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| December 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. CTMA Project Wins Defense Manufacturing Award at the DoD Defense Manufacturing Conference The CTMA project “Volumetric Accuracy for Large Machine Tools (VALMT)” was recognized at the recent Defense Manufacturing Conference with a Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award, the seventh award of its kind given to NCMS/CTMA for its outstanding cooperative efforts on technology development between government, industry and academia. The VALMT project pioneered an innovative process in establishing a new methodology in volumetric error compensation for large machine tools. The costs for current assembly practices of measuring and fitting are substantial; reducing the amount of reworking of machined parts during onsite vehicle assembly will save the Department of Defense (DOD) and the commercial aircraft industry millions of dollars. This groundbreaking process will dramatically reduce assembly and fitting costs which represent up to 1% of the total cost per aircraft, said Sam Easley, Engineer/Scientist, Metallic Processes at The Boeing Company. “On large programs like the F-18 or the 700 aircraft series, we could save $100 million per year.” VALMT has the potential to save the U.S. Navy money and shave valuable time off of vessel construction costs, putting assets where they are most needed, with the warfighter. said Faris Ibrahim, Mechanical Engineer of the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center. The VALMT project teamed private industry (Automated Precision Inc., The Boeing Corporation, Siemens Energy and Automation and MAG Cincinnati Machine, LLC) and the DOD (U.S. Air Force Logistics Center, Naval Foundry and Propeller Center, U.S. Navy Fleet Readiness Center East, and the U.S. Army Anniston Depot) using the NCMS R&D collaborative process to quickly develop this groundbreaking technology. The success of the VALMT project rests heavily on the technical expertise and collaborative R&D experience of the NCMS and its partners, stated Richard Curless, CTO at MAG Industrial. The NCMS Program Manager is Tony Haynes, tonyh@ncms.org, 734-995-4930. Next Technology Showcase: Fleet Readiness Center East (Cherry Point, NC) Plan to participate in our third technology showcase to be held during the week of February 22 (exact date still being arranged). This is a chance to bring your technologies to the attention of the managers, engineers, and artisans at the FRC maintenance center. Further details will be available after the first of the new year. The NCMS coordinator for the Showcase is Debbie Lilu, debral@ncms.org, 734-995-7038. Send her an e-mail if you are interested in participating. Potential CTMA Project seeking participants: Lightweight Structure Fabrication Using Deformation Resistance Welding Current DoD Participants: Marine Corps Maintenance Center, Albany; Marine Corps Maintenance Center, Barstow; Army Project Manager, Light Tactical Vehicles; Marine Corps Program Executive Officer, Land Systems The DoD is facing severe challenges in their tactical ground combat equipment to provide added ballistic protection and survivability to the warfighters, but the added weight increases rollover events, and decreases vehicle performance such as fuel economy, speed, and acceleration. In addition, vehicle suspension and engine wear are further taxed by the added weight. This project will work with the PM-Tactical Vehicles to identify weight savings opportunities on the HMMWV applicable to currently fielded vehicles. The project will:
The NCMS Contact is Chuck Ryan, chuckr@ncms.org, 734-995-4905. Save the Date: 2010 CTMA Symposium “Achieve Technology Collaboration”, March 22-25, 2010. Location: The Clubs at Quantico, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia. Expect to learn about the services technological needs, discuss the new technology roadmap now under development, and to review current CTMA project efforts in addition to tabletop displays and extensive networking opportunities. Stay tuned for more information. The NCMS contact is Debbie Lilu, debral@ncms.org, 734-995-7038. 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. |
