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Workshop Session 2: Company, Commercial, and Military Specililcations The second session heard from four speakers representing NGSBs ant! the user community. They spoke on the workings of their organizations and the availability of NGSs that may meet military needs. VIEW FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND 1\lIATERIALS Kathleen Kono, of the ASTM, presented an overview of the ASTM organization and specification system, reviewed some recent collaborations to meet military needs, and identified challenges affecting the coordination between ASTM and its military- oriented users. ASTM is a large, strong, stable NGSB that produces consensus-based specifications. Its three principles of consensus are openness, balance, and due process. A formal 5-year review process ensures technical accuracy. The ASTM annual budget of $29 million goes into the maintenance of 11,000 stanciarcis. Most of its funding is from the sale of standards. The sales, which are generated by 25 percent of its committees, support the remainder of the committees. Of the 32,000 members, only 22,000 actively participate. However, electronic forums and balloting are making inroads, increasing participation. The ASTM has a long history of collaboration to meet military needs, and the DoD has adopted approximately 2,800 ASTM standards. However, declining DoD participation (33 percent decrease over the last 4 years) is a cause for concern. Management fails to encourage members to participate, and there is a lack of funding for members to attend meetings. The current number of DoD participants is 345, down from 513 in 1996. ASTM believes that DoD attendance at meetings and active participation on committees are key to meeting military needs because they · Reduce resources required to develop and sustain military standards, Foster commercial and military integration, Ensure that standards meet DoD needs, · Keep DoD up to date with commercial technology and industry experts, and · Allow DoD staff to interact with peers, the number one reason why people participate in ASTM. In summary, ASTM is capable of meeting military needs for NGSs, but government participation is vital to ensure that specifications and test methods address the appropriate requirements. 1 5
16 Impact of Acquisition Reform on DoD Materials and Processes Specifications and Standards SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AEROSPACE MATERIALS SPECIFICATION SYSTEM Gary Pollak, of the Aerospace Materials Division of the SAE International, described the Aerospace Materials Specification organization and specification system. SAE is a large, strong, stable NGSB, producing consensus-based specifications. There are about 2,600 documents in the Aerospace Materials Specification (AMS) domain, which has a long history of cooperation to meet military needs. It has a formal 5-year review process to ensure technical accuracy, and user members have authority to make changes and grant final approval. Properties are based on MIL-HDBK-5 qualification, and downgrades are forbidden. To shorten cycle time, AMS is also beginning to use electronic committee communications. Thus far, over 1,100 MilSpecs have been converted to SAE, and the projected total is about 1,500. A significant revision workload lies ahead to sustain converted MilSpecs, some of which are over 20 years old. Participation by DoD members is sparse, and participation by user members from original equipment manufacturers is on the decline. SAE believes that attendance at member meetings and participation in committees is key to ensuring strong, relevant specifications. SAE wants adequate government participation and is concerned that MIL-HDBK-5 and MIL-HDBK-17 (national archives of metals and composites technical data) might not be sustained clue to acquisition reform and the declining DoD standards budget. Overall, the SAE/AMS system is capable of meeting military needs for NGSs. The continued participation of user members and an increase in government involvement appears necessary to meet the workload resulting from cancelled MiTSpecs. ISSUES RELATED TO QUALIFIED PRODUCT LISTS Arshad Hafeez, of the Performance Review Institute (PRI), spoke of the need to maintain qualified product lists (QPLs) associated with specifications for military applications. He shared the progress of the institute's work with industry and the DoD to create a new document system to fill the vacuum resulting from cancelled military specifications and their associated qualified product lists. QPLs have been used to control products for military-unique applications. Currently, there are 3,035 QPLs in the Dow Index of Specifications and Standards, of which 809 are aerospace-related. A void in control has resulted from the cancellation of QPL-containing military specifications. PRI has created a new QPL program to meet these military-unique needs. A strong QPL management council is in place and a successful QPL pilot program is uncler way. Fifteen PRI QPLs have been published so far, and PRI and industry partners are continuing to grow PRI's QPL program to cover additional commodities. In summary, the PRI QPL system shows promise of filling the vacuum created by cancellecl MilSpecs that contain QPLs. Continued user and government support is required to sustain this new program.
Workshop Session' 2. Company, Commercial, and Military Specifications AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION EARLY WARNING PROJECT GROUP 17 Dennis Evans, of Pratt & Whitney, is chair of the Aerospace Industries Association Early Warning Project Group (EWPG). He presented an overview of the issues that had led to creation of the EWPG and identified future considerations related to these issues. Industry was using many military and federal specifications as de facto global standards. About 5,000 DoD specifications and standards are of interest to the aerospace industry. OEMs and their supply chain hac! no advance notice of military specification cancellations, and the wording of cancellation notices was confusing to the supply chain. Questions arose concerning technical equivalency for newly referenced specifications, and there was a loss of configuration control. The EWPG was establishes! as an act hoc defensive mechanism for notification and action planning for the aerospace industry. Other transportation systems (ships, ground vehicles, and so on) did not develop an EWPG. NGS committee actions are pending so that the future of word-for-word converted military specifications can first be determined. This would result in a significant workloac! ahead for NGSBs. It is vital that MIL-HDBK-5 and MIL-HDBK-17 remain as national archives for technical data. In short, the activities of the EWPG illustrate the profound impact that the military and its standards produce across industry, in this case, the aerospace industry. A significant workload remains for industry to complete the transition to NGSs. PANEL DISCUSSION As with Session 1, the speakers assembled for a general question-and-answer session with the audience at the end of the session's formal presentations. The following items provide an overview of the major issues covered cluring discussions Specifications are a cost of doing business. They are a utility that is often invisible to users. Strong, consensus-basec! NGSBs exist to respond to military needs. Competent analysis is required to ensure that NGSs are technically suitable for each specific need. Transition plans are dealing (albeit inefficiently) with existing design and procurement issues. New specifications can be readily developed if supporting data can be provident and analyzecl. Inclustry-member NGSB participation and support are declining while the workload to manage the 5-year review of converted military specifications is increasing. A future problem is predicted. Military and government member participation and support in NGSs are declining; future problems are anticipated. · The primary national materials (lata archives (MIL-HDBK-5 and MIL-HDBK-17) are in danger.
18 Impact of Acquisition Reform on DoD Materials and Processes Specifications and Standards · Lack of central DoD leadership to direct and fund military standards causes significant variation as each preparing activity establishes its own strategy and execution. The government approach, which pulls specifications and standards funding from current programs, is a short-term approach that cannot be relied upon to support Tong-term materials development needs. .
