November 2000

Last month, we had some problems with our mailserver that forwarded replies to every subscriber. We apologize for any inconvenience this caused and are sensitive to preventing such occurrences in the future.

Recent Project Approvals:

Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing for Maintenance Activities (continuation)

• 50-75% cycle time reductions for part repair and replacement
• 50-75% raw material and labor savings 
• Overhaul-related design corrections reducing repair cycles.

DoD Participation:

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Oklahoma Air Logistics Center 
Norfolk Naval Shipyard - Philadelphia Detachment 
Trident Refit Facility - Kings Bay

Industrial Participation:

Eastman Kodak
United Technologies
Baxter Healthcare
Raytheon

Other Federal Participation:

Honeywell, Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, Kansas City
NASA – Marshall Space Flight Center
China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center

For further information, please contact Ken Johnson, 734-995-4977.

Air Pollution Control System

Although the work will center on the Barstow facility, the project conclusions are expected to be applicable to similar operations at a number of other defense maintenance facilities and industrial concerns. The participation of interested individuals from other defense facilities, and from companies in the private sector, is welcome. Status reports, drafts of technology review documents, and final results will be posted on a project website to enable and encourage broad participation.

Contact Paul Chalmer, 734-995-4911 for additional details.

Ongoing Project News:

High Throughput Production Processing of 5-Axis Aluminum Components (HITHRU)

This project combines two leading-edge technologies: high-speed, five-axis machining and Technology Answers' Cimskil™ (formerly called CIMPLEX™) feature recognition programming software. When combined, these technologies provide a system that is capable of producing five-axis parts rapidly and with a minimum of human intervention. The project objective is to develop and demonstrate a high-throughput, five-axis machining system that will program and produce first-article and production parts with a minimum of human intervention (programming and troubleshooting). The productivity improvement target was 50%.

Industrial partners UT-Sikorsky and Cincinnati Machine, and depot partner Warner Robins provided part models and machining best practices to Technology Answers to guide software development.

Cincinnati Machine fully characterized the cutting process dynamics of its Lancer V5 five-axis vertical machining center with a 40-hp, 15,000-rpm spindle (using cutting tools recommended by industrial and depot partners). Cincinnati Machine then used the data to define an algorithm that will recommend axial and radial depth of cut, feed rates, and spindle rpm, all optimized for maximal metal removal rates while avoiding conditions that could trigger chatter.

Technology Answers modified its Cimskil™ product to add automated feature recognition of typical five-axis manufacturing features found on aluminum components for the aerospace industry, add automated selection of manufacturing methods, and integrate the process parameter algorithm developed by Cincinnati Machine. Technology Answers also modified Cimskil™ to allow run time edits of libraries and process parameters, replacing the old system that required off-line edits of C++ code.

The partners selected a feature-rich part from Warner Robins as the test part that would drive software development. Experienced five-axis CNC programmers estimated the test part would require 100 – 120 hours to program with conventional methods and would then require another 10 – 12 hours of shop floor debug time. In a late September technology demonstration, the test part was run through the prototype system, producing a CNC program in less than 3 hours from downloading the model to the output of the CNC program. During October and November, the system will be tested on an additional 20 – 25 new parts, and any software bugs uncovered will be fixed. Parts machined using programs produced by the system will be quality tested to ensure that the optimized processes achieve required quality.

This technology will be available from Technology Answers in 2001. The HITHRU team is now forming a Phase III effort that will extend Cimskil™ technology to titanium aerospace parts and to Cincinnati Machine’s Magnum™ five-axis machine tool.

For more information, please contact Tony Haynes, 734-995-4930.

New Project Ideas

The following ideas are being considered for development into collaborative projects. A complete list of emerging ideas is included at the end of this newsletter.

Constant Speed Drive Shop Process Improvement

Industry and DoD depots are under increasing pressure to reduce cost and response times while increasing quality and product traceability. Providing accurate and current processing information at the point of use will reduce clerical and "hunt and seek" time while increasing available "hands-on labor" with no increase in resources. Continued budget pressure, coupled with the need to be able to cost effectively maintain weapons platforms beyond the initially expected life cycles, compounds the need for new innovative business and technical practices in order to:

• Improve the flow of information and capture best practices
• Better manage complex processes and re-use knowledge
• Meet production constraints without sacrificing quality
• Reduce the cost of maintenance production and improve worker efficiency
• Improve communication between all levels of the organization.

Each CSD is processed in accordance with various Technical Orders (TOs) applicable to the individual model. Each CSD is disassembled and routed through appropriate inspection and cleaning processes. Although some individual parts are replaced automatically with new parts, disposition to reuse, rework, or replace many components varies with teardown inspection results. Ordering of replacement parts (where required), and unique rework process planning and routing through the 5,880 sq. ft. CSD machine shop are dependent on rapid processing of information. After needed replacement parts and necessary reworked components are received, hardware is accumulated for reassembly. 

The current system depends heavily on manual preparation and processing of paperwork by the same people who perform hands-on work to accomplish the above tasks. Although the TO libraries that dictate most of the above activities are located in the shop, consulting them in each instance takes time. Also, the TOs are subject to constant change by the OEM and internal AF functions. In most cases, to save time, CSD shop operators rely on memory rather than consult the TO libraries, thus increasing the risk of overlooking updated TOs. Ongoing quality and performance of future CSDs would be enhanced through rapid feedback of information that reflects statistical data representing overhaul experience.

The specific objective of this proposed effort is to implement a successful pilot in the CSD shop at Tinker AFB to achieve immediate operating efficiencies while enabling the U.S. Defense Maintenance and Logistics infrastructure to work with and learn from similar private sector experience, and to integrate the piloted practices and technology into the DoD business environment.

The goal of this pilot study is to facilitate implementation of a framework application for use as an Enterprise Information Portal (EIP) for the CSD shop, other Tinker departments, and eventually all DOD depots. EIP will be used to capture and reuse all the necessary authorized work instructions, TOs, drawings, quality documents, ISO process documents, video operations, and other preeminent information electronically from a single source. 

The benefit of capturing and reusing the CSD data structure is an increase in the percentage of hands-on labor hours per CSD employee, thus increasing CSD shop capacity and quality while reducing cycle times and cost. The increased efficiency will result in cost avoidances in excess of 25%. Such an environment should dramatically improve cost, cycle time, and quality throughout Tinker AFB, and eventually DoD.

To express your interest in participating in this project, please contact Bill Waddell, 231-264-9774.

Next Generation Inspection System (III)

The proposed project, NGIS III, targets implementation of the new technology that resulted from both previous industrial collaborations into a pilot program at the Cherry Point Naval Aviation Depot. The industry-led pilot will demonstrate significant cost and throughput savings applicable to other maintenance activities supporting aircraft engines.

The project expects to deliver a self-sufficient, multi-axis grinding machining system for near-net-shape blending of airfoil shapes on repaired impellers and turbine wheels. The machining system will incorporate on-machine inspection, featuring advanced interchangeable sensors, an open architecture control, and programmable software with demonstrated performance ready for turnkey installation at Cherry Point.

Expected benefits include:

• An average 60% reduction in the labor hours and cycle time for the benching and hand grinding time of sample parts
• Demonstration of transferable technology for applications at other depots and commercial use
• Commercially available sensors for demonstrated applications
• Rapid acquisition of process data to enable tracking of process trends and quality history
• Shorter manufacturing cycles, which will reduce the pipeline inventory requirements to protect required readiness levels

New Project Ideas: (click on topics to see descriptions)

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 the information in this newsletter does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred.