5.0. Overview
DoD Directive 5000.01 requires Program Managers to:
"develop and implement performance-based logistics strategies that optimize total system availability while minimizing cost and logistics footprint."
Within the Defense Acquisition Management System, DoDD 5000.01 requires that:
"Planning for Operation and Support and the estimation of total ownership costs shall begin as early as possible. Supportability, a key component of performance, shall be considered throughout the system life cycle."
5.0.1. Purpose
This chapter provides the associated guidance the Program Manager (PM), Product Support Manager (PSM), and Life-Cycle Logisticians can use in influencing the design and providing effective, timely product support capability to achieve the system's materiel readiness and sustain operational capability. Emphasis is placed on integrating life-cycle management principles by using performance-based life-cycle product support strategies to provide effective support. This synchronized with the systems engineering process results in affordable materiel readiness at an optimal life-cycle cost (LCC) by reducing the frequency, duration, and related costs of availability degrader events to reduce manpower and logistics footprint. An executive summary of key chapter principles is provided below.
The PM, as the life-cycle manager, is responsible for accomplishing program objectives across the life cycle, including the operating & support (O&S) phase. Employing performance-based life-cycle product support tied to sustainment metrics is the overarching Department of Defense (DoD) concept for providing materiel readiness to the user. This logistics aspect of the life-cycle management approach is depicted in Figure 5.0.1.F1 and discussed in subsequent sections.
There are three DoD Decision Support Systems - Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), Defense Acquisition System, and Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process - that frame the environment for implementing life-cycle management. In addition, there are three related but distinct communities, with corresponding reporting chains, within the DoD -- the acquisition, user, and sustainment chains involved in implementing the decision support systems. Working in tandem these communities share responsibilities which vary depending on the life-cycle phase. Consequently, the PM needs to be involved with each chain. The Defense Acquisition Guidebook focuses on the acquisition chain (e.g. the OSD, Service Secretariat, Program Executive Officer chain, etc.). Chapter 5 addresses the acquisition chain and highlights interfaces with the user chain (e.g. the type commander, Theater Commanders, etc.) and sustainment chain (e.g. supply chain (including the transportation system, maintenance facilities and depots, industrial base), in-service engineering organizations, etc.).
During acquisition the focus is primarily through the acquisition community with requirements input from the user and sustainment communities. These requirements include:
- Specification of design parameters for sustainment related system performance capabilities.
- Application of systems engineering to determine the right balance between the system's design requirements and the logistics support requirements to sustain the operational capabilities at an affordable price. This includes using supporting sustainment metrics (e.g. Mean Down Time, Logistics Footprint, etc.) as well as enablers (e.g. condition based maintenance, diagnostics, prognostics, corrosion protection/mitigation, etc.) with their associated metrics to achieve the mandatory sustainment metrics.
- Planning for, resourcing, and executing the design, acquisition, management, and fielding an integrated product support package to sustain the maintenance and support concepts that meet the materiel availability requirements.
Figure 5.0.1.F1. Life-Cycle Logistics Overview
During operations the focus is primarily through the user and sustainment communities with support from the acquisition community. The PM's focus is on supporting the user's ability to effectively meet mission requirements through the application of systems engineering to implement continuous process improvement initiatives. This involves monitoring performance to identify major readiness degraders (e.g., reliability, cycle time and cost) and to:
- Align and refine the product support package (e.g. the product support elements) and sustainment processes to achieve the sustainment metrics
- Engage the various communities to achieve optimum materiel readiness
- Optimize or reduce the logistics demand (including the logistics footprint) and support processes (e.g., training, technical data, supply chain, maintenance, etc.) based on actual conditions
- Reduce operating and support costs
- Identify and implement design changes to address evolving requirements, technological obsolescence, diminishing manufacturing sources, or materiel availability shortfalls.
To accomplish this life-cycle product support concept outcomes are estimated in the design phase then measured during testing and operations and become the basis for actions to achieve materiel readiness. The sustainment metrics, including the Sustainment Key Performance Parameter (KPP) with its supporting Key System Attributes (KSAs), provide the common thread to integrate the product support elements and align the behaviors required to achieve the desired materiel readiness outcome across the entire enterprise. The goal is to use consistent outcome metrics as the basis for actions to provide and sustain affordable materiel readiness across the entire life cycle.
5.0.2. Contents
Sectiona 5.1 – 5.3 present information applicable across the lifecycle, while the information in Section 5.4 has been tailored to specific portions of the lifecycle.
Section 5.1, Life-Cycle Sustainment in the Defense Acquisition Management System, describes life-cycle sustainment, explains its role, and identifies the PM's primary life-cycle logistics and sustainment responsibilities. It provides the context for conducting sustainment-related activities relative to performance-based life-cycle product support and the sustainment metrics.
Section 5.2, Applying Systems Engineering to Life-Cycle Sustainment, focuses on the process to plan for, achieve and sustain affordable systems operational effectiveness. The concept of applying life-cycle cost, modeling and simulation, and supportability analyses to design out "sustainment disablers" to optimize the support system is presented in this section.
Section 5.3, Supportability Design Considerations, focuses on design features that should be incorporated to help make a system more sustainable, including reliability, diagnostic, and predictive monitoring capabilities.
Section 5.4, Sustainment in the Life-Cycle Phases, focuses on how life-cycle sustainment integrates into life-cycle management and the acquisition process/decision points. It identifies key activities in each program phase, whether it is a major new system, a modification to a fielded system, or a redesign of the product support system. This section applies the concepts discussed in sections 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3, placing them in the Defense Acquisition Management System to demonstrate when sustainment related activities take place. It also contains specific focus areas for consideration and the results expected in preparing for each milestone or review.
Section 5.5, References, provides references for further explanation and information.
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