CRANE, Ind. – Crane Army Ammunition Activity hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for its Crane Flexible Manufacturing Complex, a newly renovated production facility, as part of the U.S. Army’s modernization effort to upgrade existing workspaces and increase efficiency on Tuesday (Dec. 12, 2018).

The facility’s upgrades allow the entire manufacturing process for a munitions program to run continuously in a single location, improving production rates and better providing munitions readiness to the Warfighter.

The current focus at CFMC is the M1122 program, where shells from outdated conventional munitions are refurbished into low-cost training projectiles. Due to the high demand for economical training rounds, Crane Army was selected for M1122 production along with McAlester Ammunition Plant. CAAA began manufacturing the rounds in 2015 in various facilities throughout the installation and continues the production here today.

As part of the renovation, the complex utilizes a conveyer system to transport rounds between connected buildings, a much faster process than the previous method which delivered munitions from building to building via truck.

Another key improvement is the complex’s ability to be flexible, meaning CFMC can take on other production lines once the workload for the M1122 is complete.

Crane Army will reestablish active rail service to CFMC to further enhancing transportation efficiencies. That project is estimated to be complete by the beginning of fiscal year 2020.

The ribbon cutting ceremony celebrated the efforts that went into making this complex a modern and efficient means to provide munitions to the Warfighter.

Crane Army Ammunition Activity produces and provides conventional munitions requirements in support of U.S. Army and Joint Force readiness. It is one of 14 installations of the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial base installations under the U.S. Army Materiel Command, which include arsenals, depots, activities and ammunition plants.