An Army of Partners

Written by Henry Canaday

MLF 2010 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 (March)

Army Depots have increasingly used public-private partnerships (PPPs) in recent years. The approach appears to be paying off, according to both depot and private managers.

Letterkenny Army Depot’s three major PPPs are with BAE Systems, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Chief of Staff Mark Sheffield says BAE helped build and modify mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles in five programs. “BAE does white-collar design work, we do the majority of touch labor,” Sheffield added.

“My job is to foster partnerships,” said Bob Swenson, program manager for PPPs at BAE Land Systems. At Letterkenny, BAE works on both four- and six-wheeled MRAPs, RG-33s, for the Special Operations Command (SOCOM). It also does independent-suspension upgrades on RG-33s, necessary for off-road use in Afghanistan. And BAE partners with the depot on medium mine protected Panthers.

Letterkenny does final assembly of Panthers and SOCOM RG-33s, while BAE does design and supply chain management. “These partnerships have been very successful, Swenson added.” They ramped up quickly. The depot has a skilled workforce and is a great place to team with. They want to make it happen.”

Raytheon works with Letterkenny on Patriot air defense, both missiles and ground support. The firm does engineering and design, the depot does touch labor. This partnership has been highly productive, according to Sheffield. “Beyond contracts, we do Lean bench-marking with them, we go to their plants and they come to ours. Partnerships bring out the best of each partner. We have blue collars and infrastructure and they have intellectual capital.”

Letterkenny has been involved in the field deployment of the Patriot for 28 years, taking missiles from Raytheon’s production lines. Five years ago Raytheon recognized it needed the capacity and skills of the depot, and it pilot-tested fabrication of cable and mechanical assemblies by depot employees. Tim Zeier, patriot systems whole life program manager at Raytheon, said the test was successful, so Raytheon awarded the depot a contract for integrating and testing Patriot launchers bound for the United Arab Emirates.

Construction of U.S. Patriot missiles has been done at Red River Army Depot, but under the Base Realignment and Closure Act it is being moved to Letterkenny. Raytheon assists the transition, which should see the depot producing missiles in the second quarter of 2010. Raytheon also needs additional capacity to produce Patriot missiles for the UAE and chose Letterkenny, which expects to begin this line around 2012.

These partnerships have worked out well for Raytheon. Letterkenny has very knowledgeable touch labor and the right infrastructure, Zeier said. “Letterkenny has come quite a ways in infrastructure and skills in the last few years,” Zeier said. “They are a solid and viable candidate for any foreign Patriot programs.”

Lockheed Martin helps with target acquisition systems on the AH-64 Apache, doing design for Letterkenny’s touch labor. This is the oldest partnership and a model for newer ones. “We had to learn to work together, as private firms and public organizations have different languages and legal systems and look at contracts differently,” Sheffield explained. “Once you work together on something small, it makes it much easier in the future.”

Lockheed Martin was awarded a performance based logistics (PBL) contract supporting Apaches in early 2007. The company provides post-production supply chain management, including spare planning, procurement, repairs, maintenance, modifications and inventory management for fielded systems, according to David Belvin, who directs the program for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

The entire fleet of Army Apaches is being modernized with the new Arrowhead target-acquisition configuration. “By working together, we have significantly improved supply chain management and controlled costs,” he said of collaboration with Letterkenny.

Letterkenny’s goal is to eventually have 20 percent of touch labor in PPPs. It is at 4 percent now, but the share is growing. In 2007, 35,000 depot hours supported partnerships. Now 150,000 hours are devoted to them.

“We learn continuous improvement and Lean, and become more relevant,” Sheffield said. “Instead of working on systems when they are 10 years old and three generations of technology have changed, we get new technology immediately. We become more like industry. The motto here is to move from being a threelegged turtle to being a thoroughbred.”

ELECTRONICS AT TOBYHANNA

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the largest full-service electronics maintenance facility in the Department of Defense. Director of Business Management Richard Woodworth says the depot has entered into more than 240 partnerships over the last 12 years, of which 130 are completed, 51 are active and more than 60 are in negotiation.

For example, Tobyhanna partners with Engineering and Professional Services (EPS) on modernizing AN/PRC-112D portable radios. “EPS supplies all new parts in kit form and the depot builds the new radios,” Woodworth explained. The depot assembles and tests the AN/PRC-112Ds and provides warranty repair services. EPS warranties most components for one year and the main electronic module for 10 years.

Tobyhanna personnel positioned globally also provide warranty service on computers and peripherals manufactured by several major corporations, including Dell, Panasonic, Hewlett-Packard and Itronix. Tobyhanna has a strong and longstanding relationship with Northrop Grumman. This includes two key initiatives, the Mobility Air Reporting and Communications Shelter (MARCS), and the Vehicular Information System (VIS-X).

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the 40-foot MARCS, and subcontracts to Tobyhanna under this contract. Lawrence Schneider, director of ground forces information systems at Northrop Grumman, said his company delivers the shelters to the depot with the necessary communications equipment and the designs for its installation. Depot employees then refurbish the shelters and install the racks, communication and other equipment. The finished shelters are then shipped overseas to Iraq or Afghanistan. Northrop and Tobyhanna staff work together in the field to install the shelters.

The size of the current shelters has required ground transport in Afghanistan, which can be risky. So Northrop also worked with the depot on a 20-foot modular version of MARCS that can be transported by helicopter much more safely.

