Beyond paper-based manuals

T+D,  Oct, 2003  

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Marine Corps technicians performing maintenance on the Turret, TOW Missile, and Hell-fire Missile Systems aboard the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters at Camp Pendleton, California, are experiencing the ultimate in just-in time learning. When they encounter unfamiliar repair problems, they have an option other than cumbersome technical manuals with confusing cross-references and often outdated information. Instead, they can flip open a rugged laptop computer at their side. The click of a mouse brings all of the pertinent information they could possibly need for the specific job required, including current manuals, parts lists, exploded drawings, and perhaps even a video of a veteran technician performing the same procedure. It's all broken down into individual data objects, integrated and formatted for use at the precise moment and location needed. Data is arranged according to a technician's natural work sequence rather than segregated by type as in traditional paper-based manuals. Although not currently part of the Cobra package, an MMS can be updated to real time via wireless LAN or the Internet.

Called the Maintenance Mentoring System, MMS is an electronic performance support system that integrates disparate data and procedures from a variety of media and formats into a seamless system. Its development began in 1998, when the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, and a handful of private industry partners, including Chantilly, Virginia's L3 Communications Government Services (formerly EER Systems), sought to bring the Internet era's potential to locations where it was urgently needed, such as the shop floor. MMS represents one example of interactive electronic technical manual technologies now being pursued within government and industry.

The prime ingredient behind maintenance mentoring is "task-based instruction," says the L3 Communications unit. Complicated processes are broken down into a series of smaller tasks to enhance learning comprehension and information retention. Content is digitized and converted into data objects such as JPEG graphics, Shockwave animations, and flat ASCII text files. They're stored in a dynamic database that is searchable using standard SQL protocols. Studies show MMS reduces troubleshooting time by 30 percent compared with traditional paper-based technical manuals. Perhaps that's why it was the winner of the "Great Ideas" competition at the annual DoD Maintenance Symposium last fall.

Learning applications extend well beyond maintenance, contends Michael Gnam, an NCMS official who is the National Center's MMS project manager. Gnam says the single biggest issue faced by the DoD maintenance depots he deals with involves capturing the expertise of veteran technicians who are nearing retirement. MMS appears to be perfectly suited for the assignment, he says. For example, he says, NCMS recently videotaped one 60-year-old technician, recording for the MMS system precisely how he tears apart and repairs an aircraft engine, capturing every detail, including body contortions and other tricks. "Much of this is art, not science, and you won't find it in any maintenance manual," says Gnam. It translates into pure wisdom for the 25-year-old technician who views it on a laptop.

Other companies are offering commercial versions of the nonproprietary learning technology. L3's MMS program manager Brian Gritte says additional mentoring systems currently under development should promote greater adoption of the learning tool within the military.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Society for Training & Development, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning