Engineers at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, needed design software to help them build the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy. They chose Intercim Velocity from Intercim Inc. in Minneapolis.

Velocity is process-execution software for aerospace and defense-industry engineers to assemble aircraft. It is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution to meet regulatory requirements, harness lean principles, manage quality processes, and bridge process execution between design and production for a closed-loop product lifecycle- management system.

Workers in the V-22 Osprey program use this integrated shop-floor execution and quality-management system from Intercim, alongside CS/CAPP manufacturing-planning and work-instruction management solution from CIMx, Milford, Ohio.

Together, the combined package enables:

• real-time viewing of work instructions, performing buyoffs and on-line data collection;
• capturing labor and operation status with feedback to performance measurement systems;
• assembling a complete as-built ship’s record; and
• creating an efficient operational environment through procedural enforcement of information processes.

“It is critical that we meet mission requirements for the delivery of 450 V-22 aircraft with orders for the Marines, the Air Force, and the U.S. Navy,” says Roger Williams, plant manager at Bell Helicopter Textron. “The integration of these innovative tools enables significant quality and productivity improvements with rapid deployment at minimal additional cost.” For more information, see www.intercim.com or www.cimx.com.