Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.
Fort Worth, Texas

For more than a decade, the Navy's Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) survey process has been a primary avenue for industry and government to present individual and distinctive success stories in management and manufacturing disciplines. For those organizations seeking to advance their overall manufacturing performance, the BMP program has provided validated and documented best practices. These practices, verified on-site by BMP survey team members, have served as a model for improvement in business and industry and as a tool to promote teaming.

In 1995, industry and government representatives discussed the idea of broadening the BMP program's scope to incorporate success stories submitted by industry. The objective was to find an efficient, cost-effective way to share a greater volume of information on the latest technology and business developments. Since the BMP program had a proven approach for sharing success stories, this seemed to be a logical expansion.

The practices in this report were submitted to the BMP Center of Excellence by Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (BHTI), located in Forth Worth, Texas as an example of some of the latest developments in the environmental area. They are considered to be best practices or success stories, however, they were not validated by an on-site BMP survey team. Our goal is to help industry and government keep pace with the rapid changes taking place in the business, manufacturing, and environmental communities.

Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (BHTI), located in Forth Worth, Texas, is a manufacturer of commercial and military helicopters. Bell employs about 7,000 workers. BHTI began full scale development of the V-22 (Osprey) in 1984 with Engineering Manufacturing Development activities beginning in October 1993.

The V-22 vertical takeoff aircraft program is the first major weapon system acquisition for Bell Helicopter requiring a pollution prevention plan. The tilt rotor technology is being developed jointly by Bell Helicopter and Boeing Helicopters of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

TABLE OF ACRONYMS:
The following acronyums were used in this report:

Elimination or substitution of hazardous materials during the products' life cycle are described, together with steps in partnering and jointly working pollution prevention (P²) issues.

The Pollution Prevention Program Plan defines the Bell-Boeing V-22 Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) Pollution Prevention Program (PPP). Specifically prohibited was the use of asbestos, ozone depleting substances, and surface coatings containing lead. Volatile organic compounds content in primers and topcoats may not exceed regulatory requirements.

• Identifying a hazardous materials listing was crucial and time-consuming. Families of chemicals were selected to avoid a long list. The plan addresses responsibilities of all functional groups in relation to P² and implementation. Coordination and communication between functional groups, Boeing, and the customer are essential.
  

• Included was training of design engineers and all those involved in carrying out the plan.
  

• The logistics role is critical to the success of P² effort, especially as far as the customer is concerned.
  

When selecting materials and processes, contract language requires the environmental impacts to be minimized during the life cycle (systems definition, design, engineering development, manufacture, operation, maintenance, and repair) of the weapon system. The environmental impact is considered equally with other design criterion.

Ultimately, the hazardous materials are identified, prioritized, and trade studies recommended. This plan requires justification of use of specific hazardous materials if they cannot be eliminated. A database conveying this information is given to the customer. Hazardous materials are prioritized based on five factors weighed equally: (a) amount of material used on V-22; (b) toxicity of material to human health; (c) the environment; (d) disposal, handling, and storage method associated with waste products; and (e) legislation associated with use and disposal of the material.

Bell Helicopter used P² framework previously established through prior manufacturing programs to achieve the V-22 P² requirements.

Bell Helicopter has pursued and accomplished an effective measurement of P² efforts. The measurement system must be credible, verifiable, and normalized. Bell is currently implementing a computerized MSDS and chemical inventory database to allow more accessible information for P² activities. Environmental considerations during life cycle and documentation of successes or difficulties are important to success.

Background: The challenge was to comply with air regulations in the State of Texas in a non-attainment area. In order to comply, an Alternate Reasonably Available Control Technology (ARACT) was developed.

Description: This committed BHTI to using High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) Paint guns. Additionally, paint improvements were completed in 1995 when Bell changed from high solvent paint to a high solid formula that required less solvent.

Results: As a result of the paint gun installation and the new high solids paint, Bell reduced paint consumption by 15%. The cost of implementation is far outweighed by the compliance factor and reduced paint usage, thus air emissions.

Another waste reduction effort was to install plural component paint mixing systems. This system is used with multi-part paint. The objective is to mix the paint to the proper consistency just prior to spraying. After the paint gun is used, the nozzle is purged with solvent to clean the gun before the paint dries. This system has helped BHTI reduce solvent usage and paint waste. Less material usage and lower waste disposal cost are the savings realized.