Careful planning is required to keep up with all auxiliary maintenance and repair work in the enginerooms. You should already have in your work center the necessary items which can help you in scheduling your work. These items are (1) the Quarterly PMS Schedule, which is the visual display of your work centers PMS requirements for a specific 3-month period; (2) the weekly schedule (taken from the quarterly schedule), which displays all your work centers PMS schedule for completion in a given week; and (3) the Maintenance Data Collection Subsystem (MDCS) forms, such as the OPNAV 4790-2K, OPNAV 4790-2L, and OPNAV 4790-2Q. Of these, OPNAV Form 4790.2K is used to show completion of specific PMS requirements; to request repair of equipment or services from IMAs or shipyards; or can be used to describe equipment malfunctions. OPNAV Form 4790/2L is a supplemental form which you use to provide amplifying information relating to a maintenance action described on a corresponding 4790/2K. The OPNAV 4790/2L may also be used to list: Multiple item serial numbers and locations for which identical maintenance requirements exist from an outside activity; and Drawings and sketches. OPNAV Form 4790/2Q is an automated work request produced by an IMA with computer capabilities. The 2Q is produced from the original 4790/2K which is in your Current Ships Maintenance Project (CSMP) suspense file. For more detailed information about these forms and schedules, and how to fill them out, review OP-NAVINST 4790.4, volumes I and II.

Some of the proven uses you should follow when scheduling maintenance and repair work are listed below:

1. Size up each job before you let anyone start working on it. Check the applicable Maintenance Requirement Cards (MRCs) so that you will know exactly what needs to be done. Also, check all applicable drawings and manufacturers technical manuals.

2. Check on materials before you start. Be sure that all required materials are available before your personnel start working on any job. Do not overlook small itemsnuts, bolts, washers, pack-ing and gasket materials, tools, measuring devices, and so forth. A good deal of labor can be saved by the simple process of checking on the availabil-ity of materials before a job is actually started. An inoperable piece of machinery may be useless, but it can become a nuisance and a safety hazard if it is spread around the engineroom in bits and pieces while you wait for the arrival of repair parts or materials.

3. Check the priority of the job and that of all other work that needs to be done.

4. When assigning work, carefully consider the capabilities and experience of your personnel. As a rule, the more complicated jobs should be given to the more skilled and more experienced people. When possible, however, less experienced people should be given difficult work to do under supervision so that they may acquire skill in such jobs. Be sure that the person who is going to do a job is given as much information as necessary. An experienced person may need only a drawing and a general statement concerning the nature of the job. A less experienced person is likely to require additional instructions and, as a rule, closer supervision.

5. Keep track of the work as it is being done. In particular, check to be sure that proper materials and parts are being used, that the job is properly laid out or set up, that all tools and equipment are being used correctly, and that all safety precautions are being observed.

6. After a job has been completed, make a careful inspection to be sure that everything has been done correctly and that all final details have been taken care of. Check to be sure that all necessary records and reports have been prepared.

These job inspections serve at least two very important purposes: first, they are needed to make sure that the work has been properly performed; and second, they provide for an evaluation of the skills and knowledge of the person who has done the work. Do not overlook the training aspects of a job inspection. When your inspection of a completed job reveals any defects or flaws, be sure to explain what is wrong, why it is wrong, and how to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Estimating Work

You will often be required to estimate the amount of time, the number of personnel, and the amount of material that will be required for specific repair jobs. Actually, you are making some kind of estimate every time you plan and start a repair job, as you consider such questions as: How long will it take? Who can best do the job? How many people will be needed? Are all necessary materials available?

However, there is one important difference between the estimates you make for your own use and those that you make when your division officer asks for estimates. When you give an estimate to someone in authority over you, you cannot tell how far up the line this information will go. It is possible that an estimate you give to your division officer could ultimately affect the operational schedule of the ship; it is essential, therefore, that such estimates be as accurate as you can possibly make them.

Many of the factors that apply to the scheduling of all maintenance and repair work apply also to estimating the time that will be required for a particular repair job. You cannot make a reasonable estimate until you have sized up the job, checked on the availability of materials, checked on the availability of skilled personnel, and checked on the priority of the various jobs for which you are responsible. In order to make an accurate estimate of the time required to complete a specific repair job, you must also consider (1) what part of the work must be done by other shops, and (2) what kinds of interruptions and delays may occur. Although these factors are also important in the routine scheduling of maintenance and repair work, they are particu-larly important when estimates of time that may affect the operational schedule of the ship are made.

If part of the job must be done by other shops, you must consider not only the time actually required by these shops but also time that may be lost if one of them holds up your work, and the time spent to transport the material between shops. Each shop should make a separate estimate, and the estimates should be combined in order to obtain the final estimate. Do NOT at-tempt to estimate the time that will be required by other personnel. Attempting to estimate what someone else can do is risky because you cant possibly have enough information to make an ac-curate estimate.

Consider all the interruptions that might cause delay, over and above the time required for the work itself. Such things as drills, inspections, field days, and working parties can have quite an effect on the number of people who will be available to work on the job at any given time. Estimating the number of personnel who will be required for a certain repair job is, obviously, closely related to estimating time. You will have to consider not only the nature of the job and the number of people available but also the maximum number of people who can work EFFECTIVELY on a job or on part of the job at the same time.

Doubling the number of personnel will not cut the time in half; instead, it will result in confusion and aimless milling around.

The best way to estimate the time and the number of personnel needed to do a job is to divide the total job into the various phases or steps that will have to be done, and then estimate the time and the personnel required for each step. Estimating the materials required for a repair job is often more difficult than estimating the time and labor required for the job. Although your own past experience will be your best guide for this kind of estimating, a few general considerations should be noted:

1. Keep accurate records of all materials and tools used in any major repair job. These records serve two purposes: first, they provide a means of accounting for materials used; and second, they provide a guide for estimating materials that will be required for similar jobs in the future.

2. Before starting any repair job, plan the job carefully and in detail. Make full use of manufacturers technical manuals, blueprints, drawings, and any other available information, and find out in advance all the tools and materials that will be required for the accomplishment of each step of the job.

3. Make a reasonable allowance for waste when calculating the amount of material you will need.