MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT GUIDE (MDG) (AUG 2008)

MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT GUIDE (MDG) (AUG 2008)., This document is about improvement in business systems and processes. It was initially developed by a joint government/industry team to provide guidance for the improvement of weapon system acquisition. It presents information for implementing systems and practices in defense acquisition programs that will help ensure effective and efficient contract performance. Intended primarily for Air Force acquisition personnel and their contractor counterparts, any organization interested in improving their operations will find help in the topics and guidance presented. The Manufacturing Development Guide (MDG) is fully compatible with the Air Force and DoD's Manufacturing Readiness Level and Manufacturing Readiness Assessment (MRL/MRA) initiative. MRAs will be conducted on weapon systems to determine their manufacturing maturity and readiness to proceed to the next level of acquisition. MRAs will use specific criteria to evaluate the current level of manufacturing readiness and many of these criteria cover practices that are described in the MDG. If programs and contractors implement the MDG practices, they will be in an excellent position to progress successfully through the Manufacturing Readiness Levels. MIL-HDBK-896, dated 8 August 2008 and titled “Manufacturing and Quality Program,” contains the MDG practices in a succinct format and serves as an excellent tool to contractually implement these practices. Further guidance on use of this MIL-HDBK is in Appendix II. The Manufacturing Development Guide consists of: (1) an introduction; (2) discussion of acquisition strategy elements which are affected by an MDG implementation; (3) Manufacturing Engineering's Role in Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD); (4) Engineering for Affordability & Producibility considerations; (5) Quality systems concepts with an emphasis on defect prevention; and (6) a set of 12 best practices and their application throughout the acquisition life cycle. Appendices contain suggested wording for Statements of Work, Integrated Master Plan criteria, and Sections L & M wording. Affordability has become a primary metric for the weapons acquisition community, and the failure to develop and procure affordable weapon systems now ranks as the number one challenge for major weapon system programs. The objective of the MDG is to make the tools and techniques that drove the quality revolution in the commercial sector available to defense program customers, contractors, and suppliers.