Award-Winning Technology Reportedly Saving Aircraft Manufactures Time, Money

An airplane mechanic's need for speed has led to a revolutionary change in how large, complex products are built. A pioneering technology called ProjectionWorks is saving aircraft manufacturers hundreds of hours and has earned its inventor, Delta Sigma Company of Kennesaw, GA, one of the nation's top manufacturing innovation awards.

ProjectionWorks is the key component of the Fastener Insertion Live Link System (FILLS), developed by a team of aerospace companies. "This disruptive manufacturing technology has saved more than 200 hours per plane and a potential $111 million for the F-35 program alone," said David See, Project Manager for the Air Force Research Laboratory. "FILLS will revolutionize how we assemble, maintain and repair our fleets - from jets, to submarines, to ships, to satellites."

"The FILLS process automates data input and compares the data against original specifications," said Dave Thomas, F-35 Center Fuselage Build Manager, F-35 Joint Program Office. "Now, dozens of mechanics on the F-35, P3, C-5 and C-130 production lines are using Delta Sigma's ProjectionWorks 3-D technology to project assembly instructions directly onto aircraft parts."

"Early adopters of the ProjectionWorks technology have seen an average savings of more than 85 hours on aircraft assembly," said Roger Richardson of Delta Sigma. "We look forward to sharing our ProjectionWorks technology with manufacturers worldwide for greater efficiency and accuracy with mechanical assemblies."

"FILLS changes the way we think about assembling complex structures the way that CAD programs changed the way we think about designing them," said Joe Festa with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "With this progressive technology, we expect to save up to $91 million for the center fuselage assembly at our Palmdale F-35 program. There's no going back."

The FILLS team members - Variation Reduction Solutions, Inc., Delta Sigma, Lockheed Martin Aerospace and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems - received the 2012 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award on Nov. 27 at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in Orlando. The team developed FILLS for F-35 production under a Small Business Innovative Research Grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory.

(FILLS image provided by Delta Sigma Corp)

FMI: www.deltasigmacorp.com