Agenda
1300-1309: Welcome – Greg Kilchenstein (OSD-MR) Presentation
1309-1310: Administrative Notes – Ray Langlais (LMI)
1310-1335: Naval Enterprise Sustainment Technology Team (NESTT) – Joe Sparks (COMFRC) / Steve McKee (NAVSEA)
1335-1355: USAF Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) Overview and Status – George Sarmiento (AFMC) Presentation
1355-1415: Technology Transition Lessons Learned – Vic Champagne (ARL) Presentation
1415-1435: Expose on the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies (JROBOT) Process – Steve McKee (NAVSEA)
1435-1455: Expose on Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) Process – Greg Kilchenstein (OSD) & Debbie Lilu (NCMS) Presentation
1455-1500: Wrap-Up Presentation
Minutes
Event: On 25 August 2020, the Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG), in coordination with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), hosted a virtual forum on “Better Ways to Adopt New Technology”.
Purpose: The purpose of this forum was to examine and share information on new processes used to help identify, demonstrate, and transition sustainment capabilities to improve DoD maintenance operations. The forum provided descriptions of processes employed by each of the military Services as well as a program utilized to facilitate industry/academia and government cooperation in capability demonstration and development efforts.
Welcome: Greg Kilchenstein (OSD-MR) welcomed everyone to the forum and thanked the presenters and all the listeners for their attendance. He also stated how important these processes are in driving sustainment innovation and creating synergy to develop, identify, and transition capabilities to support the DoD maintenance community.
Administrative: This was an open forum. The presentations, along with questions and answers, were conducted through Adobe Connect. Four of the six presentations were also available online at the JTEG website at https://jteg.ncms.org/ . A separate audio line was used. We had over 90 participants from across DOD, industry, and academia join in the forum.
Naval Enterprise Sustainment Technology Team (NESTT) – Steve McKee (NAVSEA) explained that NESTT was formed to deal with the problem that existing funding and structures actually impede sustainment solution development and rapid fielding. NESTT believes in communication between depots to include an annual sustainment integrated priority list (IPL) across the depots, linkage of policy, program, and financial stakeholders, coordinated advancements between the organic and defense industrial bases, and leveraging of private sector. Steve described the Sustainment OODA Loop based on four steps – observe, orient, decide, and act. NESTT is conducting a “warm-up lap” from June through November, culminating in a “Hack-A-Thon” event.
USAF Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) Overview and Status – George Sarmiento (AFMC) briefed the RSO innovation and integration (I2) mission, strategy, innovation pipeline, and technology focus areas. The RSO objective is to increase mission readiness by identifying, applying and scaling technology essential to the operation and sustainment of the USAF. The RSO is looking for projects that ideally support multiple customers, have a champion, problem defines, TRL 5+, and preferably funded. The I2 role is focused on identifying and applying innovation efforts to problem areas. The RSO technology focus areas are: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Advanced Manufacturing (AM), Automation and Robotics, Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Rapid and Austere Maintenance Environments, and Data and Digital Environments.
Technology Transition Lessons Learned: Bridging the “Valley of Death” – Vic Champagne (ARL) described some of the technology transfer processes and successes he has experienced over the past 36 years to include thermal spray, laser shock peening, and cold spray. He described the cold spray vision and Army roadmap, the value of technology transfer workshops, and detailed the qualification and approval process involved with taking an idea all the way through development and testing and finally to implementation. He explained the importance of reducing barriers to collaboration and fostering an environment of discovery and innovation. He then described a series of success stories to include powder production and some B-1 cold spray applications. He finished with a list of Service technology transfer vehicles and ARL mechanisms for collaboration.
Expose on the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies (JROBOT) Process – Steve McKee (NAVSEA) provided a description and update on the JROBOT which was developed to help identify needs and deliver solutions that leverage investments in research and development to harness advancements in robotic technology for maintenance efforts. The goal – accelerate the fielding of robotic solutions to increase readiness of military systems. JROBOT has completed three joint summits resulting in the development of a roadmap, drafted DoD policy, the identification of five projects to advance with ARM Institute funding, and the development of elements of a joint acquisition strategy. Steve also provided updates on the five lines of effort to the objective: workforce, portfolio, new requirements, communications, and leadership. Lastly, he noted that the Summit III report should be out by 30 September.
