NCMS Honors Seymour Johnson AFB for EWIS contribution.
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Press Release Summary:
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) recognized the 4th Component Maintenance Squadron, based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (AFB), for contribution to the Enhanced Wiring Integrity Systems (EWIS) project. Team members determined more than 34% of F-15E Strike Eagle maintenance issues were caused by electrical problems, and were able to trim 9,000 work hours from regular maintenance.
Original Press Release:
NCMS Honors Seymour Johnson AFB for Contribution to Enhanced Wiring Integrity Systems Project
The EWIS Project won the 2006 Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award
ANN ARBOR, MI - February 23, 2007. The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has recognized the 4th Component Maintenance Squadron (CMS) based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (AFB) for their contribution to the Enhanced Wiring Integrity Systems (EWIS) project. The EWIS project was recently awarded a Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award at the Defense Manufacturing Conference. The award recognizes project teams in the defense manufacturing community that have significantly contributed to the understanding, development, or application of manufacturing techniques, processes, methods, practices, or management throughout the nation.
The EWIS project was a four-year joint services collaborative NCMS project formed to address electrical wiring issues based on end user input. Electronic wiring problems annually cause thousands of mission aborts and result in hundreds of thousands of hours where aircraft are not available for use. Wiring maintenance issues also consume several million maintenance work-hours a year. This project focused on the need to increase mission readiness at reduced cost by requiring less overall maintenance.
The project team members from the 4th Component Maintenance Squadron determined that more than 34% of all F-15E Strike Eagle maintenance issues were caused by electrical problems. Commercial testing equipment was used to help identify system faults before component installation which resulted in greater reliability. Team members then built connector harnesses to troubleshoot and test aircraft components. EWIS technology allowed maintainers to trim 9,000 work-hours from regular maintenance which resulted in a cost avoidance of $269,000 during the first six months of use.
"The EWIS project is a great example of how NCMS delivers quantifiable benefits to the military," said NCMS Vice President Chuck Ryan. "Our partners at Seymour Johnson were critical to the success of this project."
The 4th Component Maintenance Squadron was also previously recognized for its work on EWIS by the United States Air Force with a Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award. The prestigious honor recognized the Aging Aircraft Wire/Component Test Team for outstanding team performance and promotion of systematic process improvement.
The success of the 4th Component Maintenance Squadron has led to EWIS technology being deployed across the joint services. Significant cost, cycle time, and reliability improvements are being realized by all users.
About Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Annexed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, near Raleigh, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, whose host wing is the 4th Fighter Wing, is home to the multi-role, all-weather F-15E Strike Eagle and provides worldwide deployable aircraft and personnel capable of executing combat missions in support of the Aerospace Expeditionary Force.
For more more information, visit http://www.seymourjohnson.af.mil/
About CTMA
Founded in 1998, Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) is primarily composed of NCMS members and representatives for the DoD maintenance activities. Since the program's inception, more than 60 collaborative projects have been formed, totaling nearly $118 million. Approximately 70 percent of this investment is provided by industry participants with the remaining 30 percent of matching funds being contributed by the DoD.
For more information, visit ctma.ncms.org
About NCMS
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is the largest cross-industry collaborative research and development consortium in North America, and is the only consortial effort in the U.S. devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, processes and practices. NCMS has 20 years of experience in the formation and management of complex, multi-partner collaborative R&D programs, and is backed by corporate members representing virtually every manufacturing sector.
For more information, visit www.ncms.org
