arms to huge gears for a swing-span bridge. That versatility, though, can be a blessing and a curse. While it allows the arsenal to win contracts for military programs that no one else can fulfi ll, it also makes it diffi cult for it to produce original equipment at a competitive rate. Fortunately, the facility has aimed a recent spate of improvements at changing that fact.
A Military-Style Makeover
Civilians generally think of military installations as clean, orderly facilities. We envision tightly groomed offi cers in uniform performing economical tasks in pristine conditions. But RIA isn’t necessarily a military installation. While the vertically-integrated manufacturer produces equipment for military applications and sits on a military base, the 1.5 million-sq.-ft.
unifor
plant is run almost entirely by civilian employees. So when it began to fall into disrepair a few years ago, it took a strong military personality to come in and turn the place around. Colonel Cotter was the man for the job. “Over the past few years, we have really reestablished the RIA brand,” he said. “In this industry, an important value I’ve come to understand is that there’s always room for improvement.” The employees of the arsenal refer to the new big boss simply as “the Col- onel,” and he is widely credited with instilling in the manufacturing facility a new sense of pride and purpose. “The Colonel is a very detail-ori- ented person,” Besse said. “He looked around and decided to fi gure out how to put the money in to make this place the national treasure that it is.”
Cotter’s fi rst order of business was to make everyone clean up. To that end, the organization has invested in efforts to paint the building interior, both now and on a continuous basis. The arsenal also has assembled a lean manufactur- ing team to search the workfl ow for ineffi ciencies and create manufac- turing cells. And, it has undergone an external marketing offensive to match its internal changes. The facility is determined to win business based on its expertise, rather than
being put to work by military agencies simply because it exists. “We have a long history of providing equipment, but we’re not necessarily known right now,” said Rhys Fuller- love, public affairs offi cer.
More Than a Metalcaster RIA (as is clear from the name)
is an arsenal. That distinguishes it in military speak from a depot. Arsenals, those in the know say, are like the OEMs of weapons pro- duction, while depots
RIA casts this mount for a Blackhawk helicopter gun (left), as well as this anchor (above), which digs into the ground to brace the howitzer 119 when it is fi red.
March/april 2010 Metal casting Design anD purchasing 33
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