Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/1451
Title: Shrinking the Mountain of Metal: The Potential of Three Advanced Technologies
Authors: David N. Ford
Thomas J. Housel
Johnathan C. Mun
Keywords: Technology
Mountains of Metal
Three Dimensional Laser Scanning
Additive Manufacturing
Product Lifecycle Management
Issue Date: 30-Mar-2017
Publisher: Acquisition Research Program
Citation: Published--Unlimited Distribution
Series/Report no.: Knowledge Valuation Analysis
SYM-AM-17-072
Abstract: Military operations create large amounts of damaged equipment, referred to as mountains of metal. Traditional and current strategies for shrinking the mountain include shipping much equipment to U.S. depots for repair and overhaul. Three advanced technologies, three-dimensional laser scanning, additive manufacturing, and product lifecycle management, can potentially save costs by relocating and accelerating repair operations. Published forecasts of the evolution of these technologies formed the basis for scenarios of their application to shrinking the mountain at U.S. depots, in-theater support facilities, and at forward stations: current use, near-future use, and distant future use. Knowledge Value Added modeling was applied to four technology adoption scenarios (traditional and the three listed) to the Army's up armor HMMWV fleet to estimate returns on investment for each scenario, costs, and potential savings. Cost savings potential of $1.8 billion in the up armor HMMWV fleet and over $21 billion in operations similar in scale to those in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated. Conclusions include a recommendation to accelerate the adoption and use of these advanced technologies for equipment repair to shrink the mountain of metal.
Description: Acquisition Management / Defense Acquisition Community Contributor
URI: https://dair.nps.edu/handle/123456789/1451
Appears in Collections:Annual Acquisition Research Symposium Proceedings & Presentations

Files in This Item:
File SizeFormat 
SYM-AM-17-072.pdf640.19 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.