The CTMA Connector

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.

Join us with the Navy Region Northwest for the next CTMA/JTEG Regional Workshop

https://www.ncms.org/CTMA2007_PacificNW/PacificNW_Intro.htm

SHIP MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR WORKSHOP

"New Technologies - Innovative Tools for the Ship Maintenance Toolbox”

October 23-25

Kitsap Convention Center, Bremerton, WA

Plan to join the tour of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center - Keyport

Thursday morning, October 25. Transportation will be provided.

The room block has been extended to October 1, 2007. Go to the website above to view all the information and the agenda.

Examples of agenda items:

BATTERY REPLACEMENT

Submarine battery removal and replacement is a significant cost and schedule driver during a submarine maintenance availability period. More efficient processes and technologies are necessary for precise placement of new components in a preexisting environment (layout & fit up in the battery compartment). Additionally, clean and precise metal cutting is required in these very confined spaces to prevent fabrication scaring (leading to costly repairs) and reduce preparation time while meeting SUBSAFE requirements. New "Lower residual heat input welding techniques" are necessary as varying thicknesses of supportive structures and lead bin canning plates are used in submarine battery applications.

SUB RADIOGRAPHY

Radiography in the Submarine Repair Business is the one of the primary means of non-destructive inspection. It provides highly accurate and valuable information to decision makers for hull and tank repairs. However due to the hazards of radiography and the preventative measures required it is also a primary schedule and budget driver. New technology is needed to reduce the impact of radiographic inspection while maintaining the benefits it provides in the shipyard environment. Established technologies such as digital processing or new technologies that emit significantly less hazards are being sought as a means to provide for continuous improvement in the military maintenance and repair business.

Additional titles and abstracts can be found on the website.

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We welcome the following new member into NCMS:

Anautics, Inc. (www.anautics.com)

Anautics is a leading software developer, web-based designer, and provider of training and courseware. Anautics offers a wide range of services centered around its' web site development and Distance Learning agenda. Experienced software developers coupled with subject matter expertise, helps keep all Anautics' customers in touch with technology.

New NCMS President and CEO

Richard (Rick) B. Jarman succeeded Richard F. Pearson as President and Chief Executive Officer on September 4, 2007. Mr. Jarman comes to NCMS after a distinguished career at Eastman Kodak Company where he was the Director of Technology Partnerships. In this role he was a driving force in forging alliances with industry and government to improve commercialization processes through innovation and new technology.

We thank Rich for his strong leadership of NCMS during his tenure and look forward to working with Rick to provide the vision and drive to make NCMS the premier resource for the North American manufacturing community. Rick began his Kodak career in 1978 with the Business Systems Division and held a number of advancing marketing and management positions. In 1988, he represented Kodak on the President’s Commission on Executive Exchange. Here he played a key role on the trade committee during the Commission’s meetings in the USSR and Western Europe and served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics in the Pentagon providing executive counsel on issues such as Total Quality Management and bolstering the Defense Industrial Base.

Rick's contact information is richardj@ncms.org, 734-995-4075.

CTMA Projects seeking interested participants:

Go to http://ctmaideas.ncms.org for other opportunities.

