Original Date: 02/28/2000
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Crane Army Ammunition Activity’s machine shops offer the customer unique resources not available at any other Department of Defense installation. Multiple capabilities such as Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing, reverse engineering via video imaging, waterjet cutting, powder coat paint, and rapid deep draw technology offer one-stop opportunities for the customer.

Crane Army Ammunition Activity’s (CAAA’s) machine shops offer the customer unique resources not available at any other Department of Defense installation. Multiple capabilities, such as Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing, reverse engineering via video imaging, waterjet cutting, powder coat paint, and rapid deep draw technology offer one-stop opportunities for the customer.

CAAA is the only Department of Defense installation with rapid deep draw technology capabilities. The 125-ton press is computer controlled and fully automatic. It has upper and lower cylinders that travel in opposing directions with specially built tooling to form a can from a round disk in about 11 seconds. The method is a three-step process referred to as draw-reverse-redraw. During the reverse operation, the canister is actually inverted into itself. Only one set of tooling is required to produce a canister to size and tolerance in a single cycle, whereas conventional drawing requires multiple sets of tooling and multiple draws for a single can.

Reverse engineering capability was recently acquired by the machine shop in the form of a computer controlled flat- part scanning machine. The machine will scan material up to 46” by 70” by ½” thick in less than two minutes, and will automatically generate full documentation including color-coded dimensions and statistical process control (SPC) reports. This code can be post-processed, and the machine shop can be cutting to these specifications the same day. Many of the cutting machines in the shop can share identical workloads through post-processing of various software codes into computer numerical control language. Post-processed code allows CAAA to utilize similar machines to perform the same tasks. This capability prevents work stoppage due to machine breakdown.

All metal fabrication machines are maintained through contracted maintenance support. The contract requires a 24- hour response time, and the contractor furnishes all needed parts and tools for repair. The contractor is required to be trained on all existing equipment under the contract. This frees up CAAA’s maintenance personnel to support the mission, eliminates procurement lead-time, and prevents downtime of the equipment. The response time the machine shop offers the customer is highlighted by the capabilities available. The reduction in labor, space, equipment set- ups, and equipment downtime allows efficient production of customer requirements. Rapid deep draw technology is 30% more economical than conventional drawing for like materials.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.