Engineering changes in the field

The challenge

A fleet of approximately 30–35 autonomous marine vehicles was receiving engineering changes through an ad hoc process.

Parts, kits and instructions didn't consistently reach technicians in a usable form. Inventory was being allocated between new production and field upgrades without a reliable process to account for both. Vehicle configurations became increasingly difficult to track as individual components changed.

The engineering changes themselves were only part of the problem. Getting them implemented correctly was another.

The work

In a previous hardware engineering role, Jack built an end-to-end process for implementing engineering changes across the existing fleet.

This included service bills of materials, field-service kits, linked work instructions and change tickets, revision-controlled documentation and a process for recording which components were installed on each vehicle.

The process evolved through direct experience with the people doing the work. Parts had to be packed for individual jobs rather than sent as bulk quantities. Instructions needed to be easy to find and usable in the field. Configuration tracking needed to explain why the information mattered, not simply tell technicians to enter it.

The outcome

A repeatable process for planning, preparing, communicating and implementing field changes. A manager's 2024 performance review reported that the field-kit process remained in use.

What it demonstrates

Operational problems rarely sit neatly inside one department. Fixing them requires connecting engineering, inventory, documentation and field execution into one workable process.