILT Senior Director Bernie Lynch. “We continue to discover additional ways BILT can help sailors tackle complex problems.” Sponsored by NAVSEA’s Naval Systems Engineering and Logistics Directorate Technology Office, the two-week exercise was designed to evaluate the viability and efficacy of 65 new technologies sailors could use while underway. BILT is already being tested by maintainers at the Naval shipyards in Norfolk, Virginia, and Puget Sound, Washington.

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