PROCESS IMPROVEMENT


Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin


Aft fuselage of an F-35A at Lockheed Martin. The new AS6500 manufacturing management standard will be incorporated— completely or in part—into all new US Air Force contracts.


In Defense, a New Focus on Project Management Process


The new AS6500 standard demands implementation of proven manufacturing management practices throughout the defense supply chain. David Karr, a USAF technical advisor, explains how and why.


David Karr


Technical Advisor for Manufacturing & Quality Engineering Services Directorate USAF Life Cycle Management Ctr. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Dayton, OH


T


he Department of Defense (DoD) is interested in manufacturing engineering and wants its suppliers to be world-class manufacturers. That’s the take-away message from DoD’s adoption of the new SAE standard AS6500, “Manufacturing Management Program.” In fact, DoD recognized the need for a new standard and partnered with SAE International for its development and publication. Within DoD weapon system acquisition, the manufacturing management function has been in a state of fl ux for the past 20 years, with little standardization for how companies perform key manufacturing activities. The former gold standard for manufac- turing management, MIL-STD-1528A, “Manufacturing Manage- ment Program,” was canceled as part of DoD’s Acquisition Reform initiative in the mid-1990s. Since there was no commer- cial standard to replace it, DoD contracts were generally silent on manufacturing requirements. DoD lost its ability to require a standardized approach to ensuring manufacturing processes were ready for production.


July 2015 | AdvancedManufacturing.org 107


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