From 400 pounds of gear, rats chewing through fabric, and hours of hard manual labor, QUEST BMGT/ENES 390H students had quite a challenge set for them in improving the critical military process of repacking parachutes. The QUEST BMGT/ENES 390H class taught by Professor David Ashley focuses on systems design, and this semester, the class partnered with the U.S. Army to analyze and improve its parachute packing system.

I spoke with Lasya Muthyam, Anna Fulton, and David Oloye who are Cohort 42 students in the BMGT/ENES 390H class that visited Fort Gregg-Adams in April to tour a parachute packing facility. The visit provided students with a firsthand look at the manual processes of maintaining these military parachutes, allowing the students to provide better recommendations to optimize the process and help ensure that the parachutes are safely and efficiently maintained. 

A key component of their consulting project was suggesting a better system to record data about the parachutes’ condition. David Oloye, a Civil and Environmental Engineering major in Cohort 42, said, “They are finding certain bottlenecks in identifying which parachutes need to be repacked, checking the conditions, and maintaining records of conditions that their parachutes are in. My team is looking to automate redundant steps and build a business case for the return on investment for that.”

The 390H class was divided into two groups, one for each type of parachute: free fall and static line. According to the students, the parachutes serve different purposes and have distinct packing procedures, but share similar bottleneck issues. The goal was to explore whether extending the repack cycle to three, five, or even seven years could maintain parachute quality. The teams’ aim is to reduce labor usage, specifically to reduce soldier fatigue, as the process is extremely labor-intensive. 

The visit was about three hours long, with project champions leading the class around on a tour of the facility, as employees demonstrated the processes. There were three main stages demonstrated: the shakedown tower, the inspection and packing tables, and the maintenance tables. The Shakedown is a large structure where parachutes are hung and shaken to remove any debris prior to manually processing. This includes water, dirt, and, surprisingly, vermin–with rats and mice chewing holes into the parachutes. After being shaken, the parachutes are left to dry for a couple of hours before moving on to the next stage. During the repackaging stage, soldiers manually inspect the parachutes on large tables for damage before repacking them. This stage takes 30 minutes, with each soldier packing up to 25 parachutes per day. If a parachute has damage that is repairable, it is sent to the maintenance room. The parachutes will be placed on light tables where the soldier will manually hand-sew patches to repair them. All three students said that the reliance on manual labor and paper records instead of digitized records or machines was surprising to them. 

Lasya Muthyam, a computer science student in Cohort 42, said the most surprising part of the visit was when the team allowed a QUEST student to try on a parachute. Lasya said, “The parachute itself was like 35 pounds, and all of their gadgets equate to a total of 400 pounds. They let us see what it feels like to actually be carrying all of that, which was cool.”

The site visit helped improve the students’ understanding of the project and ultimately allow for stronger recommendations. Anna Fulton,  a mechanical engineering student, said, “It helped steer us in the right direction heading into the last few weeks of the semester.” The hands-on experience allowed the students to visualize the challenges and understand the jargon and processes they had been discussing theoretically throughout the semester. David also reflected on the lessons learned: “Systems exist everywhere, even in the things you don’t think about!” Having a more system-oriented mindset was a major takeaway for the students.

Thanks so much to Lasya, Anna, and David for speaking with me, and special thanks to the U.S. Army project champions who hosted QUESTees at Fort Gregg-Adams!