The mission of the Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (AME) Subpanel of the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) is to address the technologies and practices to fully realize government and industry-wide use of manufacturing readiness tools and processes, including design for producibility and sustainability across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency, Missile Defense Agency, Office of Secretary of Defense, industry, and academia.  The AME Subpanel comes together to promote dual-use technology applications between the Federal Government and the private sector, foster joint project planning, and hold annual portfolio reviews to coordinate all Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology (DoD ManTech) Program AME projects to eliminate unwarranted duplication and identify common requirements.  Actions to assist in improving defense manufacturing infrastructure and workforce are also within scope of the AME Subpanel.

The Subpanel remains cognizant of state of the art technology developments and innovative and disruptive manufacturing processes related to AME. The AME Subpanel serves to enhance manufacturing technology transfer and transition among the DoD components, other government agencies, industry, and academia and serves as the DoD technical focal point for manufacturing technology within its scope.  The AME Subpanel coordinates complementary technology development with other Subpanels to facilitate effective insertion and transition.

The AME Subpanel encompasses the technologies, processes, and practices that foster rapid, superior execution of manufacturing enterprises across the life cycle. This includes:

• Model-based tools and approaches that optimize producibility during early design and support standard data environments for life cycle support
• Network centric manufacturing capabilities to facilitate resilient and adaptable supply chains
• Intelligent manufacturing planning and factory execution
• Modeling and simulation capabilities advancing the above business practices

The AME Subpanel has three working groups:

• Gaps trends and opportunities (GTO)
• Cyber security
• Digital information and visualization (DIV)

Listed below is a top down decomposition of the technical areas of investment for the AME Subpanel

• Connect the Enterprise - Enable seamless interoperability of data and processes across organizational boundaries.
• Build the Digital Thread - Drive a continuous flow of integrated design, analysis, and manufacturing information throughout the product/system life cycle.
• Create an Agile Factory Floor - Develop adaptive manufacturing capabilities that integrate factory floor resources for rapid response to the warfighter.
• Ensure a Robust Infrastructure - Support initiatives and policies to ensure manufacturing infrastructure health and U.S. manufacturing superiority.

Joint Technology Pursuit Areas (JTPAs) are joint Military Service and DoD Agency manufacturing research and development (R&D) topics of strategic interest that are developed by each JDMTP Subpanel.  The Subpanels provide a rigorous internal analysis and prioritization of the JDMTP portfolio.  To date, JTPAs continue to be an excellent tool to communicate joint technical priorities to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Office leadership and the collective DoD ManTech stakeholder community.  These JTPAs identify joint-Service investment opportunities predicted to produce the highest value, affordable, leading edge defense capabilities to meet the near term needs of our warfighters.

AME JTPAs areas include:

• Building and Integrating the Digital Thread
• Creating an Agile Factory Floor
• Mixed Realities and Collaborative Environments for Manufacturing
• Enhance Interoperability
• Prognostics and Health Management for Smart Manufacturing
• Improved 3D Technical Data Packages
• Data Analytics Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Manufacturing Systems
• Connecting the Enterprise

The AME Subpanel chair is a nominated position that rotates among the Services and agencies that comprise the JDMTP.  The current chair of the AME Subpanel is Dr. Senthil Arul from Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).

Primary organizations involved in the subpanel are Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency, Missile Defense Agency, Office of Secretary of Defense, and the Coast Guard.