NCMS Industry Partners Shine in the Spotlight at Recent Events
Recently, we were honored to support the first #REPTX and host a Technology Showcase at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.
The first Repair Technology Exercise (REPTX) successfully brought together over sixty technology innovators for live demonstrations of solutions to help expand the US Navy’s ability to perform expeditionary maintenance operations.
NCMS assisted the Navy with identifying and vetting industry and academic participants to demonstrate and evaluate the viability and efficacy of products and services that support the Navy’s sustainment capabilities. From August 22 through September 2, technology innovators tested their products’ capacity to tackle real-world fleet maintenance challenges, including assessing and repairing potential battle damage aboard the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, an asset of Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) in Port Hueneme, CA.
“In my 28 years as a Marine officer, with many of those years involved in logistics innovation, I have never seen nor participated in an event like REPTX,” said Howard Marotto, Additive Manufacturing Business Director, EWI, and Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. “The number of companies, particularly small businesses and entrepreneurs, brought together and given the opportunity to demonstrate their capability on an actual Navy asset was ground-breaking.”
REPTX participants addressed four focus areas: visualization, command and control aids, forward manufacturing, and expeditionary maintenance.
“As a small business, rubbing shoulders with large organizations will no doubt create some future collaborations,” said Javid Vahid, PE, of Edlore, Inc., one of the participating companies. “More importantly, validating our capabilities makes me very proud. We were able to create a 3D rendering from a napkin drawing in 3 hours and make it useful to the Navy.”
Howie Marotto observed, “Many partnerships were forged, and the teamwork and camaraderie among the participants, encouraged by the leadership of NAVSEA and NCMS, were evident throughout the event. Spontaneous cooperation among companies, some even competitors, is not something I have ever witnessed at the scale I saw at REPTX.”
REPTX was part of the broader Advanced Naval Technology Exercise-Coastal Trident 2022 (running from June to September), which NSWC PHD organizes and aims to bolster port and maritime security through field experiments involving emerging technologies and training events with law enforcement and other first responders.
“As a Reservist and leader in a manufacturing R&D non-profit attending REPTX, I think it is clear that the Department of the Navy needs to do more events like REPTX to be more agile and competitive in the future fight,” said Marotto. “Continuing efforts like REPTX will be essential as the Navy looks to build a more resilient and sustainable Fleet and innovative and responsive supply chain.”
In addition to the REPTX event, NCMS was pleased to host a Technology Showcase at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) from September 13-15, 2022.
More than forty world-class exhibitors demonstrated their innovative maintenance and sustainment technologies directly to those who keep our Navy at maximum readiness levels.
“What I love about this show is it not only gives us an opportunity to talk to potential users, which of course is valuable,” said David Oyanadel, CIO of Arsome Technology. “But we can also talk with other vendors and raise ideas for partnerships. Connecting with the ecosystem of vendors here and having informal conversations is also very valuable.”
The technologies gathered at this showcase were custom chosen because they are commercially available, adaptable, and pertinent to the important work performed at this shipyard.
Exhibitors found a welcoming crowd of shipyard personnel ready to engage with them.
“There’s nothing better than having the folks who would use our tools see them in action. They watch, and then their jaws drop, and you know they get it—they immediately see the value in our solutions,” said Mark Murphy, Director of Operations for FASTORQ, a subsidiary of Snap-On Company. “Half the people who came to our booth were here because somebody they know dragged them along, saying ‘You’ve got to see this—it’s amazing!’”
Our technology showcase supported PSNS & IMF’s mission to maintain, modernize, and retire the Navy’s fleet, and its vision to deliver on time, every time, to preserve our national security. We are confident that this showcase introduced talented PSNS & IMF M&S leaders and artisans to technologies that will advance the Navy’s strategic readiness.