WEBVTT 04:59.500 --> 05:04.062 Brackens: Hi, I'm Brian Brackens with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Public Affairs Office. 05:04.187 --> 05:08.187 In this Leadership Log, we're speaking about digital material management. 05:08.625 --> 05:11.562 Torres: What DMM gets us is speed. 05:11.812 --> 05:17.500 You will be able to develop and sustain your weapons systems faster. 05:17.687 --> 05:23.937 Edwards: We've identified actually over 226 use cases of how to apply DMM in 05:23.937 --> 05:29.125 our organization, and of those, we've actually prototyped 114 of those. 05:29.625 --> 05:34.687 Brackens: We'll speak with two practitioners about what it is and how this approach is helping support 05:34.812 --> 05:40.437 the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's mission to acquire and support war winning capabilities. 05:44.375 --> 05:47.562 Well, sirs, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. 05:47.562 --> 05:48.562 I'm really excited. 05:49.062 --> 05:52.687 The topic of digital materiel management is something that we hear 05:52.687 --> 05:58.000 a lot about from senior Air Force leaders all the way down to our units. 05:58.187 --> 06:03.687 And it's something that's very important to the Air Force, and I'm really excited to be able to talk to the experts, some 06:03.687 --> 06:10.750 of the boots on the ground, who are actually leading and executing these, this digital materiel management effort. 06:11.062 --> 06:16.437 So, but first, if you don't mind, if you could start by giving me your name and telling me where you work. 06:17.562 --> 06:18.937 Torres: All right, I'll go first. 06:19.375 --> 06:26.437 So Kevin Torres, I'm the Digital Architect in the Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate. 06:27.000 --> 06:31.875 So our directorate is responsible for the sustainment, modernization, 06:31.875 --> 06:38.187 development of all airlift, tanker, and trainer aircraft in the Air Force. 06:39.250 --> 06:39.625 Brackens: Awesome. 06:41.125 --> 06:43.125 Edwards: Hi, my name is Oren Edwards. 06:43.625 --> 06:48.312 I'm the Chief Engineer of the Medium Altitude Unmanned Aircraft Systems Division. 06:48.875 --> 06:55.875 And I work within the, uh, Intel Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Special Operations Forces Directorate. 06:56.437 --> 07:02.750 In our portfolio, we have, uh, several, uh, UAS programs that we, uh, manage all the life cycle activities for. 07:03.812 --> 07:04.375 Brackens: Great, great. 07:04.375 --> 07:11.250 So both of you work for organizations with aircraft that are extremely important to the Air Force's success. 07:11.937 --> 07:19.750 So let's talk a bit about what is what exactly is digital materiel management or a DMM? 07:20.937 --> 07:22.687 Edwards: I'll start with that kind of how we've defined it. 07:22.687 --> 07:29.000 So we have established what we call a vision statement for how DMM is applied in our organization. 07:29.500 --> 07:37.687 And so we, we define it to mean the widespread generation of, and mass exploitation of, uh, integrated 07:37.687 --> 07:42.562 information and automation in our day to day business and technical processes. 07:44.687 --> 07:44.937 Torres: Mr. 07:44.937 --> 07:45.437 Torres? 07:45.875 --> 07:54.375 Yeah, so, um, so in the Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, uh, we actually have two policy documents. 07:54.687 --> 08:00.062 One of them is our charter, and one of them is our, uh, DMM training plan. 08:00.687 --> 08:12.750 And so our vision is for digital materiel management activities to be ingrained in all we do, and so, um, innovation 08:12.750 --> 08:22.187 is part of digital, uh, materiel management, but it's not all of digital materiel management, and, um, yeah 08:24.125 --> 08:26.750 Brackens: Why is DMM important? 08:26.812 --> 08:28.187 Like, why should we be doing this? 08:31.937 --> 08:34.562 Edwards: I'll, um, uh, kind of re highlight speed. 08:34.562 --> 08:42.250 Right, so when you look at the tools that are available for DMM, We're not talking about new tools. 08:42.375 --> 08:47.437 We're talking about using, uh, migrating from tools that are 30 and 40 years old, 08:47.875 --> 08:53.937 like, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint to using tools that are only 20 years old. 08:54.812 --> 08:57.812 Uh, like Team Center, like, like Cameo, like, 08:57.812 --> 08:59.625 uh, uh, Jira Confluence. 08:59.625 --> 09:06.687 Edwards: So, when you realize that, uh, DMM is about, is about moving towards use of tools that are two decades old, 09:07.375 --> 09:11.125 uh, that from, from our organization, that's driving a lot of the motivation. 09:11.187 --> 09:15.000 Like, how far behind do we want to find ourselves in a couple of years? 09:15.125 --> 09:17.750 And 40 year old tools to. 09:18.437 --> 09:24.562 achieve the results that we do today, and we want to accelerate how fast we can, 09:24.625 --> 09:28.562 we can truly operate if we were to catch up with the rest of the business world. 09:28.937 --> 09:31.500 Uh, that's what's driving our change within, within our division. 