Continuum Lifecycle Services

Continuum Lifecycle services can be tailored to your needs as they arise and funding permits. Curtiss-Wright recognizes that many more proof-of-concept projects are initiated than reach maturity into deployed, production equipment. Proof-of-concept requires rapid prototyping, responsive custom engineering development, strong technical support and regular software updates to keep abreast of the latest technology. In contrast, a mature production program relies upon detailed configuration management plus longevity of supply and repair for its success.

The flexibility of Continuum Lifecycle can be used to cost-effectively reduce initial time-to-market and to demonstrate the benefits of new technology solutions. See how Continuum Lifecycle becomes the bridge between Curtiss-Wright’s leading-edge COTS products and the all-round success of your project throughout its entire lifespan.

Strong factory technical support is a vital element in the development of every new project. In addition to award-winning user documentation, dedicated engineers and technicians provide telephone support for advice, bug fixing and problem resolution. Technical support is available in different worldwide timezones and can be extended to on-site support and higher levels of response to suit the criticality of your particular project. A software upgrade service ensures that the latest, or most applicable, versions of firmware, driver or function are always available. Self-help on-line hardware and software technical tips and support archives are maintained for immediate access through Curtiss-Wright’s Continuum Support Center website located at http://csc.cwcembedded.com.

Ideal for those times when a configuration of boards, firmware and operating system in a chassis is needed in a hurry for the initial concept development phase of a project. A Rapid Prototype primarily incorporates Curtiss-Wright products but can also include, for example, 3rd party PMC modules and drivers. Rapid Prototypes are sourced and managed by Curtiss-Wright’s technical support engineers who can also provide expert advice and hands-on support to benchmarking and interoperability issues that might require resolution during the early stages of design and implementation.

It is not always possible to use an off-the-shelf product when it comes to final deployment in a real-world platform. There may be space constraints, further environmental requirements to meet or additional functionality that is not supported by any available off-the-shelf solution. In most cases Curtiss-Wright can re-use hardware and software design data from their off-the-shelf product lines to derive a product ideally suited to even the most severe requirements. By using the same design processes, tools and manufacturing expertise, derived custom products are assured of the same controls and quality standards as our off-the-shelf products.

The breadth of COTS deployment now extends to safety-critical avionics applications such as weapons systems, cockpit displays and flight control systems. Curtiss-Wright can meet the exhaustive requirements of RTCA DO-178B and DO-254, designing and proving derived custom products with the controls, processes and documentation required by the certification authorities for the end-use applications.

Curtiss-Wright’s standard repair and warranty services can be enhanced to include priority and service extension options. Priority repair is ideal for those times when budgets cannot reach to the provision of spare modules. It guarantees that repair response times are as short as possible during critical periods. Extended warranty is also available at the time of original purchase to protect against unpredictable repair costs.

The use of COTS components can impose product life constraints that, for commercial equipment, can be as little as one year from first introduction. Curtiss-Wright uses rigorous component selection and management procedures during design that ensure product lifetimes of five years or more. However, the rapid rate of technological change and the general adoption of spiral development methodology often results in planned technology refreshes during development, production and deployment. Curtiss-Wright’s products have been designed to support this regular refresh with continuing generational compatibility of like-product lines inherent in their design.

Technology refresh is not always applicable to every project, particularly deployed equipment in mission-critical applications which may suffer severe cost impacts for requalification. For these cases Curtiss-Wright offers three levels of configuration management, regular obsolescence reports and the facility to extend the life of customer-specific variants of products for long periods of time. Life extensions include both manufacture and repair plus the storage and management of parts and test equipment as required.

During the early phases of a project Curtiss-Wright can provide on-site product training, product consulting services plus support to the development of repair, maintenance and technology refresh strategies for the anticipated service life of a project. In addition to the reliability data provided as standard with each new product, further reliability assessments can be made for specific environments or operating temperatures if needed. A Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) can be useful to identify the most likely types of failures and their effect upon the product. FMECA is used with the reliability analysis to assist in overall system design and to make predictions of future logistics requirements, both in the field and at base depot, to optimize the availability of the equipment in its end-use application. A full range of Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) documentation, repair and rovisioning recommendations is also offered.