Replacement for Hexavalent Chromium in Surface Finishing Process Phase II
– Paul Chalmer, 734-995-4911, paulc@ncms.org. The proposed technology is being positioned as a drop-in replacement for currently practiced hexavalent chromium electroplating, subject to currently acceptable MIL SPECS for hard chrome electroplating.
Modernization of Nickel Electroplating at Depots – Paul Chalmer, 734-995-4911, paulc@ncms.org. The objective of this proposed project is to introduce new nickel electroplating tooling into Department of Defense maintenance activities, including no-mask tooling, auxiliary anodes, innovative racks, partial immersion plating, and solution pumping.
Enhanced Wiring Integrity System Phase II – Lee Patch, 734-995-4972, leep@ncms.org Phase I of the Electrical Wiring Integrity Systems Program (EWIS) demonstrated the potential that can be realized by effective wire testing and maintenance. Phase II will extend EWIS into other DoD applications that can benefit from the technology.
Laser Projection of Camouflage and Stencil Patterns – Connie Philips, 386-445-2785, conniep@ncms.org Application or chalking of camouflage and stencil patterns is a manual method dependent on the skill of the technician. This project aims to reduce the time required to chalk a system and to change to another system is required to make the painting operation more efficient and to reduce the disruption of the product flow while increasing quality.
Smart Machine Phase III – Tony Haynes, 734-995-4930, tonyh@ncms.org This effort will deploy ‘Smart Machine’ technologies to equip different machines from different manufacturers with integrated plug-and-play condition logging capabilities that support the operating, processing, and maintenance teams to effectively optimize factory asset performance over time, and lay the foundation for additional developments, such as predictive maintenance.
Metal Finishing Development Program – Bill Chenevert, 734-995-7989, billc@ncms.org This project will develop a unified DOD-wide metal finishing (electroplater) workforce training program. The self-study PC based program (i.e. e-learning or computer based learning) would consist of modular lessons that cover common metal finishing processes. Specific processes include, but are not limited to, chromium, cadmium, nickel, copper, and silver plating, aluminum anodizing, and conversion coatings (for cadmium, aluminum, and magnesium).
Erosion Corrosion Resistant Coatings for Gas Turbine Engine Compressor Airfoils – Debbie Lilu, 734-995-7038, debral@ncms.org Development, testing, and deployment of erosion corrosion resistant coatings for engines.
Sense and Respond Logistics Development of Comprehensive Secondary Repairable Legacy Platform Readiness Capability (Light Armored Vehicle), Phase III - Mike Gnam, 734-995-4971, mikeg@ncms.org. This project is pursuing a comprehensive approach to (1) incorporate RCM direction at the sub platform level; (2) expand and improve the quality and quantity of information gathered; (3) understand how Autonomic Logistics and GCSS-MC will support the future state of readiness decision making and (4) integrate data into a single all-inclusive environment.
Inspection and Repair Preparation Cell (IRPC) - Bill Waddell, 231-264-9774, Wwadd49648@aol.com. Polymeric composite materials are seeing increasing usage in weapon systems due to their superior weight/performance advantages and resistance to corrosion. However, repair equipment and processes for composite materials are only now being developed to address the increasing workload coming into the DoD maintenance and repair facilities. This project is focusing upon C-130 Radomes, F-15 Radomes and F-15 Speed Brakes, which are large complex structures, with a high volume repair rates. The project is developing technology to replace manual methods with automated systems.
Automated Process and Inspection Guide (AP & IG) - Debbie Lilu, 734-995-7038, debral@ncms.org. The AP&IG project will eliminate the messy manual paper process and replace it with mobile data capture devices combined with COTS software to guide the inspector through the inspection. It will impact the inspection process on four levels (1) Process (2) Personnel (3) Management and (4) Analysis.
Oil Assessment Devices, Phase II - Debbie Lilu, 734-995-7038, debral@ncms.org. This project seeks further deployment of a rugged field portable system for in field lubricant testing. The device incorporates software and hardware that provides rapid assessment of key lubricant parameters such as water, soot and coolant content. Identification of proper lubricant application is also a feature.
Conversion of 2D Raster Images into 3D CAD Models - Steve Hale, 734-995-2195, steveh@ncms.org. This project will develop a cost effective system that automates the identification of drawing information in the tech data package containing raster drawings; extract the relevant text information from the raster drawings; segment the pertinent drawing views which are to be used for conversion to 3D; extract the part shape from the drawing views; convert the raster drawing to vector; perform quality checks to verify the 3D model against the dimensions on the 2D drawing, and provide easy and secure access to the 3D model.

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Participants needed on New Project Ideas: Submit and view project ideas at http://ctmaideas.ncms.org. Add your comments to new project ideas and indicate your interest in helping to define and participate in the project.

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.