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Accelerating Technology Transition: NCMS Expands its Impact
07-11-2023 This feature article appeared first in the 2023 issue of the CTMA Magazine. CTMA’s annual publication highlights advancements in military maintenance and sustainment, as well as reviews of NCMS Technology Showcases, symposiums, workshops, and a growing list of virtual and in-person events. View Full Magazine: https://www.ncms.org/news/ctma-magazine/ NCMS generates continuous advancement and success with our willingness to forge new paths through the exploration of the unknown.Read More
CTMA Delivers Technology Transition Success Stories
07-11-2023 This feature article appeared first in the 2023 issue of the CTMA Magazine. CTMA’s annual publication highlights advancements in military maintenance and sustainment, as well as reviews of NCMS Technology Showcases, symposiums, workshops, and a growing list of virtual and in-person events. View Full Magazine: https://www.ncms.org/news/ctma-magazine/ The term “valley of death” is used in both the public and private sectors to describe the challenges of transitioning promising newRead More
Field, Learn, Adjust, Repeat: REPTX Enables Maintainers, Developers to Collaborate on Rapid Fielding of New Solutions
07-11-2023 This feature article appeared first in the 2023 issue of the CTMA Magazine. CTMA’s annual publication highlights advancements in military maintenance and sustainment, as well as reviews of NCMS Technology Showcases, symposiums, workshops, and a growing list of virtual and in-person events. View Full Magazine: https://www.ncms.org/news/ctma-magazine/ Sustaining and modernizing the Navy fleet to the pace of strategic imperatives and dynamic deployments requires a paradigm shiftRead More
Army Advances Key Sustainment Goals with CTMA
07-11-2023 The US Army has long recognized the benefits of a strong partnership with NCMS. To achieve its goal of modernizing maintenance and sustainment (M&S) operations, the Army has repeatedly turned to the CTMA Program to enable rapid demonstration, evaluation, and validation of innovative technologies and processes to address key challenges. By collaborating with the NCMS network of proven industry and academic partners within the CTMA framework, Army leadership can determine how to meet itsRead More
US Potential for Carbon Materials Expands with Development of Domestic Sources
06-25-2022 The very mention of carbon fiber conjures images of high technology materials. Carbon fiber is used to produce composite materials, which are highly suitable for an increasing number of military and commercial aerospace, ground vehicle, and structural applications, as well as many other end uses such as high-end sporting goods. Properties such as a high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness, high tensile strength, excellent chemical resistance, tolerance for high temperatures, and lowRead More
US Potential for Carbon Materials Expands with Development of Domestic Sources
06-25-2022 The very mention of carbon fiber conjures images of high technology materials. Carbon fiber is used to produce composite materials, which are highly suitable for an increasing number of military and commercial aerospace, ground vehicle, and structural applications, as well as many other end uses such as high-end sporting goods. Properties such as a high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness, high tensile strength, excellent chemical resistance, tolerance for high temperatures, and lowRead More
DOD Drives Transformation with New AM Policy
06-14-2022 The DOD has been experimenting with additive manufacturing (AM) since it began to emerge in the 1980s. Some of the first DOD AM adopters were in the sustainment community, and to facilitate joint collaborations, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness launched the Additive Manufacturing for Maintenance Operations (AMMO) working group in 2015. In 2017, the DOD Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Office created the Joint Additive Manufacturing WorkingRead More
NCMS: Fueling Our Nation’s Supply Chain Resiliency
06-14-2022 Core to the mission of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is to increase US manufacturing competitiveness through the acceleration and transition of innovation. We work across the industrial base to identify transformative technology to close gaps within supply chains. The ability to affordably and rapidly innovate are essential for our nation’s growth and protection through our warfighter’s readiness. By strengthening the supply chain with new or non-traditional sources, weRead More
CTMA Magazine’s 10th Anniversary: Technologies Past, Present, and Future
06-03-2022 This year, on the tenth anniversary of the CTMA Magazine, we celebrate CTMA’s role in accelerating the development of many incredible technologies for the maintenance and sustainment communities. We showcase some consequential successes in CTMA projects. And we highlight a timeline of technological developments that have advanced maintenance from being primarily reactive, to increasingly proactive, to ultimately predictive. “Looking back over the past decade, we started off withRead More
Dirty Hardware Abatement | Elimination of Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium in Ground Vehicle Systems
08-06-2021 By Matthew Withun, PEO Ground Combat Systems The U.S. Army and other DOD agencies still use hexavalent chromium and cadmium-plated mechanical parts, electrical components, and fasteners on many of its programs. These substances are carcinogenic and hazardous to the environments in which they are produced or disposed of, and they are a human health hazard. This clean hardware abatement initiative is working toward the elimination of thousands of parts plated with hazardous materials currentlyRead More
2021 CTMA Magazine: Maintenance and Sustainment Enterprise Transformed by Digital Technologies
