2004 CTMA Symposium Follow-up

We continue to cull through the thirty-two new project ideas that resulted from the annual Symposium to be considered for funding in 2005.  The projects were summarized in the last newsletter (http://ctma.ncms.org/symposium2004/Symposium2004%20Results.htm).  If you haven't contacted the NCMS program managers outlining those projects in which you would like to participate, please do so soon.

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Recently Completed Project: Electronic Collaborative Maintenance for Depot Repair Activities

Obsolete or hard-to-find parts are a problem that plagues all Maintenance Depots in the military. Electronic parts are particularly troubling.  The well-known Moore’s Law states that integrated circuit capabilities (component density and clock speed) double about every 18 months.  As a result, complex semiconductor integrated circuit designs such as microprocessors, memory and modem chips have limited salable lifetimes – usually well under 10 years.  Application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) or the custom-designed integrated circuits frequently found in defense systems are not exempt.  Semiconductor manufacturers scrap or sell process equipment when the manufacturing process advances render an old fabrication plant uneconomical to run, and “old” usually means less than a decade.  With defense electronic equipment lifetimes of 20 years or more, almost all such systems will, before the end of their useful life, encounter a situation where a component needed for repair is no longer available from routine stock.

Before a semiconductor manufacturer ceases production of a given component, known users are offered the opportunity to make a “lifetime buy,” or to purchase and store a quantity considered sufficient to meet all future requirements.  That is always the case for ASICs.  Clever component suppliers recognizing that a lifetime buy of components present significant economic opportunities, purchase them to make them available at a demand-driven price.  Furthermore, enterprises have emerged that specialize in reverse engineering ASICs to make replacement parts.  Either source could offer a solution for hard-to-find parts.  The problem for Depots that perform electronic maintenance is how to locate them.

The current solution is for estimators to spend hours, even days, telephoning potential suppliers. This project sought to develop a web site to which Tobyhanna (TYAD) estimators could post lists of parts sought, listed by project, and broadcast notifications of new posts to a list of potential suppliers.  Suppliers could then scan the parts list and enter budgetary estimates of part prices for any parts they could supply.  The estimator could then provide a much more accurate and timely estimate of the cost to repair a given system.  TYAD procurement could use the budgetary price responses to create Request for Quote (RFQ) lists.  The overall result would be greater productivity for all – estimators, suppliers, and TYAD procurement.

An initial list of suppliers was provided by TYAD.  The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) validated contact information and populated the initial supplier database from that list.  The initial list of estimators was populated from data gathered early in the process.

The NCMS project manager was Tony Haynes, tonyh@ncms.org, 734-995-4930.

Calendar Item: Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG)

 

The Joint Depot Maintenance Activities Group in conjunction with Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Crane, IN will host a JTEG meeting 13-15 July 2004 at the Fourwinds Resort & Conference Center, Bloomington, IN.  The theme for the meeting is "Challenges of Aging ATE Equipment."  The meeting will focus on managing, modernizing and maintaining DoD Automated Test Equipment.  This meeting is open to the DoD Maintenance community and interested contractors.  Please register by phone or email with Steve Siens at DSN 986-2774, commercial 937-656-2774, or visit the JDMAG/JTEG website at http://www.jdmag.wpafb.af.mil