The Air Force is quietly revolutionizing parts replacement

Having sat through more stand-ups where the maintenance commander says the part isn't available and we need to get a sole source contract than I can count this makes perfect sense.

“It's not that we're just deploying robots to old technology. It's a completely new technology developed from scratch,” said Edward Mehr, one of the co-founders of Machina Labs.

The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center has had one of the systems at its depot since November. Shane Groves, a subject matter expert at the center, said the system has helped them take six months off the time it takes to get a part.

And, Groves said, it’s a lot easier to maintain than the die-cast system, which has a lot of difficult-to-replace components.