Request for Proposal - Thruster Manufacturing

RFP for Thruster Manufacturing

You work for AeroFab Inc., an aerospace manufacturing company known for making high precision machined parts for low volume applications. Over the past 30 years, AeroFab has supplied parts for the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and many satellites. One of the company’s specialties is making parts for high temperature environments and it has made thruster chambers and nozzles that can withstand several hundred degrees Celsius for use in reaction control systems, controlling the attitude of satellites and human space vehicles.  Recently, AeroFab has fallen on some tough times because NASA has not been issuing as many large contracts as in the past. Commercial space companies are just starting to get into the market, so hopefully, AeroFab can capture some of that business.

You are the lead engineer in the R&D group in charge of researching new manufacturing processes and prototyping them.  In the last year, you’ve obtained a Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) machine from a company in Germany.  It “3-D prints” using lasers to sinter metal powders such as titanium and Inconel into solid parts. The resulting metal parts are extremely tolerant of high temperatures and 3-D printing enables very complex internal geometries.  It also lowers part counts in assemblies because instead of machining individual parts, they can be printed as a unit.  The technology has progressed rapidly in a relatively short amount of time. However, the parts do require finish machining operations and additional inspection to be sure they are free of internal voids. It is also a relatively unproven technology and not all companies are comfortable using it yet.  For many applications, conventional machining methods continue to be very effective.  Your R&D group also researches how to improve processes such as                milling, brazing and welding to reduce production time and cost.

Recently, your CEO grabbed you in the hallway and gave you the news – AeroFab has received a request to bid on a contract from Plenti-Sat to make the thruster assemblies for a constellation of commercial satellites that could eventually number in the hundreds. You think, “Wow, that’s a lot of parts, AeroFab wouldn’t just be a low-volume manufacturing company anymore.”  The CEO looks at your slide rule and says, “That’s right, we would be making a lot of parts if we were to win this project.  I want you to prepare a proposal for the initial development lot of 50 thruster assemblies and we’d better get the cost down to make them.  Plenti-Sat is working to bring down the cost of making all of these satellites and that means we need to be very competitive.  Eventually, they will want an order for 250 thrusters, but we have to be successful on this contract first. Our competitor Qwik Machining is also bidding on the contract.”

The CEO has laid this out for you in very blunt terms.  AeroFab needs to win this contract and you need to figure out how to do that.

Your assignment is to:

Chose a method of manufacturing the thrusters and write a proposal that reflects that choice. The proposal must convince the customer that your choice will be the best for them and provide the supporting documentation for that choice. You must also convince your management to support the investment in production facilities needed to complete the contract should you win it.

Some ideas to consider:

• Should you propose a new method to manufacture the thrusters or propose a method that is known?  There are risks associated with either choice.  What might those risks be?

• In order to fulfill the Plenti-Sat contract, AeroFab will need to make an investment in new machines to make the thrusters for either manufacturing method. Those machines can be used in the future for other purposes. What is the best choice for those future needs?
• What is the appropriate profit margin?  While you don’t necessarily need to disclose your margin, you do need to decide what it should be.
• What is the best way to display and communicate the information and graphs that support your choice?

Some technical and business information:

The table below describes the information for each manufacturing method.

Your average cumulative labor rate is $150/hour. Non-Recurring Trial Costs

Non-recurring costs are the one-time costs that go into producing a new design.  AeroFab has made most of its previous thrusters with traditional methods, but the engineers and technicians are not as familiar with DMLS. Parts have to typically be redesigned to be produced with additive manufacturing. As a result, you think it will take more labor to research the specifications for DMLS, obtain the metal powder material, release the drawings, and get trial parts made to prove the method works.  You estimate that the trial thrusters will take 250 hours and $5000 of material to make with DMLS. You will not be able to sell these trial thrusters to Plenti-Sat, they are for testing only.  You also need to make some trial thrusters if you chose to use conventional methods because the design is different than others you have produced, and you anticipate it will take 100 hours and $4000 of material.