Currently, the Marine Corps has a digital repository created over the last few years and populated with files, technical data and other information to support additive manufacturing technologies, but it\u2019s not organized as something like a detailed catalog, Marine Corps Systems Command officials said last week during a virtual session at the WEST 2021 conference, cohosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working toward a centralized digital repository the program offices will use to store their data and host Marine Corps design solutions,\u201d said Kristin Holzworth, chief scientist at the Quantico, Va.-based SYSCOM\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Operations Cell, or AMOC. \u201cDigital infrastructure is really the key,\u201d Holzworth said. While more than 300 3D printers already are in use by units across the Marine Corps, \u201cwhat we have is a data problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of data already out there,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it\u2019s all disaggregated and it\u2019s unclear what we have, what we don\u2019t have, and getting fleet access to what we do have can be quite difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
The long-term goal \u201cis a true program-of-record style repository\u201d called the Digital Manufacturing Data Vault, said Holzworth, describing it as \u201ca one-stop-shop for approval process, version control, approved part drawings and technical data packages.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Marine Corps plans to implement the DMDV during fiscal 2024, according to a SYSCOM brief on advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n The digital vault \u201cwill hold all of the engineering data and shared data across the Marine Corps, as well as our sister services and\u201d the Defense Logistics Agency, Holzworth said. It will serve as a life-cycle management tool for program offices, she added, \u201cand it really will be an enterprise-wide advanced manufacturing solution.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInteroperability is also a central tenet,\u201d she said, and it will support collaboration with the services, DLA and allies as well as support innovation. \u201cIt will enable fleet-wide accessibility and provide access to the entire Marine Corps enterprise and also for operations in multiple environments, including base, station, depot and expeditionary.\u201d<\/p>\n The existing repository has more than 400 parts, according to SYSCOM. A part-approval pipeline in place can process ideas from Marines in the field through the program office for evaluation. The program manager retains the approval authority on parts manufacturing, while unit commanders decide on using those parts.<\/p>\n Marine Corps Order 4700.4 on Additive Manufacturing, issued in March 2020, spells out the \u201crules of the road\u201d for additive manufacturing, said\u00a0Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joshua Whitehead, maintenance officer at SYSCOM\u2019s Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch, located at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The 58-page order details\u00a0\u201cwho can print what, where, part approval process, training and education, and it also covers legal implications\u201d with one chapter on intellectual property, licensing and other exclusive rights that can protect copyrights and patents.<\/p>\n The order, Whitehead said, is an \u201c80 percent solution\u201d that will be revised with time and experience, and currently, it doesn\u2019t address cybersecurity.<\/p>\n Legal issues were included in the MCO to help guide Marines and commanders\u2019 decisions on 3D printing and prevent any unauthorized use of a vendor\u2019s intellectual property. \u201cDo we have options to buy it, or can we do a clean reverse-engineer and produce our own technical data,\u201d Whitehead said in the WEST session brief to industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not want the Marine Corps to become a manufacturer,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just want to fix our things now, and as far forward as possible, vice waiting to get the actual solution into the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Additive manufacturing systems are helping fill critical needs in the field and out in the fleet, due to the aging equipment and diminishing supplies of replacement parts, Whitehead said. \u201cWe all face obsolescence issues and can benefit more from an agile supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n AM capability is seen as critical to the Marine Corps\u2019 focus on expeditionary advanced base operations and littoral operations in a contested environment, which \u201ccall for small, highly-mobile detachments of Marines to maneuver among island chains to execute a mission and to attack and leave before being detected and targeted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a big leap from traditional operations with larger, battalion-sized landing teams of Marines landing ashore with similarly large footprints of logistical support. \u201cWhile we\u2019re still working on what the exact laydown looks like, we know it needs to be smaller by an order of magnitude or more,\u201d Whitehead said. \u201cThere is no supply chain, so we need a capability to produce something on-demand, and that solution just needs to be able to lift me home or get me to the next fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Units in future operations will be lightly equipped and will have to move and fight with limited parts on hand, officials say, and resupply of a critical part could be hours or days away. \u201cIf I can supplement that (class) IX-block (supply of parts) with a digital IX-block \u2013 a hard-drive with many advanced manufacturing repair-parts files as I can fit \u2013 and a suite of general machines to make them on-site, it\u2019s much more expeditionary and more efficient for the Marine Corps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Starting in fiscal 2022, each battalion will be getting 3D capability through the portable Tactical Fabrication (TACFAB) printing kit, Whitehead said, although some units have been buying their own through the General Services Administration catalog. The MCO, in fact, provides room for unit commanders to purchase printing systems. The larger X-FAB mobile shelter is getting fielded this fiscal 2021, giving units more capability to build parts. Larger printing systems exist at depot-level facilities.<\/p>\n With the growing availability of 3D printing means any Marine could be a \u201cmaker\u201d and learn to use the systems to make prototypes and parts, he said, noting so-called \u201cMaker Spaces\u201d are being established around the fleet and mobile training teams can teach on-site.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Screen-Shot-2021-07-05-at-12.46.26-PM.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6315593.jpg\")