Materials Technologies Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF182-005

Description

Higher acquisition costs (i.e. cost escalations) and delayed deliveries in new aircraft procurements, e.g. F-35, have had serious downstream consequences for AF needs/priorities. DoD can afford to buy fewer aircraft which directly impacts adequate fleet readiness. Labor content in manufacturing the pervasive (over 60 miles in typical B-737) infrastructure of wire harnesses is reportedly the largest single labor cost element in the assembly of entire aircraft. Being unglamorous, hence ignored, wire termination is entirely manual one-wire-at-a-time slow archaic process from the 1960’s, fraught with 8-12% insertion errors. Conceptualized under earlier AF SBIR program and developed with over $2 million Phase III funds from Boeing (we retain IP), our Wiremarking Identification & Notification (WIN) System automatically recognizes wire ID and guides wire insertion, all in under 20 seconds (400-600 % faster than manual) and completely eliminates wire mis-insertion using in-process auto-diagnostic method. 30 systems delivered to Boeing, Mesa for factory implementation. Current TRL: 7/8. Result: Upto $265K (fixed-wing) and $130K (rotorcraft) savings per aircraft. For the planned global purchase of 3100 F-35s alone, projected savings: Approx. $620 million ($200K aircraft) offers strong business case. Generic technology, applicable across all aircraft, ship, submarine and weapon platforms using electrical wiring