Based in State College, Pa. RLW, Inc. develops high-quality innovative hardware and software for Conditioned Based Maintenance (CBM) applications. This encompasses writing software and building demos as well as, final testing and assembly. They use this end-to-end process to ensure quality control and to enable the company to protect its intellectual property.
The company received Phase II funding in 2004-05 for the Navy project, Smart Machinery Spaces, which was originally funded to meet the need for intelligent distributed CBM sensing that would communicate machinery health information, via open standards (wireless or wired), to platform-level health and readiness assessment systems. Those systems would then cue present/planned readiness assessment, maintenance and logistics systems.
The flagship technology for RLW is the SxNAP™, a proprietary process developed and built by RLW for Power Scavenging. The SxNAP™ technology extracts energy to capture, process and transmit an electronic signal. The core value proposition reduces cost and increases efficiency - saving the customer money in scheduled maintenance costs and in data management. The SxNAP™ can manage eight channels of data from eight sensors and supplies sufficient power to analyze the data, which allows for simplified message transmission. The technology can implement "self-meshing, self-healing wi-fi" for transmitting from a moving object to "seek its own signal path."
"Essentially, we are providing the 'missing inch' between the sensors on the machine and the internet," explained RLW co-founder and retired Marine Corps Colonel, Lewis Watt. "This is critical to the concept of smart machines. Machinery should be repaired based on its actual physical condition, not based on its odometer reading or based on the calendar. That's why we are focused on developing devices and software (smart spaces) for wireless acquisition and security."
RLW is a goal-oriented company. As such, the company leadership has set its sights on being the "standard" for condition-based maintenance (CBM), by having its technology specified by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). And success is on the way. The company currently has a Phase III contract with ONR at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard that is worth $3M.
Over the last year, RLW earned $2.2M in sales—but the company still needs to grow. "The SBIR program is superb because it allows us to leverage government funds to solve a DoD problem. This allows for cost cutting, increases in efficiency and positions small firms for commercial sales with companies like General Electric and the oil and gas industry," commented Watt. As for participation in the Navy TAP, Watt commented that, "The assistance and required discipline needed for the preparation for commercialization, as well as the substantial market research reports really helped us along. Combine that with the Navy Forum event that was prime for making both government and commercial contacts, the program was excellent!"
In addition to its work with the ONR, RLW has three current trials for nuclear power plants underway and has recently completed five successful trials held by cement plants. The commercial market potential for this RLW technology is $10s of millions per year. The company's sales goal is $10M by 2010. To reach that goal, RLW is seeking investment and partnerships to "embed the SMARTS into OEM equipment." According to Watt, "The software asset management business is an entire industry, where companies like IBM Corp. compete." To date, RLW has received a $4.4M for shipyard productivity at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The company's next step is to integrate a Condition Assessment System into the core technology. The basic interface is in place and the company is eager to see the devices installed on-board Navy ships.
