Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company, Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems Company, and Boeing Defense & Space Group's Military Airplanes Division are working together to develop a new fighter jet to replace the F-15 fighter jet, which has been in use since 1975. The F-22 fighter jet is being developed to counter increasingly sophisticated air forces and defense systems being used around the world. The F-22 project is conducted at three locations with 90 Integrated Product Teams, or IPTs. Each IPT is responsible for a part of the aircraft-avionics, cockpit, airframe, utilities, or subsystems-from the engineering of a part or system to manufacturing and supporting the product once in use. The IPT concept is effective but coordinating change requirements throughout the teams has become increasingly difficult. Manual

change processing was both labor and paper intensive. The teams communicated using hard copy requests, attachments, drawings, and specifications. These documents were copied, and routed via interoffice, standard or express mail, e-mail, or fax. Comments were returned to the IPT in varying formats and complexities. A change manager would consolidate the information into a final change request, and coordinate the approval through a Change Control Board. One manual change request could take an average of 1000 man-hours over an average of 50 days and at a cost of $220 in materials. The process had to be automated to increase productivity and reduce material cost. The team selected FORMTEK to provide system integration and commercial off-the-shelf software technology. Using FORMTEK:TDM electronic vault repository and workflow technology, FORMTEK helped the team develop the Electronic Change Request System, or ECRS, to develop and process change requests. ECRS returns to the source of the data for information instead of creating paper copies. ECRS uses FORMTEK:TDM's underlying relational database and an electronic vault, or object repository, to control, access, and store change requests and related information. Process rules, formatted worksheets, workflow logic, states, and user roles enable change requests to flow from creation to disposition within defined paths. FORMTEK:TDM uses InConcert software so users can model and coordinate all components of the work process. InConcert integrates workflow technology with document management, to automate and maintain the business process. ECRS features include automatic change request numbering, automatic routing/ distributing to impacted IPTs, and task driven to-do lists, with the ability to determine potential product impact on change requests. ECRS allows all change request information to be captured automatically. This information might include routing history, attachments, redlines/markups, and comments. Finally, ECRS gives users current status and tracking information on each change request project. The system is configured with a centralized object repository and process control server. Over local and/or wide area networks, users may access the object repository and process control server, which may be served via either the object repository or remote storage servers. ECRS is fully integrated with F-22's Digital Information Management System (DIMS) to give users complete data management tools. DIMS represents the object repository in the platform where released drawings and project documents are stored along with change requests and related documents generated from ECRS.        Figure 1 illustrates the original change request process path.            After FORMTEK delivered Phase I of ECRS, an eight week test and training period gave the F-22 team time to prepare the system and the user community for a mandated switch from the paper process to the electronic process. Training was done in two sessionsÐthe overview, followed by a 4-hour detailed hands-on session. The trainers took users through the application, basing the sessions on the user's guide, which served as the text for the training sessions. There are now approximately 600 ECRS authorized user seats in the F-22 project. ECRS is expected to help reduce the time required to perform change requests to an average of 400 manhours, with an average of $25 in material per changeÐa 60% reduction. It is not easy to change how people work. Automation, whether on the assembly line or in an engineering department, is a culture change. To make changes work, organizations need strong buy in from both management and the user community. The technical infrastructure must be able to support the new processes. A phased implementation can help ease user's fears about the new system and give the project team an opportunity to better tailor the system to users' needs. According to the F-22 ECRS/DIMS project leader, Ron Best, F-22 Configuration/Data Management Senior Engineer at Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company, "user culture shock is the biggest hurdle to overcome during process reengineering and implementing automated workflow technologies. It's a bumpy road, but the benefits are worthwhile." Mr. Best plans to employ additional automated processes, using FORMTEK:TDM and Workflow, on the F-22 program. "With a management commitment to control cost, achieving the highest level of productivity, and maintaining excellence in product quality, there are many business processes that can realize the same types of benefits as those realized by using ECRS," said Mr. Best.                                                        Figure 2 illustrates the change request process path using ECRS.   For more information on how Formtek Business Application Solutions can help your business, contact a sales representative at sales@formtek.com or call 1.800.FORMTEK.