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| March 2009
Welcome to The CTMA Connector, a monthly newsletter designed to provide news and ideas about the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program. The CTMA program is a joint Department of Defense/National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (DoD/NCMS) effort promoting collaborative technology development between industry and the DoD maintenance and repair facilities. This newsletter highlights ongoing projects, serves as a forum for promoting new project ideas, and provides other news of interest to the program. Our goal is to stimulate your participation and solicit your input. Feel free to submit items for the newsletter as well as any suggestions to make it more useful. More information about the program can be found at http://ctma.ncms.org/. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CTMA Connector, send a message to listserv@listserv.ncms.org with “subscribe CTMANewsletter” or “unsubscribe CTMANewsletter” in the message body. Last Chance to Register for the 2009 CTMA Symposium – “Motoring through Technology Transitioning” Monday, 30 March – Thursday, 2 April at the MGM Grand Detroit, Detroit, Michigan Register: https://www.ncms.org/SSL/Symposium2009/registration.htm Agenda: https://www.ncms.org/09CTMASymposium/agenda.htm If you are trying to insert new technologies into the DoD Maintenance System, this Symposium is for you. CFAMS Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony hosted by the Sierra Army Depot The CTMA project, Centralized Fleet Automated Management Systems, (CFAMS), has been demonstrated at the Sierra Army Depot (SIAD), and SIAD hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on February 25, 2009, as a formal introduction of CFAMS to other DoD facilities. The event was attended by representatives from the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Reutilization Marketing Service, the Lead Army Material Command Integration Support Office at Redstone Army Arsenal, the Logistics Innovation Agency, NORAD/NORTHCOM, the Air Force Joint Depot Maintenance Activity Group, the Fleet Support Division Marine Corps Logistics Command, the Canadian Operational Support Command, and the U.S. Army Depots at Anniston, Red River and Tobyhanna. The ceremony included demonstrations of CFAMS software, hardware and integration with passive RFID systems for inventory management. Speakers and presenters included Greg Kilchenstein of the Office of the Secretary of Defense; George Ray, Garrison Manager at SIAD; Chuck Ryan, Vice President of Technology for the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences; and Ken Ehrman, the President and Chief Operating Officer of I.D. Systems, Inc. Maintenance is a significant expense for the DoD and a critical factor in sustaining materiel readiness for our nations armed forces, noted Ehrman. We are honored and pleased that I.D. Systems wireless vehicle management technology has demonstrated an ability to have a positive influence on the DoDs material handling operations. We look forward to introducing CFAMS to many more DoD facilities. SIAD is part of the U. S. Armys Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), under the U. S. Army Materiel Command. SIADs mission is to provide worldwide logistics support for the U.S. Army, including receipt, storage, repair, shipping, maintenance, and fabrication of assets. As a Center of Industrial Technical Excellence focused on lean manufacturing process improvements, the depot continuously seeks out new ways to improve on its mission execution. The NCMS Contact for this effort is Debbie Lilu, debral@ncms.org, 734-995-7038. New CTMA Project Opportunity – Automated Intensifier Measurement System (AIMS) The objective of this CTMA effort is to provide the Army with automated test equipment which has the ability to replace the outdated manual test equipment presently used by government and industry. This capability will reduce cycle time for returned night vision devices and significantly reduce costs to the Department of Defense by decreasing destruction of good image intensifier tubes. Some 10,000 tubes are returned annually from the field and are demilitarized (destroyed) due to a lack of retest verification. However, image intensifier tubes classified for demil in the field have subsequently successfully passed MIL-specs during reevaluations. This automated equipment will be capable of rapidly performing all optical A-tests as required by government and industry for image intensifier tubes. Implementation of an automated test capability will provide better test repeatability, reproducibility, and improve cycle time versus the present manual test equipment. Potential customers and/or end users will be U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps depots, as well as image intensifier tube manufacturers. For additional information contact the NCMS Program Manager, Lee Patch, leep@ncms.org, 734-995-4972. We appreciate your feedback. Please contact Chuck Ryan with suggestions or input on other topics that would be of interest to you in this newsletter. The CTMA Program is sponsored by the Department of Defense; the content of this newsletter does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred. |
