Automation Alley: Innovating Technology to Support the Warfighter

Defense & Manufacturing TEAM Capabilities When a car or truck breaks down in the civilian world, we call our local mechanic. But what happens when a vehicle breaks down on the battlefield? For a group of soldiers in Afghanistan, the answer is simple: call Stu Rescoe.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Stewart “Stu” Rescoe is serving his country in Afghanistan as a member of the Michigan National Guard. Keeping vehicle systems in working order is his job, in addition to overseeing the transport of necessary supplies from one base to another via convoy.

“Every truck that goes down over here can directly affect the capacity to carry out missions,” said Stu.

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Stewart “Stu” Rescoe is serving in Afghanistan with the Michigan National Guard.

American troops on the front lines of battle depend on vehicles and other equipment — from tanks and trucks to pumps and pulleys — to do their jobs and bring them home safely. They rely on their equipment for transportation of people and materials, protection from harsh environments, and defense against enemy attacks.

When equipment malfunctions, it’s not just a matter of inconvenience — it can mean the difference between success and failure, life and death. Having access to the parts and materials needed to maintain and repair vehicles and equipment is of critical importance to today’s warfighter.

Automation Alley: Keeping the Supply Chain flowing At Automation Alley, a talented group of engineers is working to ensure that America’s troops have the parts they need to repair damaged and aging defense equipment. They may be continents away from the battlefield, but the challenges of

the American warfighter are made real to them through emails from their friend and former colleague, Stu. Before his deployment to Afghanistan, Stu was employed at Automation Alley’s defense office in Sterling Heights, Mich. as an analyst for the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) program. DMSMS refers to the loss or impending loss of parts manufacturers or materials suppliers used by the Department of Defense — a growing problem as more programs transition from production to sustainment.

The team at Automation Alley has developed two groundbreaking industrial base tools to address DMSMS-related issues and increase the availability of critical components for today’s warfighter.

Stu’s time in Afghanistan has given him a unique perspective on the importance of the work being done at Automation Alley.

“The defense team’s work affects what I do by keeping the supply chain flowing so that we can get the parts we need to keep the vehicles on the road and mission capable,” said Stu. Automation Alley is proud to support American troops through technological innovation and aims to expand its programs to ensure greater ease of access to crucial materials and supplies.

Automation Alley’s team of engineers provides industrial base support by identifying supplier alternatives, reverse engineering systems and components, and conducting sustainment studies that address supply chain issues.

Department overview Automation Alley employs a team of talented and experienced engineers dedicated to supporting our troops by ensuring they always have the tools they need to get the job done.

Automation Alley is currently under contract with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to provide industrial base support for the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) DMSMS program.

The contract has created the capability to establish commercial industrial base visibility and communicate TACOM LCMC requirements with companies across the United States.

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Automation Alley has completed several industrial base studies on Army Families of Vehicles.

Automation Alley’s core competencies include the following: •

Repair part analysis and data-mining capability for families of vehicles

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Knowledge of manufacturing/industrial base capabilities, trends, and risks Reverse engineering and administration to provide replacement parts and technical data packages (TDPs) Locating and vetting suppliers for specific components or manufacturing technology VisCom (industrial base tool with searchable database of manufacturer capabilities and contact information and integrated email communication) Prototype demonstration, test planning and support Technical competencies in many mechanical/ electrical areas

“The joint TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC), TARDEC and Automation Alley Contract ensures an efficient and timely response to parts issues by identifying qualified manufacturers and suppliers. This identification allows the TACOM LCMC to reduce the response time to the warfighter and improves equipment readiness.”

Major General Kurt Stein, former Commanding General, TACOM

VAutomation isCom: Alley’s Industrial Base Visibility and Communication Tool “The product and project managers come to my group … (asking) ‘Can you help us redesign it, re-engineer it, or find another source?’ The answer is yes, yes, yes.” randal Gaereminck, Associate director, engineering business group, TARDEC

As the number of Army programs in production has been reduced in recent years, priorities have shifted to sustain, rather than purchase new systems. As these systems age, so does the industrial base furnishing those specific components and systems.

The number of companies naturally atrophies for many reasons, yet the Department of Defense (DoD) depends on an industrial base of suppliers across the United States to provide these components and systems to keep equipment mission capable, When a supplier goes out of business or stops manufacturing defense parts, new suppliers must be identified and often the necessary technical data is unavailable.

