The Department of Defense has issued an updated version of the SD-26 DMSMS and Parts Management Contracting Guide. The new SD-26 provides contract requirements language that Program Offices can use to exercise robust, proactive DMSMS management and disciplined Parts Management throughout a system’s life cycle. According to the document overview, “…it serves as a reference to be used by program offices to avoid the elimination of critical requirements during contract negotiations. The guide contains 24 examples of illustrative DMSMS management requirements including case management and reporting, issue notification, and flow down of requirements to subcontractors. Another eight illustrative examples are associated with the delivery of a contractor Parts Management Plan and validation that the parts selected, according to the processes in that Plan, meet their allocated requirements.” The emphasis on Parts Management as an essential discipline to reduce life cycle costs and improve readiness and mission performance is reflected not only in new content, but in the title of the guide.

According to the DoD DMSMS and Parts Management Program Manager at the Defense Standardization Program Office in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, key changes to this invaluable document from the October 2019 version include:

• DMSMS section was streamlined and reorganized around the DMSMS management process steps (Prepare, Identify, Assess, Analyze, Implement) to present contract requirements in a logical order.
• A new DMSMS requirement on resilience was added. This new requirement, which focuses on maximizing the expected life of new parts being added to a system, asks the contractor to identify parts with less than a specified remaining life, giving the government both an opportunity to reject the parts and an indication of where DMSMS monitoring activities should be focused.
• Brand new Parts Management content (section 3) reflecting a new Parts Management paradigm was included. Lack of robust parts management program leads to risks of supply chain disruptions, cyber security compromise, IP theft, and malicious tampering. This new section illustrates a three-phase process for the contractor to (1) submit a contractor Parts Management Plan, to (2) demonstrate that the contractor is following the processes in the Plan, and to (3) analyze the results of the parts selection process. The analysis of the results includes a new exception report that highlights parts the government may want to reject; establishes requirements for specific government parts approval; prohibits parts selection of known bad actors; and enables the government to identify specific parts requirements through MIL-STDs and other similar documents.
• Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) were developed or updated in section 6. One is for the exception report and the other is a change to the DMSMS metrics DID.
• Applicability of both DMSMS and Parts Management contracting requirements was aligned to all Adaptive Acquisition Framework pathways.

For additional insights, visit the DMSMS Knowledge Sharing Portal (DKSP) and the Parts Management Knowledge Sharing Portal (PMKSP), as well as a recent DAU LOG Blog post containing links to a range of related DMSMS and Parts Management resources.