Issues of Implementation of AM in the Department of the Defense.

The Department of Defense, just as large public and private corporations, want components built efficiently, safely, with greater design freedom and minimal delay. Amidst the COVID crisis, fractured supply chains, labor shortages, and an increasingly cyber-physical world, the advanced manufacturing sector has seen a massive uptick in utilization, and the Department of the Navy (DON) is no exception. All branches of the DOD are pursuing advanced manufacturing techniques to improve readiness, but rates of adoption vary. Some believe the military is moving too fast and others believe not fast enough. In the summer of 2021 the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering released the “DOD Instruction 5000.93 Use of Additive Manufacturing in the DOD”. This document came out of the Joint Additive Manufacturing Working Group (JAMWG), and while this document provides guidance, many issues remain. These include a lack of rigor in knowledge sharing and collaborative product life cycle management tools, a vast number of different materials and machine processes, convolution of choice, qualification, standards, configuration control and repeatability of processes, workforce development, and viability of a secure manufacturing digital thread. Details of successes and challenges will be discussed.

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