TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -- Team Tobyhanna surpassed customer expectations by fabricating
thousands of cables destined for wear by Soldiers outfitted with the Army's Nett Warrior equipment.
Employees just completed the second full year of cable production for Project Manager Soldier Warrior (PM SWAR) cutting unit cost in half while engineering a superior cable. The concept to combat mission was to build multiples of nine cables with special emphasis on the development of enhanced C1 and C4 cables. Forty thousand cables have been fabricated and kitted to equip warfighters since 2012.
"Tobyhanna personnel have demonstrated what this depot is capable of doing with this program," said Martin Nealon, Production Management Directorate's Nett Warrior program manager. "We've become partners and the customer has full confidence in our ability to get the job done to their specifications."
Tobyhanna came up with a plan to reduce the customer's unit costs for the C1 cable from $400 to $200 each. The first year was spent selecting materials and developing processes to sustain an average production of 20,000 cables a year. Employees mastered the mission during the second year to bring the job in on time and within budget. An implementation of improvement initiatives continues to reduce cost.
"This was tough job," said Jim Holiday, Nett Warrior's liaison officer at Tobyhanna, adding that when the customer saw the level of Tobyhanna's commitment to meeting their needs, they decided to extend the partnership to 2026. "They saw first-hand the skill and dedication of the work force and management's investment in the technology," he said.
Lean events to streamline processes became commonplace on the shop floor. Ultimately a cell configuration was what worked best for this workload. Cells were set up to perform different elements of the job in the Strategic Systems and Tactical Systems cable branches in the Systems
Integration and Support Directorate.
Several challenges were overcome in order to meet the customer's exacting standards.
Depot engineers designed a 5-amp wire to replace the existing 2 amp version, plus made the new C1 cable more flexible. Electronics Engineer Stanley Czock noted that the number of amps dictated the use of a 22-gauge wire, which consists of 134 strands of wire. A custom retaining ring gave the upgraded wire its 275-pound pull force exceeding the customer's request for a 100-pound capability, he added. Czock is assigned to the Production Engineering Directorate's Design, Development and Fabrication Division.
Solutions were verified through calculated trial and error during the production run, according to Czock. For instance, employees determined a method of making a cable more heat resistant so the internal wires wouldn't melt during the molding process. In addition, aluminum fixtures were replaced with steel fixtures.
"There's so much untapped expertise here," Czock said. "It took a lot of hard work from employees in all branches to make this happen. We maximized time allowed within the fixed cost and brought everything under control."
A production controller for the Nett Warrior program pointed out that the cable branch employees are continuing to streamline processes, which means added savings for the customer.
"All of these changes were taking place during a full--rate production," said Joe Lynn, Production Management Directorate's Fabrication Project Management Branch. "We had Lean events and as Tobyhanna developed and instituted internal processes, the price gradually dropped to the target amount."
Tobyhanna employees will stop at nothing to meet the customer's needs, according to Holiday. "When we ask for something, we get it . . . we trust it . . . and know we can get it again," he said.
PM SWAR supports Soldiers through the acquisition of integrated Soldier systems. Product managers develop and integrate components into complete systems designed to increase Soldiers' situational awareness and combat effectiveness, decrease combat load, and improve mission flexibility. Product Manager Ground Soldier provides unprecedented situational awareness and battle command to the dismounted Soldier through Nett Warrior.
The wearable system provides warfighters secure and mobile voice, video and data communications capabilities. With this system leaders can send information using services such as email, text messages and icons that signify different threat levels.
The Nett Warrior program is pairing commercial off-the-shelf smart phones with the AN/PRC-154 Rifleman Radio transmitter/receiver to display maps, troop positions and operational updates previously restricted to vehicles or hard-wired command posts.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, technology insertion, modification, and global field support to warfighters.
About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.
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