09:34.437 --> 09:35.250 Brackens: So, so Mr. 09:35.250 --> 09:38.750 Torres, why is digital materiel management important? 09:38.750 --> 09:40.750 Like why should we be doing these, these efforts? 09:41.937 --> 09:43.687 Torres: Alright, that's a good, good question. 09:44.062 --> 09:53.562 So, uh, we report to Air Force Materiel Command, and our job is to sustain and develop materiel. 09:54.250 --> 10:03.375 Uh, historically, it has taken us a very long time, for example, to field new weapon systems. 10:03.812 --> 10:10.937 Uh, and our peer competitor is doing that in a much shorter period of time. 10:11.375 --> 10:18.375 What DMM helps us do is shorten the amount of time to deliver not 10:18.375 --> 10:21.875 only new weapon systems, but new capabilities to our warfighter. 10:22.125 --> 10:23.750 That's what DMM buys us. 10:24.375 --> 10:24.750 Brackens: Cool. 10:24.812 --> 10:32.812 Let's go ahead and talk about examples of you all using a DMM in In your, in your daily work life. 10:37.000 --> 10:46.062 Torres: So, um, one of the, uh, challenges of digital materiel management is, uh, is tools. 10:46.562 --> 10:52.187 And so, uh, in the, uh, Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, we 10:52.187 --> 11:00.750 have been utilizing tools that, that are available, um, in our enterprise. 11:00.812 --> 11:08.062 So, the, the two primary ones that we've been focusing on is, um, so, 11:08.250 --> 11:12.875 Air Force Materiel Command, uh, stood up a Launchpad environment. 11:13.625 --> 11:18.625 And, um, that environment has a suite of tools available. 11:19.375 --> 11:26.375 And so we've, um, have facilitated, uh, our personnel to, to get accounts 11:26.625 --> 11:31.437 in Launchpad to use, uh, to begin to use digital materiel management tools. 11:31.812 --> 11:35.000 And so, uh, we've got 133 users. 11:35.437 --> 11:39.750 Uh, there are four functionals represented there across seven divisions. 11:39.812 --> 11:51.375 So, That's been one of our focuses is getting tools into our workforce hands to begin to use and apply it to their jobs. 11:51.937 --> 11:58.562 Brackens: Okay, so I know across the Air Force, including in your portfolio, we've started uh, effort that's called 11:58.562 --> 12:04.687 like, um, digital twinning, where we make a digital replica of different aircraft within the portfolio. 12:05.437 --> 12:08.625 Is that a part of digital materiel management? 12:10.625 --> 12:12.187 Torres: Oh, 100%. 12:12.250 --> 12:14.437 So, um, so. 12:15.375 --> 12:19.062 The, the term digital twins is, it's a pretty big term. 12:19.625 --> 12:27.312 And, uh, the way we look at it is, a weapon system can have multiple digital twins. 12:27.750 --> 12:32.625 There can be a structural digital twin, there can be an electrical digital twin, 12:32.875 --> 12:37.250 any, there can be a digital twin for any subsystem on that weapon system. 12:37.750 --> 12:44.437 And, and the way we've been looking at it is a digital twin is made up of three parts. 12:44.937 --> 12:56.937 The model, Uh, the model of the system, the data of that model, and then the sensors that record the live 12:57.250 --> 13:05.937 information from that weapon system and the integration of all of that so that you have the physical asset, the 13:05.937 --> 13:11.562 model of the physical asset, the data that integrates them, and, and now you 13:11.625 --> 13:17.187 actually, you can build these digital replicas of, of your weapon systems. 13:17.937 --> 13:23.687 And you don't have to have a digital twin of the entire weapon system. 13:24.062 --> 13:29.062 You just have to decide what is it about my weapon system that will 13:29.062 --> 13:34.937 return value to uh, if, if I have this digital model of a piece of it. 13:35.562 --> 13:35.875 Brackens: Okay. 13:36.000 --> 13:41.437 Do you see, and, and, and adding you in, um, sir, um, Oren, I'm sorry, Mr. 13:41.437 --> 13:41.937 Edwards. 13:42.500 --> 13:48.062 Do you see the Air Force making digital twins out of all of our aircraft, including the ones within 13:48.437 --> 13:52.750 our, um, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft? 13:54.437 --> 13:59.875 Edwards: So, I, I think what we found from our perspective is we first have to start, what are the use cases that 13:59.875 --> 14:09.062 we want DMM type products to do, and until we realize, until we decide what those use cases are, it would be a, 14:09.562 --> 14:16.062 um, kind of an arbitrary big muscle movement to arbitrarily go and, and, and purchase or develop, uh, digital twins. 14:16.500 --> 14:20.250 So when you look at what you want a digital twin to do, um, you know, as Mr. 14:20.250 --> 14:24.312 Torres mentioned, so one thing you want a system model to do is to map out all 14:24.312 --> 14:28.687 the interactions of all the components of your, uh, you know, weapon system design. 14:29.500 --> 14:33.312 With that, you can you can answer rapidly answer design questions. 14:33.750 --> 14:38.437 You can rapidly answer sustainment questions like, um, you know, technical assistance requests. 