Pratt Miller Engineering Gains Competitive Edge with Rapid Process Adaptation

Pratt Miller Engineering, an Oshkosh Corporation business, is a leader in motorsports, defense, and mobility, leveraging advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities to deliver high-performance solutions. For complex projects demanding precision, adaptability, and stringent quality control, their agile approach — powered by Tulip — provides a distinct competitive edge. As they develop and prototype new products, engage in contracts necessitating product adaptation, and adopt new technologies, effectively managing change — while meeting compliance and quality standards — provides a significant advantage.

Before implementing Tulip, Pratt Miller Engineering's manufacturing processes were largely paper-based, creating significant inefficiencies and data integrity issues. To address these, the team adopted a digital work instruction tool, but the system lacked the flexibility and capabilities to keep their team accountable.

While the software allowed for the creation and editing of work instructions, it offered minimal options for rich media and detailed text, restricting the clarity and comprehensiveness of instructions. Furthermore, critical data points such as batch and serial numbers for defense applications were manually entered without data validation, leading to significant errors and traceability issues. Rectifying incorrect data entries from paper forms or unvalidated inputs required substantial manual effort, especially for high-volume projects.

Work orders and part lists were managed through a chaotic mix of Excel sheets and handwritten notes, leading to confusion, errors in quantities, and outdated information. Managing and tracking government-owned parts across various job codes was a nightmare, lacking a centralized and easily searchable system.

To address their operational challenges, Pratt Miller Engineering sought a robust and flexible solution. They adopted Tulip to go beyond basic work instructions, seeking capabilities for quality control, tool connections, and comprehensive data capture. Their first implementation of Tulip was for two of their defense products: the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) and then the Trackless Moving Target (TMT) program.

As they optimized the design and manufacturing process during prototyping and low-rate initial production (LRIP) phases, moving to full-scale production, Pratt Miller Engineering used several connected apps to power their production.

Tulip replaced limited work instructions, providing operators with detailed guidance, including images, videos, and crucial data capture points for traceability. This allowed for real-time validation of batch and serial numbers, significantly reducing errors. Barcode readers replaced manual data entry.

Pratt Miller Engineering connected Tulip to their data warehouse, fed by their ERP system. This allowed them to pull in critical work order data, due dates, required parts, and even track operator time on specific tasks and router steps. This integration largely eliminated paper work orders and provided operators with exact, digitized part lists.

Pratt Miller Engineering significantly enhanced the traceability of the operations by integrating QR codes into its processes. They use Zebra printers to create and apply these barcodes to parts and subassemblies. Operators can then scan these printed labels with a barcode scanner, streamlining part tracking and ensuring accurate documentation of items, including batch and serial numbers. This direct scanning capability eliminates the need for manual data entry, thereby preventing errors and providing precise, end-to-end traceability for critical components.

Moving beyond reactive inspections to proactive validation within the build process, the team at Pratt Miller Engineering seamlessly embedded critical quality checks directly into their operator workflows,

Operators capture weights from integrated scales to quality control (QC) composite parts, ensuring they match specifications before the parts are moved downstream.

For applications such as commissioning and testing battery voltages and completing charger assembly, operators use quality steps within their apps with embedded multimeters.

Operators confirm quality at the point of action, significantly reducing errors and rework, while also capturing quality data that can be used for investigations and engineering improvements.

Pratt Miller Engineering achieved clarity and control over its inventory, particularly for government-owned property, by developing a dedicated Tulip inventory app. This allowed them to precisely track parts by job code, location, and transaction history, ensuring meticulous accountability and easy information retrieval. The Tulip inventory app streamlined the tracking of these government-owned parts, providing a clear, auditable record of location, job code allocation, and comprehensive transaction history — a process previously described as an "absolute nightmare."

During "training as a service" events, where vehicles were operated in the field and parts were frequently damaged, the team could accurately compare checked-out versus checked-in parts. This enabled them to precisely determine what parts were "consumed" and identify crucial reorder needs.

Inventory management, which was "basically impossible" with their prior methods, transformed their inventory accuracy and operational efficiency.

As the TMT program evolved, moving from the prototyping and low-rate initial production (LRIP) phases to full-scale production, Tulip's adaptability proved to be an important asset for Pratt Miller Engineering. The agility of the platform allowed them to build upon and adapt their existing solutions, demonstrating flexibility throughout the product lifecycle.

During the LRIP phase, which served as a prototype stage, the engineering team released frequent design changes necessitating new variations of parts and updates to build instructions. The team could easily update build instructions to reflect changes, add new part types to the database, and track which vehicles had which parts.

In addition to iterative development of the product, the manufacturing team also continually updated the production process to smooth out inefficiencies, often leveraging feedback from operators to identify and prioritize improvements. The ease of making changes in Tulip, often in real-time alongside operators, fostered immediate feedback implementation and continuous improvement in workflows.

As Pratt Miller Engineering moved into full-scale production, they needed to adapt their product and processes to meet requirements outlined in customer contracts, such as switching out the target.

The team created "modular" build instructions with Tulip, enabling them to "swap out instruction sets and folders to reflect customer-specific changes." This ensured that operators always had access to the most current and accurate instructions, regardless of design iterations.

Their ability to adapt quickly to these customer demands, alongside internal testing feedback, contributes to their success in securing new contracts.

With Tulip, Pratt Miller Engineering has transformed their manufacturing operations — giving them the end-to-end traceability to pursue defense contracts and the demonstrable operational agility to win.

• Enabling Complex Builds: Tulip has become indispensable for building complex vehicles, capturing crucial "tribal knowledge" through detailed instructions, pictures, and notes.

• Improved Data Accuracy and Traceability: Digitizing work orders and inventory tracking has drastically reduced errors from manual entry and fragmented Excel sheets, providing operators with precise, real-time part lists and ensuring accurate traceability. The ability to track every part transaction provides a clear audit trail.

• Competitive Advantage in Contract Bids: Demonstrating their sophisticated digital manufacturing processes powered by Tulip has positively influenced potential customers during visits, contributing to Pratt Miller Engineering's success in securing new production contracts.

Pratt Miller Engineering continues to expand its use of Tulip, with plans to further digitize and connect their operations. They are in the process of migrating their work order request system into Tulip, previously spread across two different internal sites, to a single, standardized platform. They also plan to move their purchase order request system into Tulip, aiming to link work orders and purchase orders to parts, instructions, and inventory.

By continuously leveraging Tulip's composable platform, Pratt Miller Engineering is building a truly agile and connected manufacturing environment, ready to tackle the complexities of advanced engineering and production.