Sometimes data and analytics may be a hard concept to understand, but there is a team of individuals working at Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, located in Independence, Missouri, who turn this unclear concept into an easily understandable reality, the Quality Assurance Section.
This team takes all the raw materials shipped to the installation, every piece and part, and ensures they meet the quality standards necessary to produce small-caliber ammunition for the U.S. Department of Defense.
“Everything that comes to the plant to be used comes through this building,” said Dr. James “Jim” Brown III, a government quality assurance specialist at LCAAP.
Anything that is used in the production areas is first tested in the quality area. In addition, the QAS team develops designs for new parts and gathers dimensional data to determine if items meet military standards.
The quality assurance specialists in the area are problem solvers. They gather information from computers and equipment on the production line, analyze it, and make corrections as needed to ensure quality. A key part of this includes inspecting gages.
“We inspect gages, do first article testing, reverse engineering, and root cause and corrective analysis of problem areas,” said Tim Milligan, a contractor quality assurance specialist at LCAAP.
In fact, the QAS team manages more than 23,000 gages at the plant. Equipment in the temperature-controlled 68-degree quality assurance lab helps the team do what used to be done by hand.
“With these machines, we can measure things within 40 millionths of an inch tolerance,” Brown said.
However, interpreting and analyzing the data provided by these sensitive machines is critical.
“An engineer may bring in a bag of parts and say, ‘my machine won’t run, tell me why,’” Milligan said.
The equipment helps the team obtain the information needed to analyze why the parts aren’t working and develop adjustments.
One example Milligan provided is the 50-caliber link-to-shoulder gage. There are 55 gages in use, and only six of them are acceptable. However, there are eight to nine variations that continued to occur with a variation of as much as .005. This miniscule difference separates what might otherwise be a good case into a bad case. The quality team analyzed the data and determined that there were problems with the bottom receiver in the gage.
The bottom was tool steel and was allowing too much variation and wear. The team determined that a carbide bottom would be more effective and ensure that the gage would read the same every time. They then worked with an outside contractor to create the new carbide bases and used data provided by the contractor to ensure that the bases would meet the new specifications. The carbide base now ensures that the gage works correctly.
Another example involves ergonomics. Several machines used in product acceptance, involve a round nut that had to be turned by workers. This was reported to the quality office, and the team designed a hex nut and installation tool that was easier to use and didn’t scrape the worker’s knuckles.
Although new technology has made the job easier, there are some data and analytics still being done by hand.
“Some gages are 50 to 60-years-old and still in operation. Even with these gages, we identify trends in data through historical records kept on the computer,” Brown said. “Standardization and validation are critical in our department. Mistakes made here could impact millions of cartridges.”
LCAAP is a government-owned, contractor-operated installation under the Joint Munitions Command. JMC operates a nationwide network of installations and facilities where ammunition is produced, distributed, stored, and demilitarized.
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