14:38.437 --> 14:40.937 We call them 107s or 202s. 14:41.750 --> 14:43.937 You can do interoperability trade studies. 14:43.937 --> 14:47.312 You can do all those things that you can do with a system model. 14:47.875 --> 14:52.437 For a digital twin, you have to think about what, uh, you know, what other use cases you want to do, 14:52.500 --> 14:58.250 like, like physical fit checks or virtual fit checks, if you want to do production or QA types of things. 14:58.250 --> 15:04.625 So, so really, as Mr Torres mentioned, when you decide on the use cases, and how you're going to use it, how you can use 15:04.625 --> 15:08.500 it within your organization, that will help inform what type of digital twin 15:08.500 --> 15:12.687 and to what level, more importantly, what level of fidelity you want to go after. 15:15.625 --> 15:22.937 Brackens: Do you all have any other examples of, you know, successful digital materiel management efforts 15:22.937 --> 15:27.000 that we've done, um, either within your organization or, or across the Air Force? 15:28.562 --> 15:30.500 Edwards: Yeah, we have several in our organization. 15:30.500 --> 15:32.937 So the first thing to mention is that. 15:33.500 --> 15:40.250 We actually track, uh, the number of, um, uh, use cases that we've, uh, generated in our division. 15:40.250 --> 15:48.000 So we've identified, actually, over 226 use cases of how to apply DMM in our organization. 15:48.375 --> 15:52.375 And of those, we've actually prototyped, uh, 114 of those. 15:52.750 --> 15:55.375 So we have a lot of examples at the grassroots level of DMM. 15:55.875 --> 15:58.812 of how we can apply things to our day to day job. 15:59.437 --> 16:02.750 So when you think about that, that, the quantity, it kind of gets pretty exciting. 16:03.375 --> 16:05.937 Um, but I'll tell, I'll have a couple that I'll, I'll bring up real quick. 16:05.937 --> 16:06.562 Yeah, sure. 16:06.687 --> 16:10.375 The first one is more on business process automation. 16:10.625 --> 16:17.375 So within our division, we were using a, a tool for risk management to manage costs, schedule and performance risks. 16:17.937 --> 16:22.687 Uh, the tool we were using was available to the enterprise, but they lost their ATO. 16:23.187 --> 16:25.812 And so we're, we're back to using Microsoft Excel. 16:26.500 --> 16:29.687 Um, so what a couple of folks on our team did is they said, you know what? 16:29.687 --> 16:33.437 We're learning advanced tools, advanced features of SharePoint. 16:34.000 --> 16:38.000 We've now got the Power Platform from Microsoft, Power BI, Power 16:38.000 --> 16:43.187 Automate, and so they created a an automated risk management tool. 16:43.562 --> 16:50.812 It has the same, um, uh, results, same outputs as the former software we're using, but they were able to 16:50.812 --> 16:56.062 build a min viable product in only two weeks and using these digital tools 16:56.062 --> 17:00.375 or the, the application of tools, um, to solve a business problem. 17:01.312 --> 17:09.062 Uh, another example we had was, um, during a, a development program, uh, for the MQ-9, uh, it's a, it was an 17:09.125 --> 17:15.312 urgent need that later became a JUON We didn't really know what we were doing at the time, but we knew that 17:15.375 --> 17:21.312 hey, we, we can, we can map out user stories from the, the, the user, from 17:21.500 --> 17:26.875 the MAJCOM and use those to distill on what the, the needs and need statements. 17:27.187 --> 17:31.687 And ultimately we're able to, using a requirements model, we're actually able 17:31.687 --> 17:35.812 to auto generate a system requirements document that we put into our RFP. 17:36.500 --> 17:36.812 Brackens: Okay. 17:37.000 --> 17:37.312 I'm sorry. 17:37.312 --> 17:40.500 You mentioned a JUON and that that stands for a joint urgent. 17:42.000 --> 17:42.812 Edwards: Yeah, exactly. 17:43.000 --> 17:43.437 Forgive me. 17:43.437 --> 17:45.875 Yeah, it's a joint urgent operational need. 17:46.500 --> 17:49.625 And that, uh, those are needs that come down from the combatant commands. 17:50.062 --> 17:52.812 The two acquisitions say, Hey, hold the train. 17:53.312 --> 17:56.250 We need to, we need to rush this project through before anything else. 17:56.625 --> 17:57.000 Brackens: Okay. 17:57.312 --> 17:59.562 Edwards: So, uh, it is part of that contract. 17:59.562 --> 18:03.000 We, again, I, I joked that we didn't really know what we were doing, but, okay. 18:03.500 --> 18:11.875 We knew there was an opportunity to build this into a contract and we, uh, put a wedge of hours and some statements 18:11.875 --> 18:15.750 in the statement of work to ensure there was some level of MBSE support. 18:16.437 --> 18:22.500 Uh, this RFP was going to go out whether we were ready or not, so we were able to sneak in a small wedge to support that. 18:23.062 --> 18:28.500 The outcome of that is we've now been able to, uh, rapidly run several trade 18:28.500 --> 18:32.000 studies on the avionics, different design iterations we were looking at. 18:32.500 --> 18:40.250 Uh, we've been able to link every, uh, component of this upgrade, uh, back to, uh, you know, system requirements, 18:40.250 --> 18:46.500 subsystem requirements, component level requirements, and user requirements, backwards and forwards, fully linked. 18:47.187 --> 18:52.375 This is something we've never been able to do before, except it be a manual tracing through specification 18:52.375 --> 18:58.312 documents, and now we can do that in a series of right clicks and inquiries. 18:59.062 --> 19:04.937 And then the last example, um, I would say that a pretty good win is on an ACAT 2 equivalent. 19:05.375 --> 19:11.000 Uh, for military sales program, uh, you know, we were going back and forth with the customer on scope 19:11.125 --> 19:15.562 based on what the perceived level of maturity of some of those systems were. 19:16.125 --> 19:20.562 And so we decided, you know what, we're going to conduct a formal technical readiness assessment or T. 19:20.562 --> 19:20.687 R. 19:20.687 --> 19:21.125 A. 19:21.687 --> 19:26.687 To formally establish what the tech readiness levels were of the various components. 19:27.187 --> 19:29.437 So we, we followed the OSD guidance. 19:29.500 --> 19:36.750 We followed the Air Force guidance on how to conduct a TRA and when they go through the timelines, you know, they, 19:36.750 --> 19:42.750 they, they generally plan for about six to 12 months to conduct something for this, an ACAT 2 equivalent. 19:43.250 --> 19:44.687 And we got it done in two months. 19:45.062 --> 19:51.625 And the reason we got it done in two months is we found out that most of the time is spent not in reviewing the 19:51.625 --> 19:58.750 technical documents, not reviewing the prior technologies coming in, the time is spent during your deliberations with your 19:58.750 --> 20:04.500 team, uh, you're updating documents all the time and by having everything linked. 20:05.125 --> 20:10.687 We eliminated all that cross checking, all the consistency checking, uh, we essentially were able to, to set 20:10.687 --> 20:14.062 those linkages up, and then as we changed our minds, you know, for, 20:14.062 --> 20:18.125 for different discoveries during our deliberations, it's automatically update. 20:18.375 --> 20:24.000 And so that, that really drastically saved us a, a, an immense amount of time, uh, on that regard. 20:24.937 --> 20:30.312 So those are just three examples, but again, like I said, we have 114 to, that we've prototyped, uh, 20:30.312 --> 20:33.125 just to, uh, kind of think how can we apply this to our day to day. 20:33.125 --> 20:33.187 Brackens: Okay. 20:34.375 --> 20:34.875 So, Mr. 20:34.875 --> 20:40.562 Torres, as the, as the Digital Architect for, for Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, how 20:40.562 --> 20:46.937 are you sharing best practices or are working with, with other directorates or organizations across the Air Force? 20:47.750 --> 20:48.250 Torres: Okay. 20:48.937 --> 20:58.625 Um, so, um, so we have, uh, a Teams channel for, for the directorate, uh, which we're, we're, we're, we're 20:58.625 --> 21:07.625 putting all of our information on and that Maytac teams channel, uh, everybody in our directorate has, um, 21:07.687 --> 21:15.687 access to it, but it's also available, uh, to anyone in AFMC or, or LCMC. 21:16.187 --> 21:19.562 And so, for example, um, Mr. 21:19.562 --> 21:25.937 Edwards, uh, uh, his, uh, division, they have a digital transformation IPT. 21:26.312 --> 21:27.500 They, uh... 21:28.375 --> 21:37.875 multiple times a week, they are having a DMMIPT meetings, and, um, they have actually, um, opened up 21:38.000 --> 21:42.437 participation in that meeting, and I participate in, in that meeting. 21:43.187 --> 21:48.500 Um, and on our side, um, we have two monthly meetings. 21:49.062 --> 21:52.812 Uh, uh, one is for all of our Launchpad users. 21:53.250 --> 21:53.437 Yeah. 21:53.500 --> 22:02.000 And, um, and then we also have another monthly meeting for our Air Force Product Life Cycle Management users. 22:02.500 --> 22:04.062 And so that is for our folks. 22:04.250 --> 22:10.125 However, we've opened up those meetings to others as well outside of LCMC. 22:10.375 --> 22:15.750 And in those monthly meetings, we talk about, okay, what are your problems that you're having with the tools? 22:16.000 --> 22:18.375 What, um, do you have any questions? 22:18.687 --> 22:24.812 And then we'll also, Have the users present, 'okay, what have you done with these tools? 22:24.812 --> 22:31.562 What have you been doing in Launchpad or what have you been doing in Air Force PLM?' So we do that. 22:32.125 --> 22:37.687 And then there is a another user forum. 22:38.187 --> 22:52.000 It's um, it's an um, an AFMC PEO, and, um, division level digital leads meeting, that meeting, uh, is quarterly. 22:52.500 --> 23:00.000 And, and so that is another way where we're trying to, uh, not, not just we, but the community, the DMM 23:00.062 --> 23:07.625 community comes together to share, you know, what they're doing, um, and, and just educate one another. 23:09.562 --> 23:11.625 Brackens: How are you all working with operators? 23:12.937 --> 23:17.625 Uh, with, uh, DMM, or are you? 23:18.312 --> 23:19.125 Edwards: Yeah, we, we are. 23:19.125 --> 23:24.062 That's a, um, so naturally operators are not acquisitioneers. 23:24.062 --> 23:25.875 Um, I, I jokingly use that term. 23:25.937 --> 23:28.250 Um, they, they have needs. 23:28.375 --> 23:35.000 Uh, they turn those needs into requirements and they, they, they look to us to fund them as, as fast as possible. 23:35.875 --> 23:44.750 So we have had a couple, um, uh, programs where, or a couple of efforts where we're actually starting to, and I use the term 23:44.750 --> 23:53.437 digital whiteboarding is to map out user needs as use cases and user stories in some of these tools like Cameo during our 23:53.437 --> 23:58.937 conversations with the actual warfighters and we sometimes we call it combat 23:58.937 --> 24:02.312 modeling because we're doing modeling in real time with a live audience. 24:03.000 --> 24:08.125 It's always scary when you're starting out, but, but in doing that, you're also able to elicit and show on the whiteboard 24:08.125 --> 24:13.875 exactly how their needs are reflecting instead of how they will interact with the system, how they'll interact with 24:13.937 --> 24:19.750 other, between your air crews, between your maintainers, between your, you know, ops groups and things like that. 24:20.187 --> 24:20.812 And. 24:21.562 --> 24:25.375 So we're very early on, and we haven't, uh, fully got ourselves 24:25.375 --> 24:29.625 the way to go, um, but we are starting more and more, uh, of that. 24:33.875 --> 24:34.125 Brackens: Awesome. 24:34.125 --> 24:34.812 So, uh, Mr. 24:34.812 --> 24:39.250 Torres, I know within your directorate, you all are responsible for, you 24:39.250 --> 24:43.812 know, aircraft that, um, have been around the Air Force a very long time. 24:44.187 --> 24:44.312 Torres: Yes. 24:44.312 --> 24:49.875 Brackens: To include, you know, the KC-10, which is, I believe, will be phasing out sometime this year. 24:50.562 --> 24:59.062 Um, and, you know, the KC-135, which is, of course, uh, A workforce for the, for the tankers, um, how, how can you 24:59.062 --> 25:05.937 just talk a bit about how you see, you know, digital materiel management, you know, helping, you know, the KC-10 and 25:06.875 --> 25:12.437 I'm sorry, not the KC-10, but the, the KC-135, uh, the KC-46, you know, the T-7. 25:14.437 --> 25:19.500 Torres: Yeah, so, um, the, uh, a couple of things on that. 25:19.500 --> 25:31.000 So, our approach to sustainment is um These, uh, we, in, in DMM, you talk about things being born digital. 25:31.437 --> 25:39.562 So if, if you have a weapon system, that's just on paper, that weapon system and the entire architecture 25:39.562 --> 25:44.687 and how it's, uh, the acquisition for it, it can be born digital. 25:45.187 --> 25:49.562 But as you just pointed out, what about the rest of the weapon systems? 25:50.000 --> 25:53.375 In, in our directorate, as you mentioned, KC-135. 25:53.562 --> 26:04.500 Over 60 years, T-38 over 60 years, uh, C-17, 30+ years, they're in the field, they're, they're just being sustained. 26:05.500 --> 26:10.750 The approach that we've taken is that those systems can't be 26:10.750 --> 26:16.375 born digital, however, they're being modified all the time. 26:16.875 --> 26:21.375 So, and so our approach has been anytime there's a permanent 26:21.375 --> 26:27.375 mod to a weapon system, that permanent mod can be born digital. 26:27.625 --> 26:28.625 So, for example... 26:28.625 --> 26:29.312 Brackens: By mod you mean modification? 26:29.375 --> 26:31.875 Torres: Modification, yes. 26:32.312 --> 26:33.500 Brackens: So something added to it? 26:34.062 --> 26:38.937 Torres: Well, not necessarily added to it, mainly, uh, obsolescence. 26:39.562 --> 26:48.875 So if, uh, a component or a system is obsolete, it's not, they're not making it anymore, in order to keep flying, you're 26:48.875 --> 26:54.875 going to have to replace it with the current technology so you can keep flying. 26:55.812 --> 27:00.437 Well, that replacement, that modification, it can be born digital. 27:00.500 --> 27:04.375 It can incorporate all of these digital techniques. 27:04.625 --> 27:09.500 And so, several of our weapon systems are actually doing that. 27:09.687 --> 27:12.500 C-17, their flight deck is getting replaced. 27:13.000 --> 27:22.125 They have developed a, a Cameo model of that flight deck that encompasses all of the requirements that then 27:22.125 --> 27:27.812 can be shared with the contractors to make sure that those requirements are 27:27.812 --> 27:32.812 being met with act, you know, designs that will perform the functions. 27:33.500 --> 27:37.062 Uh, and then throughout our directorate, anytime there's a mod that's happening, 27:37.562 --> 27:44.062 um, uh, T-6 Avionics Replacement Program, KC-135, uh, Center Console Refresh. 27:44.125 --> 27:52.000 Those are all modifications, and they're incorporating digital techniques into those modifications. 27:53.125 --> 28:00.625 Brackens: So you would, so we're essentially going to get these, um, these modifications faster because of digital? 28:02.625 --> 28:11.187 Torres: Yes, you're going to get them, um, faster, but then you're able to update those systems faster. 28:11.937 --> 28:18.750 And, uh, the hope is then that rework, it will reduce the amount of rework. 28:19.625 --> 28:22.500 It will incorporate stakeholders needs. 28:22.500 --> 28:32.937 You mentioned, uh, the operators, uh, in the Air Force, we don't always get our operators' requirements or understandings, 28:32.937 --> 28:42.500 there's misunderstandings if we begin to do model based systems engineering that includes stakeholder analysis, that 28:42.500 --> 28:52.937 includes use cases, all those things, uh, it's, uh, multidimensional understanding of what the system needs to do. 28:53.125 --> 28:54.750 We actually haven't done that before. 28:55.125 --> 29:02.687 And because we've not done that before, we're prone to errors and misinterpretation, a lot of rework. 29:02.937 --> 29:07.187 It takes us a very long time to field capabilities. 29:07.562 --> 29:11.875 When we adopt these things, it reduces all of that and it helps us go fast. 29:13.250 --> 29:16.750 Brackens: So earlier you mentioned, I believe, a Cameo or a Camo. 29:17.437 --> 29:18.812 What is what exactly is that? 29:19.062 --> 29:19.437 Torres: Yes. 29:19.437 --> 29:27.687 So, um, a key uh capability for digital materiel management is something called systems modeling language. 29:28.000 --> 29:35.750 It's an industry standard for how to model a system and different views of the system. 29:36.687 --> 29:43.312 Cameo is an industry tool to develop a SysML model. 29:43.375 --> 29:45.687 Systems Model Language Model. 29:46.500 --> 29:46.812 Brackens: Okay. 29:46.875 --> 29:47.125 Torres: Yeah. 29:47.687 --> 29:52.125 And so Cameo, that tool is available on Launchpad. 29:52.750 --> 29:57.000 And, and, and you can get a Launchpad account free. 29:57.062 --> 30:05.062 Anybody in AFMC can get a Launchpad account at no cost and can begin using Cameo. 30:05.312 --> 30:07.437 cameo to develop models. 30:08.437 --> 30:08.937 Brackens: That's cool. 30:11.000 --> 30:11.562 Awesome. 30:12.250 --> 30:12.625 Mr. 30:12.625 --> 30:16.625 Edwards, is there anything you would like to add about, you know, your portfolio? 30:16.625 --> 30:20.687 I believe you all have, what, five aircraft within the portfolio? 30:22.187 --> 30:25.062 Edwards: Yeah, we have a four aircraft within our division. 30:25.562 --> 30:32.875 Uh, the largest one is the MQ-9A, but we also have the MQ-9B, uh, the RQ-29, and then another one. 30:33.687 --> 30:40.875 So most of our work right now, uh, relating to digital materiel management is starting up with the MQ-9A. 30:41.312 --> 30:46.375 Uh, we're also, uh, initiating building some models of the MQ-9B, uh, because 30:46.375 --> 30:49.500 that's going to be a major part of our foreign military sales portfolio. 30:49.500 --> 30:54.187 And again, if we want to be faster with fewer defects, and that's a growth area 30:54.187 --> 30:57.875 of our portfolio, then we want to be applying this to those programs as well. 30:59.625 --> 30:59.937 Brackens: Got it. 31:01.375 --> 31:09.875 With, uh, DMM, you're able to save, save the data, um, from the, from the aircraft and, and eventually use that, 31:10.187 --> 31:16.062 um, as you are, you know, potentially developing, um, next generation weapon systems or can, can that be done? 31:17.250 --> 31:24.250 Edwards: It can, uh, the term is called product line engineering and what product line engineering is, is the ability, 31:24.312 --> 31:33.750 uh, or the, the, the, the concept and the tools and the modeling approach so that in one model you can capture 31:34.062 --> 31:39.312 multiple permutations or, or variant, uh, configurations in that same model. 31:39.437 --> 31:43.500 So if you want for a particular day, 'Hey, show me the, show me the 31:43.500 --> 31:48.187 MQ-9 that has this radar versus that radar, and it'll pull up that model. 31:48.500 --> 31:55.625 'Show me the MQ-9 that has uh, this advanced sensor, uh, that we haven't gone to the whole fleet yet, yes,' and 31:55.625 --> 32:02.125 it can show that model, so that will help, uh, uh, mitigate a lot of your configuration management problems of 32:02.125 --> 32:09.500 having to maintain different models of, of different systems, as opposed to just in one particular, uh, core model. 32:10.250 --> 32:10.625 Brackens: Okay. 32:11.062 --> 32:14.250 And I know we briefly talked about this earlier, but, um. 32:14.687 --> 32:22.000 Let's talk a little bit more about, you know, what are some of the challenges of executing digital materiel management? 32:24.375 --> 32:30.125 Edwards: So I'll start, um, probably one of the biggest things that we've had to overcome is culture. 32:30.750 --> 32:37.625 And if you, if you look at, uh, you know, change, which, you know, the Air Force is definitely, um, you know, driving a 32:37.625 --> 32:41.812 driving force and changing to a digital materiel management you know, construct. 32:42.250 --> 32:49.562 So if if change is is driven and directed and vectored by policy, it's fueled by culture. 32:50.500 --> 32:56.437 At the same front, if there's resistance on to change or change is not as accelerating as fast as 32:56.437 --> 33:00.437 possible, it's because there's cultural inertia that you have to overcome. 33:01.125 --> 33:05.875 So one of the things that we did is we said that's going to be our number one focus in our program, and the 33:05.875 --> 33:10.875 reason I said that is I mentioned before about we had an origin story where we a lot of light bulbs went 33:10.875 --> 33:15.875 off on our team and on reflection, we realized that uh, the problem is us. 33:16.437 --> 33:19.875 And so what are the things that we were resistant to in the past? 33:19.875 --> 33:21.937 And we said, we're going to attack all of those things. 33:22.562 --> 33:26.187 So if anything's going to be important, if anything is important, it needs to be measured. 33:26.250 --> 33:28.937 So we also said, we're going to measure culture. 33:29.562 --> 33:32.562 Now you would, you would think that's, that can't really measure culture, can you? 33:33.062 --> 33:37.750 And so we took a, took a lesson from, there's a book called "How to Measure Anything" by Douglas Hubbard. 33:38.375 --> 33:46.625 And he talked about, uh, how, uh, one of the people involved in the, um, Manhattan Project, Enrico Fermi, uh, how he would 33:46.625 --> 33:54.187 have his college students estimate, you know, numbers of the different technicians in the city of like Chicago, um, and 33:54.187 --> 33:59.312 this is creative ways to how to measure things based on what you can measure that relate to what you want to get after. 33:59.875 --> 34:05.500 And so we said, well, there's three things that are indicators of culture in our division. 34:05.500 --> 34:12.375 The first is the total number of use cases that people come up with that they have prototyped. 34:12.437 --> 34:16.875 We can measure that if we have them present a quad chart at our weekly show and tell. 34:17.562 --> 34:23.312 Uh, we said another indicator that we're going to measure is the number of different people that prototype 34:23.312 --> 34:26.562 a use case, because it's better to have one, you know, a hundred people 34:27.000 --> 34:30.750 prototype one use case each than it is to have one person do all the work. 34:31.312 --> 34:32.187 We wanted to measure that. 34:32.250 --> 34:36.750 And the last thing was, uh, we wanted to measure also the number of different 34:36.937 --> 34:40.625 functionals that are participating in digital materiel management. 34:41.125 --> 34:47.812 So, uh, some people will say that DMM is just for engineers and we we have to fight that perception daily. 34:48.250 --> 34:56.062 And so we said, 'hey, if if somebody from contracting or somebody from finance or somebody from security or logistics uh, 34:56.125 --> 35:03.125 comes up with an idea of a potential use case and they create a card that we have on our tracker system, we're going to 35:03.125 --> 35:11.062 measure that.' And so by measuring and tracking those three metrics over the last 18 months, we've used that to, uh, 35:11.125 --> 35:17.937 kind of adjust our, our tactics of how we're going to, uh, manage our outreach or really in reach within our division 35:18.312 --> 35:20.937 towards, uh, kind of getting the word out and getting the, getting the buy in. 35:21.937 --> 35:22.312 Brackens: Awesome. 35:24.937 --> 35:25.125 Mr. 35:25.125 --> 35:26.625 Torres, do you have anything to add? 35:27.562 --> 35:29.562 Torres: Uh, only, only in agreement. 35:29.937 --> 35:34.937 Um, in my opinion, the number one challenge to DMM, as Mr. 35:34.937 --> 35:37.687 Edwards pointed out, is the culture. 35:38.375 --> 35:49.062 And, uh, so to go after the culture, a few things that we're doing in the, um, directorate is at the beginning 35:49.062 --> 36:01.562 of this year, uh, the PEO setup and objectives key result framework for the directorate to go after for, uh, LOEs. 36:02.062 --> 36:05.500 LOE number three is digital materiel management. 36:06.062 --> 36:14.437 So all of our divisions have identified objectives and key results and tasks to 36:14.437 --> 36:19.500 go after digital materiel management, and these are briefed quarterly to our PEO. 36:19.500 --> 36:26.937 The point of bringing that up is, um, there's a lot of opinions on culture change management. 36:27.312 --> 36:35.687 But I believe that not only does it have to be from the bottom up, but it really needs to be from the top down. 36:35.687 --> 36:43.625 You have to have your senior leaders on board with dMM adoption, uh, 36:43.625 --> 36:49.312 and then, um, uh, it had, then it, then it can flow from the top down. 36:49.375 --> 36:59.312 And so, um, we have PEO support for digital materiel management in, in the LOE number three for DMM and, um, and 36:59.312 --> 37:09.062 then the other, uh, and so we're always trying to identify how can we incentivize, uh, or recognize contributions to DMM. 37:09.625 --> 37:14.562 Uh, so another thing that we've done is we've created a directorate level award. 37:14.562 --> 37:24.250 It's a quarterly award to recognize, uh, a civilian or military person, um, for their contributions for DMM. 37:24.250 --> 37:29.937 So we're trying to recognize folks across the directorate that are, that are making contributions. 37:30.312 --> 37:32.250 Uh, so small steps. 37:32.937 --> 37:33.437 Brackens: Awesome. 37:34.750 --> 37:39.437 So what do you all think is the future of digital materiel management? 37:39.437 --> 37:41.562 Like, what's what's next start? 37:41.562 --> 37:44.812 Like, is it going to help us create more lethal aircraft? 37:44.937 --> 37:46.250 Uh, you know, what? 37:46.562 --> 37:47.875 weapons of the future? 37:48.312 --> 37:50.312 What's the next step in your, in your opinion? 37:54.375 --> 38:03.125 Torres: So, um, I think, so, so there's a couple of good things about DMM and, and maybe not so good things about DMM. 38:03.812 --> 38:08.125 So in, in my opinion, DMM doesn't save you any money. 38:08.125 --> 38:11.125 It's not, it's not going to help you save money. 38:11.687 --> 38:18.125 As a matter of fact, at the, at the beginning, it's going to cost you a little bit more money to create a baseline. 38:19.062 --> 38:25.437 What DMM gets us in the sustainment and development of new weapon systems is speed. 38:27.437 --> 38:33.187 You will be able to develop and sustain your weapon systems faster. 38:33.937 --> 38:38.125 Now, not the first time through, but the next time through. 38:39.812 --> 38:45.187 For example, um, I mentioned, uh, Air Force Product Life Cycle Management. 38:45.625 --> 38:50.000 Air Force Product Life Cycle Management is a digital thread builder. 38:50.937 --> 38:59.750 So, when you begin to migrate and transition into Air Force PLM, the first time, it's a lot of hard work. 39:00.562 --> 39:09.500 However, once that is established, and you have this digital thread, the next time your weapon system gets modified 39:09.500 --> 39:21.062 because a part has gone obsolete, your team can go fast and make that mod faster because all of the data is integrated and 39:21.062 --> 39:27.437 available in one location and all the many capabilities that are available to you. 39:28.000 --> 39:34.312 Whereas today, we're kind of stuck in this model based management, or 39:34.312 --> 39:38.125 not model based management, but we're stuck in document based management. 39:38.625 --> 39:46.312 The way we manage our systems is with documents, and none of those documents are related or linked together. 39:46.812 --> 39:53.250 And so, when we move to DMM type of architecture, we can go fast. 39:53.875 --> 39:56.437 Brackens: It sounds like it saves you money in the long run. 39:58.500 --> 40:01.062 . Torres: Um, I, I think so. 40:01.250 --> 40:01.937 Yes. 40:04.000 --> 40:06.250 Edwards: Yeah, I'll, I'll, uh, I'll echo Mr. 40:06.250 --> 40:06.937 Torres's comment. 40:06.937 --> 40:09.125 Yeah, the number one thing we're going to get is speed. 40:10.062 --> 40:14.000 Uh, we had a, we had a crisis on our program, uh, 3 years ago. 40:14.312 --> 40:19.750 It was a, it was a technical process crisis of how long things were taking to get certain approvals. 40:20.250 --> 40:26.375 And, um, it was, it was, uh, essentially a major implosion and a complete breakdown. 40:26.937 --> 40:34.500 And we had to delve into, uh, we decided to use a model based system engineering tool to, to help us out. 40:34.500 --> 40:36.750 We thought, 'Hey, we have no other way, another choice. 40:36.937 --> 40:43.000 Let's give it a shot.' And we realized that as we starting to use, uh, you know, use that tool to, to solve this 40:43.000 --> 40:49.562 one particular process, um, it auto generated a lot of the documents, core of the, of the documents we need. 40:50.187 --> 40:52.562 And then when we got out of that, we finally got out of the woods. 40:52.625 --> 40:56.187 Uh, we, we reached out to ourselves and say, 'you know what, what, 40:56.250 --> 41:02.500 what just happened?' We literally waste so much time with documents. 41:03.062 --> 41:07.562 And prior to that, we didn't even realize how much time we're wasting. 41:07.562 --> 41:07.875 Right? 41:07.875 --> 41:12.625 And so that, uh, that experience really became what we call our, our origin story. 41:13.125 --> 41:17.687 And so, uh, that led to a lot of the, uh, kind of the experimentation with some of 41:17.687 --> 41:22.375 these tools, but, but it's all come down to, are there, are there large tasks? 41:22.562 --> 41:26.125 Yes, they'll be faster, but also you can get some small wins that 41:26.125 --> 41:29.937 will also help to save time, uh, the investment, of course, as, as Mr. 41:29.937 --> 41:33.750 Torres mentioned, yes, there is an investment in, in, in money, but 41:33.750 --> 41:37.437 there's more an investment in time to crawl up that learning curve. 41:37.437 --> 41:43.250 But, but our team will tell you that even when you're just early on in the learning curve, you can still get those 41:43.250 --> 41:47.937 small wins that then just start spiring, spiraling into bigger and bigger wins.