Schneider said the MARCS subcontract to Tobyhanna was very competitive. “They do a great job; we are delighted to continue this.” He is proud of the overall MARCS program as well, saying, “It has been very important to the warfighter.”

VIS-X is the newest version of a system to provide clear, noise-free communications between crew members inside combat vehicles and externally over combat net radios. Joint efforts by Northrop Grumman, Tobyhanna and Cobhen Inc. resulted in Northrop Grumman winning the VIS-X program.

Russ Calo, director of public-private partnerships at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, said his unit currently has seven partnerships in place at Tobyhanna and an additional three in the sign-off process. Calo said, “These are high-value programs that are intended to bring additional utility to our warfighters, while at the same time generating productive hours for the depots. These trustbased partnerships allow Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems to leverage the core competencies of all our teammates.” Calo argues that partnering with military depots is a win-win-win program. “Warfighters get the technology they need, depots repair incoming assets using leadingedge technology, and Northrop Grumman is able to reduce the overall cost to the government.”

COMBAT VEHICLES AT ANNISTON

Anniston Army Depot mainly overhauls combat vehicles and small arms. General Dynamics Lands Systems (GDLS) partners with Anniston on the Stryker infantry armored vehicle and the Cougar MRAP. “They construct the platform, we finish the painting and they use our track for testing the Cougar,” said Depot Commander Colonel S. B. Keller. GDLS provides technical support and supply-chain management for the Stryker battle-damage program, while the depot does touch labor.

GDLS was the first corporation to partner with the depot, in the early 1990s, including conversion of M1A1 Abrams to the A2. Johnny Thompson, chief of business management at Anniston, counts 18 PPPs with GDLS over the years.

GDLS partnering at Anniston goes back to work on the M93 Fox nuclear-biological-chemical reconnaissance vehicle, according to Don Ishmael, GDLS senior director for plant operations. This was followed by the partnership on Abrams tanks in which the depot did tear downs and GDLS put the tanks back together at its Ohio plant.

GDLS now has a 180,000-square-foot warehouse at Anniston storing parts for Abrams repairs, both for the depot and its own facility. “We manage all the materials for the depot and our Ohio plant,” Ishmael said. Another long-lasting partnership, on the Stryker, began in 2000, and then GDLS partnered with the depot on several MRAPs, including Cougars and RG-31s. The Stryker partnership was subsequently expanded to handle battledamage repairs.

The latest GDLS partnership is for the centralized reset of Strykers at Anniston. This reset work had been spread all over the U.S., but the Army decided that Anniston and GDLS could work most efficiently in one location. The program has ramped up quickly, with 65 Strykers produced in January 2010.

The Stryker line at Anniston mixes manpower from the depot and GDLS. “If you see four people on line, two will be from the depot and two from GDLS,” Ishmael noted. Managers must thus work with two different unions: GDLS steel workers and the depot’s government employee union.

Ishmael is proud of this growing success and solid relationships built up at Anniston. The partners have even submitted an application for a highly-prized Shingo Lean award. If given, this would be the first Shingo recognition of government-private Lean achievement. “We are very excited about it, and we are very confident,” Ishmael said.

The depot has also had four PPPs with BAE Land Systems, including major ones on the M113 armored personnel carrier and the M88 armored recovery vehicle. BAE is using Anniston’s test track to develop the M88 A2. The depot is now testing an upgrade of M109A6 Paladin artillery, called Paladin Integrated Management (PIM). If PIM goes through, there will likely be a major partnership with BAE, with the firm and depot splitting touch labor.

BAE has had several partnerships with Anniston, including the M113 and M88. The M113 program is now finished, but conversion of M88 A1s to M88 A2s is still going on. “We look for a match between what the depot does and what we do,” said Swenson. “Each depot is a center of excellence for some sort of work.” BAE sees the partnership approach growing. “It is a win-win. As the Iraq war winds down, there is less work for depots, but taxpayers have put huge investments in these facilities and need to get more use out of them. And for us, before we invest in facilities, we want to make use of what already exists.”

Anniston has had five PPPs with Honeywell, including revitalization of engines on the MDT Tiger light protected vehicle. Honeywell has also provided technical support and supply-chain management for work on M1 engines, with the depot doing touch labor.

Honeywell currently has three PPPs with Anniston: the Total Integrated Engine Revitalization program, known as TIGER; a production line for new AGT1500 engines; and an engine-recuperator manufacturing facility at the depot. “All three cover the AGT1500 turbine engine which powers the M1 Abrams,” said Karl Johnson, director of program management at Honeywell Aerospace’s military unit.

On TIGER, Honeywell does demand planning, part ordering and delivery, material management, assembly and field data collection. It also provides field support engineers at Army bases, design improvements and advice to Anniston on best-practice repairs. The depot itself does minor repairs and testing.

On the new engine line, the depot acts as a subcontractor to Honeywell and provides touch labor for assembly and acceptance testing as well as facility infrastructure. Honeywell does all the labor on the third PPP, recuperator manufacturing, with the depot providing the facility.

“Like all partnerships, there is some give and take for all parties as different cultures and processes come together,” Belvin said. “Overall, the partnerships have worked out well and are expected to continue to do so for years to come.”

Thompson estimates that PPPs accounted for 5 to 25 percent of depot hours, depending on the date and which partnerships were active. “We could not be as efficient without partnerships,” Keller said. “They have helped us upgrade our facilities at no cost to the government. Across the spectrum, partnerships have been very positive.” ♦

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