07-20-2021 By Jon Riley With the evolution and growing adoption of digital technologies, the Department of Defense (DOD) is now embracing the possibilities and capabilities of digital engineering in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of new equipment and weapon systems. The DOD is starting to require model-based engineering on selected new programs with the anticipation these requirements will grow exponentially each year. The U.S. Air Force recently announced the use of the eSeries, anRead More
2021 CTMA Magazine: Cold Spray Advances Vision of the Shipyard of the Future
06-29-2021 By Phil Callihan, NCMS NCMS has partnered with the U.S. Navy to leverage commercial AM technology for innovative repairs providing defense-essential M&S. Such capabilities are used across NAVSEA, NAVAIR and the U.S. Marine Corps but have a broad application across the entire DOD. AM is a disruptive technology that holds substantial promise to help achieve in situ maintenance and repair while in remote locations or underway. Using additive repair technologies, including cold spray, canRead More
2021 CTMA Magazine: NAVSEA 05T Debuts New Technology To Automate Maintenance on Navy Ships
06-17-2021 Naval Sea Systems Command Technology Office (NAVSEA 05T) and The Pennsylvania State Universityʼs Applied Research Lab (Penn State ARL) together with NAVSEA warfare centers are pioneering a new approach to maintaining Navy ships—a portable robot and a user-friendly operating system— to automate ship repair. NAVSEA 05T is sponsoring the Multifunctional Automated Repair System (MARS) project, which is aiming to use the robot to do certain maintenance andRead More
2018 CTMA Competition Winner
05-08-2019 The CTMA Technology Competition is anything but a tank of sharks. Competitors have ten minutes to present their ideas and five minutes for questions from the judges. The pressure is on to sell the judges on their great technology and the potential for a substantial reward for the winner. It sounds familiar; it follows closely the Shark Tank format. There is a dire need for technology innovations within the DoD maintenance and sustainment fields. That need isn’t just an Army or Air ForceRead More
JCAMS - New Name, Same Focus
05-08-2019 The Joint Composite and Advanced Material Sustainment (JCAMS) Annual Meeting, formerly known as the DoD Advanced Composite Maintainers Technology Interchange Meeting (TIM), is an annual event for government and military officials, industry leaders, manufacturers, engineers, and other technical experts focusing on the manufacturing, tooling, deployment, and repair of advanced composite materials in defense. In 2016, the team formed working groups to focus on the unique challenges for compositeRead More
Additive Manufacturing Roadmap for the Future
05-07-2019 Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a revolutionary technology that is changing the manufacturing business model and the maintenance and sustainment communities it supports. NCMS has been on the forefront of pushing the technology forward, not only with CTMA projects, but also collaborating with organizations to take a deep dive into auxiliary aspects of AM such as the business implications that surround it. Since 2016, there have been several opportunities for those involved in all aspects of AMRead More
CBM+ Improving DoD Readiness
05-07-2019 According to the DoD Condition-Based Maintenance Plus Guidebook, CBM+ is defined as maintenance performed based on evidence of need, integrating reliability centered maintenance (RCM) analysis with those enabling processes, technologies, and capabilities that enhance the readiness and maintenance effectiveness of DoD systems and components. CBM+ uses a systems engineering approach to collect data, enable analysis, and support the decision-making processes for system acquisition, modernization,Read More
Fleet Readiness Center Southwest: A Century of Naval Aviation Excellence
05-07-2019 In 1911, Glenn Curtiss made the first successful seaplane flight off the coast of North Island in the San Diego Bay. Followed in 1912 by the establishment of an aviation camp for the Navy, the entire Navy aviation squad of four officers and three planes made North Island home. It quickly became apparent that where there were planes that landed at sea, there would be a need for maintenance and repair. In 1917, the island was officially obtained by the government as a joint Army/Navy Air ServiceRead More
Overview of Advanced Technologies for DoD Modernization
05-07-2019 In today’s global military environment, it is more critical than ever to provide our warfighters with the most innovative technology to ensure mission success. Our adversaries are incorporating it so the United States must set the pace. Technology has become inexorably linked with military superiority. While the DoD remains steadfast in training the most lethal warfighters on Earth, it takes collaboration with industry to place that technology piece completing the global defenseRead More
Navy and NCMS Come Together on AM Guidebook
05-07-2019 Additive manufacturing (AM), also called 3D printing, is a powerful technology with the potential to transform military logistics. The state of the art is progressing exponentially. The benefits of AM extend throughout the value chain, from design and manufacture to the maintainer and the warfighter. As additional materials and processes are developed, new uses are found. It is essential that the DoD be prepared for the paradigm shift enabled by distributed, digital manufacturing. TheRead More
Game Changers: Changing the Maintenance and Sustainment Paradigm
05-07-2019 The Cooperative Agreement that NCMS offers through its CTMA Program is a unique contracting vehicle for industry, academia, and the DoD’s sustainment community to work in collaboration to find, develop, and invent new and innovative technologies that enhance readiness at best cost. CTMA is an efficient program that does a lot of the heavy lifting for our government partners within the DoD maintenance and sustainment communities. While CTMA projects save time and funds and increaseRead More
Focused Approach to Warfighter Readiness
