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The Mission Planning community has a need to modernize their equipment; however, their actual mission planning software is quite old and only runs on certain platforms that are no longer commercially available. We were engaged with the customer for the past two years, building a strong reputation and continually working to understand their needs. Ultimately, the customer decided rather than pre-build a complete solution, they would put out their requirements and let the community of bidders put a solution together. We put together a comprehensive proposal that addressed each and every one of their challenges.
The biggest key factor in the win was that we knew ahead of time that Mission Planning software would only run on certain processors that are no longer available. We worked with our partner, Getac, and they agreed to go at risk and purchased all the processors required before the bid came out. It was a bold move and it paid off. The second challenge was assembling the kit itself.
We chose to use ProCustom Group (PCG) to perform the actual integration. ProCustom Group is an engineering firm and extremely detail orientated.
When we received our award briefing, we were told we were the only ones that put together a complete solution. We were not the cheapest, but everyone else took shortcuts and going back to our silver bullet, nobody bid the correct processor – except for us – for the software to run on. Apparently, the worldwide supply was diminished after Getac bought the processors, and we heard through the grapevine it was too risky for other OEM’s to bid the older processors, since there was a high chance of them not being able to deliver.
At the core of the solution is the Getac S410G1 which has been configured with a 6th Generation Intel CPU. Getac has continued to support this configuration based on the needs of the Mission Planning Community as they migrate from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The S410G1 is one of Getac’s highest rated products and is therefore the most fielded semi-rugged product in the product portfolio over the past 18 months. Various DoD agencies and markets have standardized on this system as its reliability has been on par with “fully rugged notebooks” which carry a much higher price tag. In addition to its reliability, when the S410G1 launched it came standard with an FHD IPS (1920×1080) display whereas most systems in its class only offer a 1366×768 display.
The requirements for the Transit case included reusable and safe storage for equipment, associated accessories and documentation, insulated from inclement weather and protected from vibrations and shocks when transported. The item will be subjected to rough loading and unloading using forklifts, transportation across rough terrain as well as the rigors of repeated sea and air shipment. The cases shall protect the contents from damage, to insure that the transported equipment continues to be fully functional.
PCG provided the following solution exceeding the proposed requirements. iSeries Injection Molded Mil-Standard Waterproof Cases are molded of ultra high-strength polypropylene copolymer resin, featuring a gasket sealed, water and dust tight, submersible design (MIL-C-4150J / IP67) that is resistant to corrosion and impact damage. Features a molded-in hinge, patented trigger release latch system, comfortable, snap-down rubber over-molded cushion grip handle, automatic ambient pressure equalization valve (MIL-STD-648C), resistance to UV, solvents, corrosion, fungus and impact damage (MIL-STD-810F).
The customer was absolutely amazed with our First Articles. When they wrote their list of requirements, they did not expect any company to meet all of them. Not only did we meet them all, but we exceeded them and gave them a better offering then they expected. Per the customer, the kit was built to perfection. It’s the right size, the foam is cut properly, etc.
The top picture above is what a standard kit would look like. The bottom two pictures are done by PCG. The level of engineering implemented exceeded the governments requirements.
