WAVES Work-in-Progress Activity Visibility Execution System

Autonomous Logistics

Problem Statement: At Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), maintenance throughput depends on the timely movement, accountability, and visibility of Work-in-Progress (WIP) material. Traditional tracking processes rely on manual transactions, paper records, and disconnected information flows that can create invisible bottlenecks. Material may be complete at one work center but delayed in transit or awaiting handoff, while project managers lack timely visibility of its location, status, and route. These delays increase indirect labor, create opportunities for data-entry errors, slow responses to holds and schedule changes, and require artisans to spend valuable time searching for material or correcting records instead of performing direct maintenance. The result is reduced production flow, aging WIP, and limited enterprise awareness of constraints affecting depot execution.

Description of the Innovation Solution: WAVES is a depot-led maintenance modernization capability that uses Automatic Identification Technology and passive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to provide visibility and control of WIP material moving through the depot. WAVES detects tagged assemblies, maps material location, and traces repair routes as items move between hubs and work centers. The capability records material movement and transit handoffs while supporting standardized WIP creation, routing validation, and improved data quality. WAVES gives users location, status, schedule, nonconformance reporting, and hold information at the point of action. By converting material movement into a digital representation of depot workflow, WAVES helps users identify dwell time, routing delays, and potential misplaced material before those issues affect the production schedule.

Benefits to the Department of War:

• Improved Production Visibility: Provides work centers and project managers with timely awareness of WIP location, status, route, and movement between production areas.
• Reduced Indirect Work: Limits manual tracking, paper-based handoffs, unnecessary searches, and record corrections so artisans can focus on direct maintenance.
• Stronger Material Accountability: Improves traceability and helps identify dwell time, routing issues, misplaced material, and aging WIP.
• Informed Leadership Decisions: Translates WIP movement data into production insight, enabling leaders to identify workload constraints and balance capacity across the depot.
• Organic Industrial Base Modernization: Establishes a scalable digital foundation for modern maintenance execution and future enterprise adoption.

Innovation Challenges:

• Integrating RFID-enabled WIP visibility with legacy maintenance processes and future enterprise data exchange.
• Establishing scalable infrastructure while accounting for cybersecurity, device compliance, lifecycle costs, and changing facility requirements.
• Converting raw WIP movement data into actionable dashboards, work-queue visibility, and scheduling insights.
• Maintaining user adoption and process discipline while introducing new technology into an active production environment.

Technical Maturity / Demonstration Results:

WAVES has advanced beyond concept development through operational demonstrations at CCAD showing RFID-enabled WIP visibility, material movement tracking, and production-routing support across depot work centers. Demonstrations validated the maintenance use case and identified opportunities for expanded dashboards, capacity analysis, reporting, and scalable infrastructure. WAVES is positioned for continued pilot expansion and broader application across the Organic Industrial Base.