United States Congressman Marty Meehan, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, recently announced an agreement between kSARIA (www.ksaria.com) of Meehan’s home state of Massachusetts, and DRS Laurel Technologies (www.drs.com) of Pennsylvania, under which the companies will build a completely automated center at DRS’ facility in Johnstown, PA for manufacturing fiber-optic cables. kSARIA has a similar plant in Massachusetts.
The new center will incorporate kSARIA’s manufacturing platform, a fully automated system of manufacturing fiber-optic cables designed to ensure high levels of process control. kSARIA sells products to the defense and aerospace industries, and its technology was developed through the U.S. Navy’s Manufacturing Technology program.
Operating as a “factory-in-a-factory,” the new automated manufacturing center will be housed at DRS Laurel Technologies’ existing 130,000-square-foot facility in Johnstown. kSARIA will manage and staff the new center, which is scheduled to open next year. The center will serve as the preferred supplier to meet DRS Laurel Technologies’ fiber-optic cable requirements.
“By eliminating all human influence in the fiber-optic assembly process, our end-to-end automation manufacturing platform eliminates any and all variability in cable quality,” explains Sebastian Sicari, kSARIA’s president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to incorporating our platform into DRS Laurel Technologies’ cable assembly operations.”
“Our manufacturing services operations produce mission-critical electronic equipment that must adhere to the military’s highest standards of quality,” says Patrick Marion, vice president and general manager of DRS Laurel Technologies. “Fiber-optic cables are crucial to the integrity of these systems to provide the bandwidth needed for today’s network-centric military operations. kSARIA’s automated platform will not only produce high-performing and more cost-effective cables, but also will provide a transition in manufacturing capability to the more demanding next-generation fiber-optic cables.” -Patrick McLaughlin