05-07-2019 Since 1998, the CTMA Program has had a relentless focus on maintenance and sustainment logistics and improvements that assist the DoD to fill unmet technology needs. Working under the auspices of Congressionally-directed funding for the first few years, the CTMA Program has transitioned to be entirely service funded. That conversion illustrates the importance that the DoD places on the critical outcomes realized by the CTMA Program. Depth and breadth of CTMA projects benefits warfighterRead More
Expanding Technology Solutions Through Strategic Partnerships
05-07-2019 A strong industrial base is critical to maintaining U.S. national security and requires constant technological innovations. Working with our partners, NCMS helps identify technology requirements and gaps for the immediate and long-term needs for both government and industry. That list is long and constantly changing as we look to the future and develop strategies for filling those gaps. All parties must be vigilant with constant and consistent emphasis on improving and evolving mission-criticalRead More
Wiring Issues Solved at NSWC Crane
05-07-2019 The DoD sustainment and logistics budgets cannot afford to waste a single dollar; hence the services are seeking ways to reduce No Fault Found (NFF) returns and increase materiel readiness to 80% for the F-35, F/A-18, F-16, and F-22 inventories. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) established the Joint Intermittence Testing Working Integrated Product Team (JIT WIPT) and has calculated the negative cost impact of NFF returns at billion annually, with intermittent faults cited as theRead More
Largest Aviation MRO Group in North America
05-07-2019 When most of us think of Delta, we likely envision a successful commercial airline. While that is an important aspect of the business, it isn’t the only part. You may be surprised to learn that Delta’s Technical Operations division is the largest aviation Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) group in North America. Delta TechOps was established in the 1960s with MRO-style work beginning in the early 90s. It currently provides full-service maintenance to more than 850 Delta aircraft and servicesRead More
Delivering Advanced Analytics Using Human-Centered Design
05-07-2019 Guidehouse LLP provides management, technology, and risk consulting to clients around the world through more than 1,600 professionals in over 20 locations. At its core, they focus on building trust in society, solving important problems, and having a seat at the table for their clients’ most pressing matters. Guidehouse provides the exceptional quality their clients demand with the agility and innovation to go beyond the expected. As a result, Guidehouse can now serve both the public andRead More
Corrosion Prevention and Readiness
05-07-2019 Some key aspects of maintenance and sustainment of assets are the detection, prevention, and repair of corrosion. CTMA projects are involved in all three of these aspects with 15% of the total CTMA projects devoted to corrosion, whether improving the application process or improving the coating system itself. Projects have spanned a wide range of applications from internal jet engine part coatings for increased durability to coating developments to mitigate spare tire degradation to extendRead More
CTMA Impact on Other Maintenance Focus Areas
05-07-2019 The CTMA Program addresses focus areas that affect major elements in the maintenance and sustainment communities. While corrosion prevention and CBM+ are vital to warfighter readiness, CTMA projects fall into other important focus areas as well. Read about these other areas below, why we concentrate on them, and an example of an innovative project that falls into each category. Additive Manufacturing: The DoD is embracing the benefits that AM offers and is incorporating thisRead More
Technology Showcases Highlight Needs at U.S. Naval Shipyards
05-07-2019 The mission of the CTMA Program is to fill unmet technology needs within the DoD's maintenance and sustainment community. That happens in several ways, but one of the most impactful is the Technology Showcases. These events bring multiple companies with innovative technologies, those that can help a DoD facility solve their unique challenges, to their doorstep. In the last year, NCMS has hosted three Technology Showcases at Naval shipyards. Each one is more popular than the last. The Navy isRead More
Newest NCMS Board Members
05-07-2019 NCMS welcomes three new Board of Directors to the distinguished NCMS Board. Randy Langmead, Neal Orringer, and Don Steinman join eight experienced industry leaders providing guidance and direction to the growth and sustainment of NCMS. For more information and extended biographies, please visit www.ncms.org/leadership. John Rand “Randy” Langmead PLM Fellow, Siemens Randy Langmead is a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Fellow for Siemens PLM Software’s Aerospace, Defense, Federal andRead More
Member Value Proposition
05-07-2019 Accelerating the adoption of innovative manufacturing technologies is part of the required ecosystem for a strong defense industry and a thriving U.S. economy. NCMS is recognized as the nation’s leading technology consortium that brings industry, academia, and government together to do just that in an organized, structured, collaborative environment. In 2018, it expanded on its mission by launching the new Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, and Processes (AMMP) Program in collaboration with theRead More
Cross-Service Technology Collaboration
05-07-2019 The purpose of the Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG) is to provide a venue to share information and improve coordination in the introduction of new or improved technology, new processes, or new equipment into the DoD depot maintenance activities. The JTEG is a strong advocate for new technology solutions with the potential to increase maintenance efficiency or effectiveness across the services. Re-chartered in 2013, JTEG is open to anyone in DoD or the supporting maintenance communityRead More