CALIBRATING COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY
its monthly meetings, the board provides joint oversight and coordination at the appropriate level to make sound and timely decisions. Tis partnership enables the team to resolve conflicts while continuing to move plant improvements forward.
Although Army and Orbital ATK leadership agree this structure improves execution of the investment plan, both would recom- mend establishing and documenting clear governance controls and procedures earlier in contract execution to allow leadership to focus more on developing the vision and making good invest- ment decisions.
MAKING SMALL SAFER
Small-caliber ammunition encompasses 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm and .50-caliber rounds, and includes cartridges for combat (ball, tracer, armor-piercing and incendiary) and training (blank, short-range train- ing, marking and dummy). Because there’s a commercial market for small-caliber ammunition, the industry is less vulnerable to swings in DOD demand, so the Army and Orbital ATK, a contractor that runs the government-owned LCAAP, have been able to focus on improving am- munition quality and improving safety at the plant. (U.S. Army photo)
MEDIUM-CALIBER PARTNERSHIPS Te product director for medium-caliber ammunition (PD MC) strategically focuses on two areas in its partnership with indus- try: industrial base preservation and development collaboration.
While it may seem counterintuitive that an industrial base could be at risk despite our continued conflicts, the reality is that the medium-caliber sector production quantities have been in decline since 2009. Te decline was the result of reaching healthy training and combat stockpiles with a simultaneous reduction in the requirement.
to the request for proposals had an incentive to propose invest- ment plans in exchange for commercial use authorization. A win-win situation for the Army and the operating contractor resulted in reduced costs, improved production efficiencies, a continuous workforce and less downtime for equipment. Tis innovative strategy required documenting governance controls and clearly defined procedures up front.
Orbital ATK’s capital investment in LCAAP has resulted in improvements to many areas of the plant: design and implemen- tation of advanced material handling and control; design and implementation of process control technology; replacement of water traps on test ranges; implementation of safer primer deliv- ery containers; and modernization of packaging equipment and processes. Te investments have resulted in more efficient and sustainable production; delivery of higher-quality small-caliber ammunition; and a better and safer workforce environment.
Army and Orbital ATK leadership are generally in agreement on the future vision for LCAAP. However, the team diverges at times on plant priorities and project scopes. To work through these differences, the government adopted Orbital ATK’s pro- posed establishment of an investment board consisting of two members from the Army ammunition enterprise and two mem- bers from Orbital ATK’s program management leadership. At
42 Army AL&T Magazine July-September 2016
Te decline has had a significant effect on the industrial base, leading to consolidation at the supplier and sub-tier supplier lev- els. In order to preserve the medium-caliber industrial base, the product office developed a plan to combine calibers across ser- vices and limit the playing field to our known suppliers to save key production capabilities at the supplier and sub-tier supplier levels, with the goal of ensuring long-term viability.
Te plan, created in partnership with industry, was put into action in 2009 and is known as the Medium-Caliber Family Acquisition (MCFA). Te intent was to right-size production lines, preserve dual-source suppliers for key capabilities and lower costs. Te first contract awarded under this plan was implemented in 2013. Since its initiation, the MCFA has met, and in some cases exceeded, its goals by maintaining dual- source viability for key production capabilities, lowering unit costs while reducing quantities and ultimately delivering the highest-quality munitions to the warfighter.
Te second area in which PD MC engages our industry partners in a novel way is through the development of new munition solutions to meet identified gaps in warfighter capabilities. As the capability gaps are discussed, we engage our in-house research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) asset, the
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