NCMS Earns Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award for EWIS Project

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has been honored with a Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The award recognizes project teams that significantly advance defense manufacturing techniques, processes, and practices nationwide.

NCMS industry partners and the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) initiative—under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Materiel Readiness and Maintenance Policy—were acknowledged for their Enhanced Wiring Integrity Systems (EWIS) project.

The EWIS initiative is a four‑year, joint‑services collaboration that tackles electrical wiring issues identified by end‑users. Wiring failures cost the Department of Defense thousands of mission aborts annually and consume millions of maintenance work‑hours. By reducing overall maintenance, the project boosts mission readiness while cutting costs.

The effort brought together NCMS members Eclypse International (Corona, CA) and Sikorsky Aircraft (Stratford, CT), along with DoD joint services represented by Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (NC), Navy Depot (Jacksonville, FL), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (NH), North Island (San Diego), Tobyhanna Army Depot (PA) and Ogden Air Logistics Center (UT). Their partnership was key to the project's success.

“The EWIS project exemplifies how NCMS members deliver measurable benefits to the military,” said NCMS Vice President Chuck Ryan. “Our cross‑industry collaborations introduce new technology that enhances materiel readiness and reduces DoD costs.”

Central to the solution is a standing wave reflectometer (SWR) technology, licensed from NASA to Eclypse International. The handheld meter lets operators quickly connect, detect, and locate hard faults in wiring assemblies. Data is downloaded to a PC, where SWR software pinpoints faults within inches.

EWIS technology is now successfully addressing three critical wiring problem areas: aircraft, dockside and shipboard cranes, and high‑density electronic motherboards in transportable communication shelters. Its deployment across the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines has already yielded significant cost, cycle‑time and reliability gains.

Early pilot programs demonstrate impressive savings:

• Repair of circuit breaker panels on 24 EA‑6B aircraft saved over $950,000.
• Wiring troubleshooting in mobile Army communication shelters dropped by more than 50%, increasing shelter availability for the warfighter.
• Identification of faulty relays in Navy dockside cranes prevented $60,000 per delay in submarine servicing costs while in dry dock.

For more information about EWIS, contact NCMS Program Manager Lee Patch at 734‑995‑4972, email customercare@ncms.org, or visit www.ncms.org.