Because Department of Defense (DoD) system life cycles are longer than technology life cycles, Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) issues are inevitable. DoD cannot afford to be reactive in this area—reactivity may lead to a combination of schedule delays, readiness degradations, and higher cost.
Leadership attention must be brought to bear on this problem and adequate resources must be provided to minimize its impact. The return on investment from these resources can be substantial because resources devoted to proactivity lengthen the window of opportunity to take corrective action. There will be a larger number of low-cost options available when the window to address the issue is longer. Therefore, cost-effectiveness improves. This is the primary theme of the better buying power initiatives—better value for the warfighter.
This updated January 2016 edition of theguidebook—SD-22, Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages: A Guidebook of Best Practices for Implementing a Robust DMSMS Management Program—provides best practices for robust and proactive DMSMS management. It explains things to do and why those things are important. Examples include the following:
- Fully fund DMSMS management activities and resolutions and ensure that the right people are trained and involved.
- Get the contract language right. This is critical to proactive DMSMS management.
- It’s never too early to begin. Starting early in design, proactively monitor critical, highly vulnerable items, software, assemblies, and materials to identify potential problems before negative impacts occur.
- Link DMSMS health assessments with the program’s product roadmaps to mitigate issues before they materialize.
- Ensure that resolutions minimize life-cycle costs; solutions that are inexpensive upfront may have significant future cost.
- Obtain comments from the DMSMS community on designs and redesigns to avoid the inclusion of obsolete items.
This guidebook, while designed primarily for the DMSMS practitioner, should also be useful for program managers, engineers, and life-cycle logisticians. It is updated periodically. This version of the SD-22 replaces the version published in February 2015.
Please also note that in addition to the link below, the updated January 2016 of this guidebook will also be posted on the ASSIST website at http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=275490.