IDENTIFYING SUPPLIERS WITH VisCom Automation Alley has developed an industrial base visibility and communication tool, called VisCom, to address this issue. VisCom integrates data on companies across the U.S. and abroad, from specific capabilities

VisCom integrates data on companies across the U.S. and abroad, from specific capabilities to financial viability. (based on Federal Supply Class codes and core competencies) to financial viability (based on the full range of Dun and Bradstreet [D&B] financial health indicators) and contact information.

VisCom enables easy email communication with these suppliers individually or in any size group.

In instances where the business case can be supported, VisCom can identify companies capable of reverse engineering and creating TDPs for needed components. The company awarded the project reverse engineers the system (under

Automation Alley management) and builds and delivers the prototype for a reasonable price, with a complete model-based engineering (MBE) TDP, which TACOM owns.

New company information is regularly added to VisCom, making it an increasingly valuable tool. Parts and materials suppliers can request to be included in VisCom by entering their contact information, core competencies, and industry classifications (NAICS, FSC, SIC and CAGE) and DUNS numbers into Automation Alley’s web portal.

Congressional report The Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy Group’s annual report to Congress specifically references Automation Alley and the industrial base tools VisCom and SERA, applauding their contribution to proactively evaluating industrial base risk.

Read the excerpt below.

“Tank-Automotive and Armaments Life Cycle Management Command/Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) developed an Industrial Base Visibility and Communication decision support tool entitled ‘VisCom.’ The tool enhances TARDEC’s industrial base capabilities by increasing visibility and communications used to monitor, evaluate, and communicate with the manufacturing and the engineering services companies. VisCom’s inherent ability to monitor the health of the TACOM Life Cycle Management Commands (LCMCs) Industrial Base supports proactive management of industrial base risks and issues.”

To add your company’s data to VisCom, go to dmsms-tardec-army.com.

SERA:

A Proactive Approach to Supportability “Automation Alley’s helping me build an industrial base database…proactively with algorithms… tracking which companies are going out of business financially.” randal Gaereminck, Associate director, engineering business group, TARDEC

A SERA (Sustainment Engineering Risk Assessment) is a detailed study of all repair parts and replacement parts in a Family of Vehicles (FOV). A SERA can be performed on a one-time basis or periodically to assess changes over time. It is an excellent means of evaluating a weapons system’s sustainment and maintenance strategy, as is required by regulation AR 700-127.

SERAs extract data on each part from many disparate databases and create new knowledge. They include more than 80 data elements for each part: every maintenance record, part inventories, system usage data, ordering demand history, every historical procurement event, detailed supplier financial information and other logistical data such as customer wait times to delivery.

SERAs integrate information from VisCom with all available equipment data and TACOM LCMC’s Industrial Base Integration Team (IBIT) console, which documents and tracks command-level issues related to the industrial base.

A NEW TOOL FOR SUSTAINMENT MANAGEMENT Through analysis of these elements, SERAs make possible a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to supportability. This enables platform or equipment managers to prioritize potential part and supplier issues and provides factual documentation necessary to manage sustainment

and forecast financial resource requirements.

Past and current SERA studies include the following FOVs: M915, SUSV, Abrams, Bradley and Light Tactical Vehicle (LTV).

Providing a method to access and interpret supply chain and part data, SERAs support determining the next focus areas in sector-by-sector, tier-by-tier (S2T2) studies based on objective data.

REVERSE ENGINEERING CAPABILITIES When the Army is unable to procure a necessary part or defense system, due either to a lack of suppliers or a TDP, Automation Alley is capable of reverse engineering the part or system and creating a TDP, and creating a 1st article prototype.

SERAs help determine which parts of a given system are most appropriate for reverse engineering.

Google Earth Plug-In Royal Oak, Mich.-based Luna Tech 3D has created a Google Earth plug-in that visually displays geographical information about suppliers listed in VisCom. Updated quarterly, the tool allows the Army to search for companies by NAICS code, Federal Supply Class, small business classification, Dun & Bradstreet financial risk level, annual revenue, number of employees, etc. Geographical boundaries such as counties, congressional districts, school districts, and ZIP codes, are overlaid. Even zeroing in on a company address to verify that it is manufacturing site, rather than a residence, is possible.

To inquire about a SERA on your program, contact Automation Alley at 586-276-9002 or info@automationalley.com.

Automation Alley 586.276.9002

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Automation Alley is proud to support American troops through technological innovation.