The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) Obsolescence Management Team recently received a 2014 Department of Defense DMSMS team award for its efforts to help programs deal with repair part and components obsolescence. Front row, from left, Monique Gatlin, Candy Drake, Kellie Gofus and Robin Brown. Back row, from left, Jesse Powell, Chris Radford, Jay Gibson, Sam Guadry and Gary Carr. Gibson also received a DoD DMSMS individual program award. Not pictured are Bob Hoffman, Ricky Easter, Vicki Ellie and Dave Kayser. (Courtesy photo)

Patuxent River, MD — When PMA-201 needed a component for its nearly 40-year-old Harpoon missile test set, it turned to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) Obsolescence Management Team (OMT) for help in its quest.

A part from a diagnostic test set had failed, and a needed replacement part proved hard to find since one hadn’t been manufactured since 2002.

“We haven’t had one of these parts fail in a very long time,” said Pat Brannigan, Precision Strike Weapons Program Office (PMA-201) product support manager.  “Our prime contractor told us the part wasn’t available anymore and to redesign the test set would cost two to three million dollars.”

To find a workable solution, PMA-201’s Foreign Military Sales logistics team lead, Rob Wilson, reached out to the OMT, led by Robin Brown. The OMT, nested in the NAVAIR Industrial and Logistics Maintenance Planning/Sustainment department (Air 6.7) as a “one-stop shop” for processes, experts, tools and solutions, was able to help. Within just a few weeks, the team was able to suggest a solution for less than $8,000. Wilson coordinated with all of the users of this test set and purchased enough parts for the remaining life-span of the Harpoon, an anti-ship cruise missile delivered to the Navy in the 1970s.

“The OMT really hit it out of the park for us,” Brannigan said. “In essence, the cost savings realized by the identified solution has funded the OMT for many years in advance.”

In recognition of the impact the OMT has made, the team, comprised of Brown, Jussandra “Candy” Drake, Gary Carr, Kellie Gofus and Monique Gatlin, recently received a 2014 Department of Defense (DoD) DMSMS Program Achievement award. The announcement of winners, which included one lifetime, one individual and three team awards, was made by email Nov. 10. Formal presentations were made at a DoD DMSMS training conference in San Antonio early December.

“We stood the team up in the last year and supported 15 NAVAIR programs in fiscal year 2014,” said Brown, who also received an individual DoD DMSMS award in 2013. “We tell the programs what their problems are going to be and advise them what solutions are available.”

In addition to the OMT receiving team accolades, John “Jay” Gibson received a 2014 DoD DMSMS individual award. Gibson is the deputy assistant program manager for logistics for avionics, E-6B Mercury Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Office (PMA-271).

Gibson was presented with a challenge to find replacement cockpit display panels for the E-6B, similar to a Boeing 707 aircraft, which was delivered to the Navy from 1989 to 1992. The primary vendor no longer made original parts. An updated display was available but to make it backwards compatible required a software upgrade that would cost more than $1.8 million and take 18 months to develop and implement.
Gibson found a source for original displays and avoid more than $1.6 million in costs.

“The Boeing 737 has many similar parts to the 707, so we’re able to rely on the aftermarket for many components,” Gibson said.

Losing manufacturers can be the result of many factors, such as low-volume market demand, new or evolving science or technology, supply of raw materials, regulations or others. When this occurs, it can cause shortages that adversely impact ongoing production capability and/or the lifecycle support of a weapon system or training, support or test equipment already in the field. DMSMS issues affect material readiness and operational availability, which in turn, affect both combat operations and safety.

“We have a lot of commonality in parts,” Brown said. “One obsolete part can affect multiple platforms.”

Having parts or components become obsolete, however, is not necessarily a problem.

“The parts may be very reliable and never break, we may have plenty of stock on hand, or we may have already designed a better part,” Brown said.
Brown said the OMT also manages a variety of tools that help track potential obsolescence issues, but it’s not final authority.

“The tool is only a starting point,” said Brown. “We have good, experienced logisticians who validate the information to support the customer.”
Brown said the OMT has increased the number of programs it supports to 20 so far in fiscal year 2015.