Original Date: 04/26/2004
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

In 1994, the Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) and the Harrisburg Steel Company (Harsco) merged their defense units to form United Defense, Limited Partnership (UDLP). FMC began in 1884 with the development of a new type of spray pump used to combat San Jose scale in California's orchards. The demand for the spray pump was so great that the inventor, John Bean, formed the Bean Spray Pump Company. The company was now concentrating its manufacturing efforts on agricultural equipment. The late 1920s brought about a change for Bean Spray Pump Company when it merged with makers of food processing equipment and cannery machinery for vegetables, and created a larger company with a new name FMC. As World War II began, FMC entered the defense business, manufacturing amphibious tractors and tanks for the U.S. Military.

Harsco began in 1742 and established itself as an internationally recognized leader in the production of America’s first seamless gas cylinder. Later, the company began producing a range of specialty steel products, and expanded into new products and markets as a diversified industrial organization. During World War II, Bowen McLaughlin York, a division of Harsco, began building tanks. For the next 50 years, FMC and Harsco achieved recognition for producing quality combat vehicles and Navy guns.

In 1985, UDLP opened a 160,000 square foot facility in Aberdeen, South Dakota to build missile canisters for the U.S. Navy. Meeting the mission requirements for the U.S. and its allies security needs, the Armament Systems Division (ASD) supports weapon technology and platform developments. As a provider of weapon and munition handling technologies, the facility applies advanced engineering technology and expertise for the development of key Department of Defense systems such as missile launch canisters and mechanical components for the Navy’s Vertical Launching System (VLS), Mk 41, a worldwide standard shipborne missile launching system. The VLS Mk 41 is a canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The missile launcher consists of a single, eight-cell missile module capable of launching Seasparrow missiles used against hostile aircraft, missiles, and surface units. The U.S. Navy currently deploys the Mk 41 VLS on Aegis-equipped Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Spruance and Arleigh Burke class destroyers.

UDLP ASD Aberdeen has been recognized for its innovative technology, affordability, and excellence by its customers and peers on local and national levels. Among its honors are the South Dakota Governor’s Workplace, Health, and Safety “Award of Honor for 2002.” This is the Governor’s highest award of this type, and the Aberdeen facility also won the award in 1999, 2000, and 2001. In 1995, the facility swept the South Dakota Business Excellence Award by receiving first place in all three categories – Plant and Environmental Safety, Quality, and Manufacturing. UDLP ASD Aberdeen received the prestigious Abbey Award in 1995 and again in 2002 from the local Chamber of Commerce for World Class Excellence in Manufacturing. Within the United Defense Armament Systems Division, the Aberdeen facility was recognized for its outstanding safety accomplishments by receiving the Chairman’s Award for Safety Achievement in 1997, 2002, and 2003. UDLP ASD Aberdeen continues to be a forerunner in the manufacture of components for multiple missile launchers and canisters, is ISO-9001 Certified and received the ISO-14000 Declaration of Conformance. The facility’s implementation of Lean Manufacturing concepts showed an impressive flow of work throughout the factory floor, with very little wasted movement and well organized work cells. The facility’s team empowerment concept was demonstrated by the employees’ process ownership in how they managed their own work and made continuous improvements. UDLP ASD Aberdeen’s technical expertise and implementation of its Material Handling techniques, Powder Coating process, Safety Program, and Business Process Model provide outstanding products to the U.S. Military. The BMP survey team congratulates the UDLP ASD Aberdeen facility and considers the practices in this report to be among the best in industry and government.

TABLE OF ACRONYMS:
The following acronyms were used in this report:

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