Under U. S. Department of Navy contract N00014-04-D-0569, with the Office of Naval Research, we provide direct support and expert advice to NAVY SBIR/STTR Programs and, Navy Commercialization Pilot Program. In the SBIR program, WILLCOR has provided support to ONR in tracking or assisting progress in 19 different small companies involved in the following SBIR/STTR initiatives: V-22, Tomahawk All Up Round, JSF, Counter IED UAV, MH-60 Aviation Training Systems, AV-8B, E-2 ATDS, Naval Undergraduate Fight Training Systems, and Advanced Tactical Electronic Warfare. The contract is currently in effect in its first of four option years.
The effort involves:
Providing training and risk management support for SBIR/STTR small businesses
Providing the following tools to help SBIR programs and businesses:
- Technical Risk Identification & Mitigation System (TRIMS)
- S&T-to-Production Risk Assessment Tool (SPRAT)
- Manufacturing Readiness Assist Tool (MRL Assist)
Conducting:
- Documents Review
- Personal Interviews
- Concept evaluation
- Systems Hardware/Software evaluation
- Overlay Analysis with Best Manufacturing Practices Systems Engineering Model
- Baseline Risk Assessment
- Producibility Analysis
- Program Monitoring
WILLCOR was performing under contract N00024-02-C-0481, with the Office of Naval Research, for the Technical and Administrative Support for Best Manufacturing Practices Center of Excellence.
WILLCOR provided technical and administrative support at the BMPCOE in the management, development, defense, and execution of the BMP Program. WILLCOR operated the Center facilities and supports seven Satellite centers. WILLCOR staff conduct BMP surveys and develop and maintain the BMP Network, the Program Managers Work Station (PMWS) and all tools. WILLCOR provided technical expertise and insight to clients of the BMPCOE. We provided Web site development, hosting and maintenance.
BMP Surveys: During the past 5 years WILLCOR staff visited 183 companies to discuss surveys, eventually collecting over 1,000 Best Practices. We initiated an approach to surveys targeted toward specific technology areas while continuing legacy corporate survey and benchmarking process.
Analytical Support/Utilization: WILLCOR predicted the need for such a capability to support the defense industry in its design work. We obtained funding, specified, ordered, installed, and built a SECRET 24/7 processing room for the system. We obtained licensing arrangements for the M&S software and promoted the availability of the service within the Navy acquisition community. We successfully completed a FEA redesign of the HGHS for the SEWIP Program; are currently performing a modal analysis of the CVN-76 hull for the Carrier Program Office and are in the process of modeling hull shock testing for ONR. Results of these efforts will yield immense savings to the Navy plus the recognition of our ability to impact design and test costs through FEA modeling that promises to lead to greater savings.
Program Manager's WorkStation (PMWS) and Other Tools and Models Development and Maintenance: WILLCOR improved the search capability of KnowHow and increased the data in KnowHow by 50%. We upgraded the graphics by 50% and culled invalid items. Our staff streamlines the process for transferring BMP Survey data into the BMP Database and the process for culling obsolete Best Processes. We develop new and improved versions of TRIMS including new versions for infrastructure security and a client-server version. We develop and enhance our specification writing tool, SpecRite, the new joint services standard tool for performing Manufacturing Readiness Assessments. We are enhancing MRL Assist and SPRAT, a tool for identifying critical risk areas when moving systems from a Science and Technology status directly to production while bypassing full-scale development. We coupled our engineering staff and our tool development staff to enhance our Systems Engineering Model to integrate with the DoD acquisition cycle. Our process identifies design-model shortfalls and facilitates tools application capability.
Systems Engineering and Risk Management Analyses: WILLCOR provided system engineering and riskidentification/mitigation to 30 programs. We forecast potential problem areas and define strategies that best mitigate these potential risks. In allcases we applied our tools and the experience and insight of our staff gained through our Best Practices Survey program.
Production and Analytical Support: WILLCOR has become a USN/USMC organization of choice as an independent agent to perform Production Readiness Assessments of programs proceeding to the Production Milestones. We provide independent assessments for programs such as: Digital Modular Radio, Common Submarine Radio Room, Predator, Dragon Eye, EFV, and M119A2 and LW155 Howitzers. We provided assessments to Decision Authorities for programs with engineering and acquisition challenges. These include: Littoral Combat Ship, Joint Tactical Radio System, and Rescue 21. WILLCOR monitors programs early in the production cycle, such as MIDS, STANDARD Missile, Aegis BMD, G/ATOR, AMF JTRS, and EPLS.
Special Projects: WILLCOR has successfully completed over 75 special projects. We have drafted responses to Congressional inquiries or inquiries from the SECNAV level on a variety of manufacturing concepts and technology assessments. In 2005-2006, our staff responded to 13 urgent requests to quickly assess production related risks on program schedules, cost, and technical performance capability. For the JTRS and Rescue 21 programs, we provide long term production monitoring assistance.
Training: WILLCOR developed 13 training courses on PMWS, TRIMS, SpecRite and our web-based Collaborative Work Environment (CWE) application tools. We annually update our course offerings. We regularly taught courses at the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) for PEOs and PMs. We provided training in the use of BMPCOE-offered tools to NAVSEA, SPAWAR, and MCSC staff.
We have provided Engineering and Technical Support for Aegis BMD under GDIT Prime Contract N00178-04-D-4012, Subcontract NAFS-MDA-08-001.
In addition to WILLCOR having provided system engineering expertise and support across all design, manufacturing and support phases for the Aegis BMD, WILLCOR provided a comprehensive PD452 Integrated Digital Environment (IDE) to include linked compartmentalized environments for all Branches and other Departments and organizations, including prime contractor and subs. WILLCOR developed, hosted/operated, and maintained this IDE.
