In March of 1976, the decision was made at Port Weller Dry Docks to purchase an in-house computer system to expand our use of computer programs and to update our present systems. At that time two systems were in operation at Port Weller. The accounting and labor distribution programs were executed on a Litton-McBee paper tape oriented computer system, and the production planning and control, numerical control, and design programs were executed on a UNIVAC 1108 time sharing system using a remote batch terminal for data transmission.

The law that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration directed NASA to provide "for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and results thereof." Assuming that the research and development costs supported NASA's primary space and aeronautics missions, then any secondary use of this technology for other non-aerospace purposes would provide an additional benefit to our national economy. The the exploration of space and the advancement of aeronautics generates innovations in almost every field of science and technology and, therefore, provides us with the broadest possible technical base to stimulate progress in areas not even remotely connected to the original research. NASA has established a national network of dissemination centers to serve industry by searching what has become the world's largest data bank of technical information. Technical information that has been provided through this network has resulted in many useful applications and new products. Spinoffs of technology have ranged from medical devices for the handicapped to patching materials for street maintenance and countless applications in between.

Proceedings of the REAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No. 12: Network Scheduling of Shipyard Production, Engineering, and Material Procurement.

There are two general subjects that will be covered in this paper - justification of a computerized mould loft for the small shipyard and implementation. The justification will be brief and figures represented in this portion are not actual figures obtained from Port Weller records, but are superficial numbers used only to give the basic ideas of how the eventual purchase of the Autokon system was justified at Port Weller Dry Docks. The implementation portion will be an actual account of our use of numerical control programming starting from December 1973, when the part and nest programs were first obtained from Shipping Research Services.

Proceedings of the REAPS Technical Symposium. Paper No 3: Navy Manufacturing Technology Program.