Paramount Honored for Excellence in Direct Digital Rapid Manufacturing

Paramount Industries, a leading provider of rapid protyping and direct digital manufacturing services, has received its third consecutive award for exemplary performance by Raytheon for production of key components for an advanced mine-hunting sonar system and other defense programs.

Langhorne, PA (PRWEB) November 7, 2008 -- For the third consecutive year, Paramount Industries has been cited for exemplary performance by Raytheon IDS for achievement in rapid prototyping and direct digital rapid manufacturing of key components for an advanced mine-hunting sonar system and other defense programs.

The citation was announced during ceremonies at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems offices in Tewksbury, MA on Wednesday, October 22, 2008. Representing Paramount were Jim Williams, CEO, and Renee Shirey, the technology specialist who led the development team working on the Raytheon AQS-20 system components. Paramount is one of 62 companies selected from 3,000 suppliers to receive Raytheon's 2008 Supplier Excellence Award.

The award recognized Paramount's excellence in product and service quality, on-time delivery, and investment in process-improvement initiatives.

The AQS-20 system incorporates five separate sonar systems in a compact, lightweight and hydrodynamically stable vehicle that can be towed from a helicopter or will be deployed in the future with an unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV). Raytheon produces the advanced-technology systems for the U.S. Navy.

Paramount's technical challenge was to develop a rapid manufacturing process and material capable of achieving certification for withstanding the demands of an underwater environment and successfully produce the specialized fairings to precise specifications in a direct digital rapid manufacturing mode. A total of 38 fairings were manufactured for each AQS-20 system.

Jim Williams, president of Paramount, said the third consecutive Raytheon award is the outgrowth of a focused initiative to achieve perfection in product quality and meeting stringent deadlines on time and on budget.

Tony Pileggi, who has spearheaded Paramount's quality initiative, attributed the three consecutive Raytheon awards to company-wide teamwork among Paramount employees in all aspects of contract administration, advanced laser sintering technology, product inspection and shipping.

"This stellar performance, in which we received a perfect 100 score on both product quality and on-time delivery, is truly a team effort--at Paramount, quality and innovative applications of technology are fundamental to our prominence as a full-service provider of product development and direct digital manufacturing services."

Direct digital rapid manufacturing is an emerging technology that produces chemical-resistant and robust thermo-plastic components direct from 3D-CAD solid model input, thus dispensing with the need for costly and time-consuming tooling. The technology is well-suited to a variety of applications where relatively low quantities of thermo-plastic components are required.

Paramount is among the world's most experienced providers of product development services, including design engineering and analysis, rapid prototyping, rapid tooling and new direct digital rapid manufacturing technology that produces custom parts direct from digital input. Founded in 1966, the company's headquarters and principal engineering and manufacturing facilities are in Langhorne PA.

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