Payton Kolbeck 
US Shipyard Uses Walt Smart Radio System to Communicate with Workers Inside Steel Hulls
Workers in confined spaces can reconnect with the rest of the workforce with Walt Smart Radio System
On the frontline, the key to a high-performing workforce is making them accessible, no matter where they’re working. But, as many in industry have experienced, some work environments make communication capabilities nearly impossible. One common example of this issue is workers within confined spaces. Once inside, workers are left with limited to no outreach to their crews outside of the vessel. After experiencing the disconnect from all their engineers and crews working inside a new steel vessel, this shipyard implemented Walt Smart Radio System as their collaboration suite to reconnect their workforce.
Key Takeaways
- Signal reached 100% of the confined space vessel
- Increased productivity between workers inside and out of the vessel
- Enhanced safety and visibility into the confined space
Company Snapshot
- Industry: Ship Building
- Company Size: Large Enterprise (250+ employees)
- Location: Gulf Coast, United States
- Use Case: Smart Radio Collaboration
The Situation
As construction continued on an advanced naval project, it was quickly apparent that frontline workers inside the vessel couldn’t properly communicate with those outside. This ultimately led to slower responses concerning issues that arose inside the ship, updates on the project and its timeline, and created a segmented experience for getting the project completed successfully. Supervisors at the shipyard overseeing the construction knew this was a complex enough project that required seamless collaboration across every person in the facility. This meant that those working in the confined space couldn’t be left in the dark when it came to effective communication. To remedy this lack of communication, management used Walt to address it.
The Problem
Without the proper technological infrastructure needed within a confined space, workers can’t communicate and work together with those outside of the hull. Supervisors at this shipyard noticed this segmentation in their workforce brought on with the nature of their industry and have made do in past projects. However, this project required a consistent link between the subject matter experts and the workers executing the project for:
- Real-time project updates and response to questions or issues
- Effective workforce and time management through the duration of the project
- Accurate recordings of the atmospheric conditions within the vessel
Collaboration is vital to successfully completing projects with tight deadlines and many responsibilities happening simultaneously. Fierce Inc., a leadership development company based in Seattle, conducted a study that a lack of collaboration accounts for 86% of workplace failures. For this shipyard, their workforce needed to work together seamlessly, and supervisors understood needing to overcome this collaboration vacuum in their operations.
The Solution
To grant every worker collaborative capabilities within the confined vessels in the shipyard, the US Shipyard implemented Walt Smart Radio System. This simple solution gave their current network, which could not pierce the 7ft. steel walls of the ship’s hull, access to every part of the ship workers were in. Every worker was then given a Walt Smart Radio to collaborate digitally throughout the entire facility.
Results
Following implementation, the weavix team expanded network coverage throughout the entire shipyard, including 100% area coverage of the confined spaces within the ships. By resolving the connectivity issues throughout the shipyard that came with working in confined spaces, productivity throughout the workforce enhanced as a result. Now, those inside and out of the vessels could communicate back and forth and send images with Walt.
With a direct line to every worker across the shipyard, supervisors were able to effectively manage the worker’s daily responsibilities and the time it took to complete tasks. As construction continued with the latest vessel, engineers and other workers reported a more seamless and productive experience across the frontline. Walt also provided more visibility to managers overseeing the project through its entirety, letting them accurately estimate timelines and stay on schedule.
If workers can’t communicate and work together, productivity suffers. For this enterprise, Walt connected the entire workforce across the shipyard, even when some worked behind the 7-foot thick steel walls of the ship’s hull.
