NCMS Awarded Fourth Consecutive CTMA Cooperative Agreement Contract

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) announced today that it has been awarded a fourth consecutive Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) Cooperative Agreement (CA) from the US Department of Defense (DOD). This competitive award extends NCMS' 22-year record of success as the CTMA program's managing partner. The contract is valued at up to $900 million for a period of 5 years. 

"It is an honor to build upon our CTMA successes and I'm gratified by DOD's confidence in NCMS. It reflects our outstanding record of performance since the program's inception and validates the innovative technical and management solutions we plan for the coming 5 years," said Lisa Strama, NCMS President and CEO. "We welcome the opportunity to continue our leadership on the program, and we commit our best people to the effort, starting with Debbie Lilu, Vice President, Maintenance and Sustainment Business Development, who has performed ably in her CTMA role. Working as a team, we propose nothing less than to help DOD transform the future of the DOD MxS community by integrating technology innovation at the velocity of change."  

CTMA is the only DOD-wide program focused solely on maintenance improvements. It provides a flexible contract vehicle and collaborative working model for manufacturers, research universities, DOD and other federal agencies to develop relationships and opportunities, drive cutting-edge R&D, and meet warfighter needs through demonstration of new technologies prior to full deployment. NCMS increases CTMA effectiveness by harnessing the capabilities and resources of its 5,000 US technology partners. NCMS' collaborative framework and disciplined development, demonstration, validation, and transition help DOD solve complex Maintenance and Sustainment (MxS) challenges to ensure American troops are supported by the most up-to-date and best-maintained platforms and tools in the world.  

"The readiness of America's fighting forces hinges on the effectiveness of DOD's maintenance and sustainment enterprise.  CTMA has become the "go-to" program for bringing the best and brightest ideas from industry and DOD to rapidly innovate the way that affordable materiel readiness is provided to our warfighters.  For the past 22 years, CTMA has diligently and steadily changed maintenance paradigms across the entire sustainment portfolio," said Mr. Gregory Kilchenstein, Director, Enterprise Maintenance Technology, ODASD – Materiel Readiness. "I am excited about the possibilities afforded by the next 5 years of working shoulder to shoulder with NCMS to transform maintenance and sustainment and ensure the continued superiority of America's military."

About NCMS 
NCMS is a cross-industry technology development consortium dedicated to improving the competitiveness and strength of the US industrial base for over 33 years. NCMS leverages a network of industry, government, and university partners to develop, demonstrate, and transition innovative technologies efficiently, with less risk and lower cost. NCMS enables world-class companies to work effectively with other members on new opportunities—matching highly capable companies with the providers and end users who need their innovations and technology solutions. The NCMS network benefits from an accelerated progression of idea creation through execution. 

SOURCE National Center for Manufacturing Sciences