GMA Cover Corp.. Since 1974, GMA's focus was in manufacturing textile products and, in 2010, GMA expanded their textile offerings beyond defense to include commercial and disaster relief products.
History
GMA was founded in 1974. GMA's first sale in the defense market came in 1990 when they delivered their first order of HMMWV soft tops to Original Equipment Manufacturer AM General. GMA soon secured contracts with the United States Department of Defense and in 1993 introduced a Value Engineering Change Proposal to TACOM for the use of high frequency welding in manufacturing soft tops, a technological advancement which has now become the industry standard. By the late 1990s, GMA had secured an 80% market share for soft top vehicle covers. Since then, GMA Cover Corp. has specialized in providing textile products and components for military application, including soft tops, bow kits, camouflage nets and vehicle covers. GMA shutdown all operations in September 2013 and liquidated all assets prior to 2014.
Management
Brian Hodges was appointed CEO and Chairman of the Board of GMA USA in January 2011.
GMA began operations in Michigan in 1991 and has since expanded from a small plant to three plants with over of manufacturing space. In 2009, GMA was named the U.S. Army’s Top Michigan Small Business contractor.
In 1993, GMA Cover Corp. submitted a Value Engineering Change Proposal for the manufacturing process of soft top covers. This proposal offered high frequency welding of vinyl coated seams as an alternative to stitching for Soft Top assemblies of a Four Man Crew kit. The adoption of this technology, which is currently the industry standard, addressed the severe leakage problem encountered in the field on the four man soft top. This VECP had been incorporated into eighteen NSNs. On August 31, 1995, GMA reached a pricing settlement with TACOM based on $2.4M in savings anticipated to be accrued by the government as a result of these changes.
In 2006, GMA was successful in contributing a Value Engineering Change Proposal for Light Weight, Modular Bow Kits for FMTVs; a change which was adopted across 22 NSNs. As a result of this VECP contribution, GMA’s Command Intelligence Centre was recognized for engineering excellence by the Department of Defense through a Value Engineering Achievement award for fiscal 2006. Awarded at The Pentagon, it honored GMA’s Light Weight, Modular Bow Kit VECP which designed a more soldier friendly system and provided the government with an estimated savings potential of $10 million over 5 years in procurement and logistics costs.
ULCANS Support Poles
On September 2, 2009 GMA presented VECP 0V8C5-09-VECP-001 to the Department of the Army, Communications-Electronics Command. The proposed engineering modifications were accepted and the VECP approved. The change, impacting Ultra Light Weight Camouflage Net Systems Support Poles, offers a stronger, lighter weight pole which can be used to support any type of netting system. The engineering changes made will save the United States government an estimated $17 million over the next five years.
Defense
AKETON
GMA's defense line is AKETON, named after the Medieval practice of Roman Warriors cloaking their armor with additional protection called 'Aketon'. The AKETON line encompasses the following product offerings: AKETON Cover- soft top covers for military vehicles AKETON Hide- camouflage screens AKETON Drop- cargo parachutes AKETON Change- two sided camouflage nets AKETON Shade- solar shade systems AKETON Move- camouflage fitted to military vehicles AKETON Cool- camouflage which reduces solar loading AKETON Fuel- flexible fuel tanks AKETON Hold- webbing and bagging AKETON Shelter- military tent systems AKETON Solo- camouflage designed for individual use AKETON Stop- containment booms
Aerial Delivery Systems
In October 2010, GMA entered the US Defense market for Aerial Delivery Systems, namely, Cargo Parachutes. The Company was awarded an initial contract for G12 Cargo Parachutes, valued at $8.3 million, followed by an award for Low Velocity Parachutes, valued at $14.7 million.
International Partnerships
Musthane
In August 2010, GMA entered the Commercial and Disaster Relief market after signing an international partnership with Musthane a French private joint-stock industrial company. Designing resilient and flexible structures is Musthane’s core area of expertise. They have signed an exclusivity agreement for the transfer of technology from Musthane to GMA for the North American market.
