Process
Is a full technical data package available?
 Does it address low quantity requirement?
Are special material/tooling required?
Are production only drawings available?

 Is a partial data package available?
 What information is missing?
Are critical descriptions or images missing?

 What if only a part is available?
 Can this item be reverse engineered?
Can we use commercial products/items?

 What if there is no data?
 Reverse engineering required for readiness challenge.
The logistics system did not fail. No one is at fault. As a direct result of the end of the cold war, our defense policy has changed from modernization to sustainment through service life extension. No one actually planned keeping your weapon system fielded long beyond its original intended life.

Parts are failing. Stress and corrosion are taking a toll. Structural items require replacement. Many were never provisioned because we never thought that we would be flying, sailing, and driving these weapon systems 25 years and beyond.

Many suppliers have disappeared. They did their job, but now it is a quarter century later, and we never planned to keep them in the business of supplying spare and repair parts for a 30-year-old system. We haven't ordered from them in 20 years or more.

Now we need parts. Not a lot, but perfect-quality parts in very low quantities. The system, mil-strip requisitions, and logistics system were not prepared for this challenge.

We could order more of the original parts if we had the data and a supplier. Creating critical technical data is the first challenge. The degree of difficulty increases dramatically based on the following four categories of information. What the weapon system manager has to consider is displayed in the sidebar.