SAE AS6500A™ Standardizes the Approach to Defense Industrial Base Manufacturing Management

WARRENDALE, Pa. (August 5, 2021) – SAE International announced today that it released SAE AS6500A™: Manufacturing Management Program, an updated commercial standard providing best practices for manufacturing operations. Developed by SAE’s G-23 Management Committee, AS6500 standardizes manufacturing management and encourages consistent best practices throughout the defense industrial base.

Since the Department of Defense’s (DOD) acquisition reform initiatives in the mid-1990s, there has been a lack of manufacturing requirements for the defense industrial base. Companies implemented a wide range of systems that varied in effectiveness. Subsequently, a lack of manufacturing maturity was identified as a root cause leading to cost overruns, schedule delays and quality problems. The DOD and industry recognized a need for improvement and standardization in manufacturing management.

“Having published and maintained several standards in related fields, SAE International was proud to step up and help fill the critical need for standardization in manufacturing management,” said David Karr, chair of SAE’s G-23 Management Committee. “The objective of AS6500A is to promote the timely development, production, modification, fielding and sustainment of affordable and capable products.”

AS6500A requires organizations to establish and maintain supplier management systems to evaluate the capabilities of suppliers, track and report supplier performance, and identify and manage supplier risks. The standard also focuses on ensuring the quality of parts delivered by suppliers by flowing down quality requirements, verifying suppliers’ procedures for controlling quality and using predictive indicators to provide early detection of potential quality problems at suppliers.

“Experience shows that AS6500A elevates the importance of manufacturing within the development process, drives manufacturing maturity and helps to reduce costs,” added Karr. “AS6500A is well-integrated into the suite of SAE documents and provides manufacturing management requirements that compliment SAE standards on quality, counterfeit parts prevention, and the production part approval process.”

SAE established the G-23 Manufacturing Management Committee in November 2013 to develop the standard. The committee is comprised of a balanced group of Department of Defense and defense industry subject matter experts.

To learn more information about AS6500A Manufacturing Management Program, please visit:  https://www.sae.org/standards/content/as6500/.

About SAE International
SAE International is a global association committed to advancing mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. By engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts and volunteers, we connect and educate mobility professionals to enable safe, clean, and accessible mobility solutions. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including award-winning programs like A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™. More at www.sae.org.

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