Expose on Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) Process – Greg Kilchenstein (OSD) & Debbie Lilu (NCMS) provided an overview of the CTMA program hi-lighting the success and growth of the program since its beginning in 1998. They informed us that CTMA is a cross-cutting program creating synergy within DoD and leveraging the innovation of commercial activities. It brings exposure to both DoD and industry participants and also the new technologies. The DoD-wide umbrella that CTMA creates helps bring folks into the fold and creates conditions that help facilitate the rapid transition of new technologies to support the DoD maintainer. The CTMA concept provides DoD activities an opportunity to demonstrate technologies they have identified as having the potential to meet a technology need, or ‘try it before you buy it”.
Q&A – A Q&A occurred after each briefer finished their presentation. Questions and answers will be posted on the JTEG website with these minutes.
Closing Comments: Greg Kilchenstein thanked the presenters for their contributions and all the work being done to support sustainment innovation efforts across DoD sustainment. He suggested continuing the information exchange beyond the forum and the importance of collaboration within the DoD maintenance community.
Action Items:
- All cleared briefing slides were posted to the JTEG website at https://jteg.ncms.org/ prior to the forum start.
- Obtain Distribution “A” level slides for the remaining briefs.
Next JTEG Meeting: The next scheduled JTEG virtual forum is 29 September 2020, 1:00 – 3:00 pm EST. The topic is “Software Maintenance”.
POC this action is Ray Langlais, rlanglais@lmi.org, (571) 633-8019
Forum Q&A
Naval Enterprise Sustainment Technology Team (NESTT) – Steve McKee (NAVSEA)
Q1. Can you provide a salient example of a sustainment technology that has been adopted by the Navy via the OODA loop methodology?
A1. Not yet. It has only been established for a month and a half. However, most technologies have gone through those steps.
Q2. Thanks for the great brief! Are you looking outside of DOD for examples of speeding innovation and tech transition?
A2. Absolutely! We have a number of industry partners.
Q3. Are there plans to share the IPL with industry to spark collaboration?
A3. Absolutely. Refer to slide 5 and phase 2 (Integrate with the Navy Industrial Base” and phase 3 (Integrate with DoD OIB/DIB) and the intent to leverage private sector and venture capital investments.
Q4. Just a wild comment here: Your Phases, i.e. Phases 0 through 3 appear to be analogous to TRLs. Can TRLs be partitioned here?
A4. Not sure of the premise here. They have to be at TRL 9.
Q5. OK, I get it. You’re beyond TRLs here. Understood. Thank you and great presentation.
Q6. How does NESTT prioritize sustainment technology efforts?
A6. We are trying to learn our way through that right now. The priority is to common items. From a taxpayer and Navy investment perspective it makes sense. We are still figuring that out.
USAF Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) Overview and Status – George Sarmiento (AFMC)
Q1. The Navy is using the Future of Sailor Maintenance (FoSM) campaign to get after the same problem set. Is it possible to compare notes? (Jeff Baur)
A1. Yes, absolutely. (George, Jeff and Glenn Howland to discuss offline)
Q2. When you say “Scale”, do you mean a Phase III? If so, hold on, we’ve got a Phase III pending. Also, what could companies that do get to Phase III/scale to meet non-AF persons who might benefit from the tech?
A2. By “scale” we mean we hope to reach multiple platforms.
Technology Transition Lessons Learned – Vic Champagne (ARL)
Q1. Excellent presentation Dr. Champagne. If you could be a 4-star for a day, what would you change in the DoD to support implementation of new technologies?
A1. I recently met the Director of the Industrial Base Policy and we discussed the amount of “red tape” involved in technology implementation. I believe we need to take a better look at data generated by other entities and if it is applicable, use that data, instead of always having to generate our own data. Now, I understand in cases such as the B-1 bomber, that there are reasons to generate our own data, but for many non-structural items we have no need for new, self-generated data.
Expose on the Joint Robotics Organization for Building Organic Technologies (JROBOT) Process – Steve McKee (NAVSEA)
Q1. How has JROBOT benefitted from being chartered under the JTEG WG?
A1. Hugely. JTEG provided sponsorship and awareness in all the Services. They helped us move into the joint environment.
Q2. Can you expound on the key challenges posed by JROBOT being a coalition of the willing and not a funded Department level centrally funded effort?
A2. So many facets and challenges. You have to start at a coalition of the willing. Other pieces do come into play such as funding, and they are identified in the roadmap. We also try to lesson the burden on everyone through economies of scale.
Expose on Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) Process – Greg Kilchenstein (OSD) & Debbie Lilu (NCMS)
Q1. How can the Service’s leverage CTMA?
A1. The Services can reach out to Greg and Debbie to discuss their potential problem to work with CTMA in order to leverage NCMS’s broad outreach within industry and academia. If the technology solution has been identified, the Services can leverage the CTMA cooperative agreement to conduct their demonstration/evaluation efforts.