CASS Phase II TPS Offload testing, production and delivery to the Fleet

This paper examines the testing and production processes used on the CASS Phase II TPS Offload Program. The CASS Phase II TPS Offload program is a US Navy acquisition to replace legacy ATE Systems using CASS (Consolidated Automated Support System) Test Stations. This provides the Navy intermediate maintenance activities an effective tool for restoring “Ready For Issue” (RFI) status for over 450 aircraft avionic assemblies. With the completion of these OTPSs the Navy will replace a multitude of obsolete aircraft support testers with one type of station. The Offload team developed over 400 test programs running on 75 unique hardware test sets and produced a total of 1143 Operational Test Program Sets along with accompanying spares for the US Navy. From integration to deployment to the Fleet, a variety of test processes are encountered and with the numerous test programs being developed, the team found itself in some form of “final” test for most of the program life cycle. The TPS Offload team brought together the developers, buyers and the end users to streamline these processes without reducing the quality of the product. We will examine the evolution of the acceptance test approach for the CASS Phase II TPS Offload Program, the costs and benefits of the various testing phases and the lessons learned as we combined many aspects of testing along the way. The paper will further discuss the transition from development to production. The first production units were delivered in August 2005 and by the end of 2010 we will have delivered 1143 test sets to sites around the world. To prepare for this complex production effort, a multi-disciplined team was established to conduct Pre-production kaizens at the Orlando and La Mesa facilities. The team included our US Navy and DCMA customers. A single piece flow operation was developed which allowed for early production delivery of multiple configurations to the US Navy. Subassemblies, such as cable- - s and test fixtures would be built at a low cost manufacturing facility in La Mesa, Mexico, while final assembly and acceptance test would take place at the Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support facility in Orlando. The operating plan, layout and support model for the production operation evolved and lessons learned were incorporated in each successive block of production.