R&D Contracting Directorate, Bldg 7, 2530 C Street, WPAFB, OH 45433-7607

A -- MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY, FY97 PROGRAM COST SHARING POC Lawence P. Parkinson, WL/MTX, 937-255-4623 The Wright Laboratory, Manufacturing Technology Directorate, is considering the following competitive potential contracting actions. The listed areas of interest may result in distinct contract or agreement awards. Because of mutual industry and Government benefit derived from research in the areas of interest, AF ManTech is seeking cost sharing on each of these efforts. Cost sharing of 2 to 1 industry to government resources is required for 25% of the FY97 new start dollars. Interested parties are asked to assess the topic areas for potential cost sharing by their organization including topics which are candidates to meet the 2 to 1 requirement. The response to of this announcement shall include: (1) identification of the topic areas which the responding organization would cost share; (2) an estimate of the level of cost share for each topic area identified; and (3) identification of experience and accomplishments for each area of interest. This notification serves notice primarily of the desire of the government to attain cost sharing in the following general areas of interest: (1) Implementation of findings from the Lean Aircraft Initiatives including suppliers base topics: Lean implementation activities focused on the topics defined in the industry Lean Forum III. Candidate projects resulting from this collaborative effort focus on improving the overall affordability of existing or new weapon systems by accelerating the implementation of lean concepts. Topics defined during the forum include: Lean Approaches to Precision Assembly, Lean Transition of Emerging Industrial Capability, Lean Strategies to Address Electronics Obsolescence, Abatement Activity Based Lean Enterprise Management, Lean Acquisition and Procurement, and Design Infrastructure for Collaborative Design Supplies Integration over Multi-Tiered Supply Chain. (2) Rapid response process improvements to positively impact quality, cost and schedule of weapon systems suppliers: Rapid response process improvements are plannedto positively impact cost, quality and schedule and to mitigate risk for program offices in both acquisition and sustainment phases of weapons systems. Specific process improvement areas will be selected jointly with the interested program office, but are not available at this time. However, individual efforts will be negotiated with program office selected performers in the areas of electronics, metals, composites, manufacturing and engineering systems, and advanced industrial practices. (3) Manufacturing technology for the LIDAR system for munitions targeting and wind shear detection: Manufacturing Technology for LIDAR wind sensors, LIDAR systems are being developed for use in munitions targeting, precision air drop, and bomb drop accuracy improvement by providing real time measurement of winds and wind shears from an airborne platform. The LIDAR wind sensor ManTech program will address the Manufacturability of optically and mechanically complex subsystems by implementing advanced manufacturing tools in the design through production phases of system development. Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, Rapid Prototyping, and other advanced tools, offer potential for significant reductions in cycle times, costs, and greatly improved sustainability by eliminating the traditional design-build-test-redesign-rebuild cycle and eliminating or minimizing the amount of precision manual alignment required in the production of LIDAR transceivers. (4) Composites Affordability Initiative: The Composites Affordability initiative is being structured as a collaborative effort between industry and the government to jointly attack the issues and costs associated with the use of composites in military systems. Initially, the CAI will focus on design and manufacture of fixed wing attack aircraft as they represent the most costly and structurally challenging usage of composites. The initiative is directed at developing the fundamental tools for composite manufacturing, structural design and materials. Themotivation for CAI is the potential for a paradigm shift in the way we design airframes by coupling design with low cost manufacturing in addition to addressing pervasive business policy and practice issues. A system level approach to design for composites will be utilized throughout the program. (0354)

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