Digital Thread Pilot Project Presents Roadmap for Strengthening Domestic Supply Chain

YORKTOWN, INDIANA, JANUARY 19, 2022 – Mursix Corporation, a technology-driven manufacturer supplying components to a wide range of industries, recently participated in a pioneering industry collaboration that showcases how use of the digital thread can advance the capabilities of enterprise learning systems in parallel with individualized workforce development to strengthen the domestic manufacturing supply chain.

Funded by a $250,000 grant from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), and the Indiana Defense Network, the project tasked a group of regional businesses with identifying ways to increase capacity, strengthen efficiencies, and improve product quality. The challenge, according to the AFRL, was that current acquisition processes and engineering methods hinder the ability to meet the demands of exponential technology growth, complexity, and access to information.  

Mursix was joined by Cummins, ICTT System Sciences, IntelAdvise, and students from Purdue Polytechnic to form “Team Top Gun.” By examining the use of the digital thread across the life cycle of an actual part defined by Mursix and Cummins, the team’s work offers an illustrative example of how independent enterprises can leverage existing frameworks to strengthen the digital thread across the supply chain, leading to better decisions throughout the life-cycle management of a manufactured part.

“The importance of the digital representation of a physical system that is used to communicate properties and live status to other systems and applications is integral to the future of smart factories,” stated Susan Murray Carlock, co-owner and vice president of business development for Mursix. “This project was a stepping-stone to providing a framework that takes technical data and analyzes it to provide actionable information.”

By involving students from Purdue Polytechnic, the digital thread project also helped to advance Indiana’s workforce development goals, equipping future industry leaders with the skills to succeed in 21st century digital manufacturing.

“The Top Gun project was a great opportunity for me and the Purdue Polytechnic Anderson
students,” said Jeff Heiking, PE, Clinical Assistant Professor, MET, Purdue Polytechnic Anderson. “Not only were the students exposed to the collaborative process between two impactful central Indiana companies in Cummins and Mursix, but they were able to work with students from the Purdue Polytechnic Columbus location. While the students are generally presented many of these concepts in the classroom, the opportunity to experience them first person from within these companies is invaluable.”

“The end result of the digital thread project is a blueprint the regional manufacturing industry can use to build a new ecosystem and culture that will enable customers in critical industries such as defense to field higher quality products faster,” added Carlock. “By the stakeholders represented within this project, the team itself demonstrates that with the right incentives, there is promise that key decision-makers within the manufacturing ecosystem will collaborate in a manner conducive to a holistic manufacturing base digital transformation, thereby raising all boats.”

Click here to read the team’s final report.

 

For more information on Mursix Corporation, contact Susan Murray Carlock at scarlock@mursix.com

 

 

About Mursix Corporation

Founded in 1990 and based in Yorktown, Indiana, family-owned Mursix Corporation is a technology-driven manufacturing company known for skillfully solving a full scope of challenges in the manufacture of quality-critical, custom-engineered components. Key capabilities include tool design and construction, punch press and multislide stamping of both large and small components, precision machining, in-machine processing, injection and insert molding, plating, and sophisticated multi-part assembly. Acting as a true collaborative partner, customer-first relationships make Mursix a supplier of choice in an ever-expanding range of markets.

From its administrative, engineering, and manufacturing facilities in the United States and Asia, Mursix serves a diverse customer base in a wide variety of markets and has earned its reputation as a "one-stop solution" for its customers.

 


Media Contact:
Ryan Heath

Miller Brooks
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