FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Aeronautics business area of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has entered a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor-Protege Agreement with Sciaky, Inc., of Chicago, Ill. Sciaky is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business supplier and industry leader in technologies for Electron Beam Direct Manufacturing.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics will assist Sciaky as the company develops the manufacturing capacity and management infrastructure to deliver affordable, high quality, innovative titanium raw material pre-forms in quantities that will support future Department of Defense and prime contractor needs.

Morehouse College, a Historically Black College/University, will support the agreement through its Entrepreneurial Center in Atlanta, Ga., with training, mentoring and consultancy to Sciaky in Enterprise/Manufacturing Resource Planning. The University of Texas at El Paso will provide Quality Systems process training to Sciaky as part of the agreement.

Sciaky developed an industry leading manufacturing capability for Electron Beam Direct Manufacturing with assistance of the DoD Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The DoD and manufacturing industry have identified Electron Beam Direct Manufacturing technology for repair and discrete part production as a "game changer," meaning it could redefine and advance the current state-of-the-art in aerospace manufacturing.

The goal of the Mentor-Protege agreement is to transition Sciaky from prototype quantity manufacturing to efficient, high quality, large-scale production capability. As the technology matures, Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft program will consider it for manufacturing titanium structural components. 

"While the early focus is going to be F-35, we ultimately plan to implement Electron Beam Direct Manufacturing technology across the breadth of our aircraft product lines to improve affordability and lead-time for titanium structures," said Brian Rosenberger, affordability lead for Improvements & Derivatives at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. 

"Partnering with Sciaky aligns with our company focus on performance, relevance and affordability. They bring innovation and creativity and an emphasis on cost, schedule and quality – essential elements of meeting our customers' requirements," said Tom Simmons, vice president of Supply Chain Management for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

"We are honored to be partnered with Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force in this exciting Mentor Protege collaboration. The scope of this agreement will enable all parties to improve their respective value streams by improving supply chain efficiency and deploying cutting edge technology to support efficient defense manufacturing," said Mike Riesen, general manager of Sciaky.

Established in 1939, Sciaky has delivered over 450 Electron Beam Welding Systems and currently has 55 employees. Their 140,000 square foot facility is well equipped for research and development, design engineering, computer hardware and software development, manufacturing and testing of welding systems.

The DoD Mentor-Protege Program, established in 1991, assists small businesses (proteges) in competing for prime contract and subcontract awards by partnering with large companies (mentors) under individual, project-based agreements.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company