Manufacturing Readiness Level Working Group

The MRLWG is responsible for the development, coordination, publication, and maintenance of a best practice Body of Knowledge aimed at identifying, managing, and mitigating manufacturing risk for the timely development, production, modification, fielding, and sustainment of affordable products. The BoK was developed for use in the defense industry, commercial industries, academia, and has proven applicable to many other manufacturing sectors in support of assessing risk via the defined Manufacturing Readiness Level structure. The BoK can be found on the DoD MRL website at https://dodmrl.com/ or https://dodmrl.org.   

The MRLWG uses lessons learned, best practices in manufacturing, DoD policy updates, and real-life manufacturing expertise to continuously update and improve the MRL BoK. Since industry is the primary user, the MRL BoK is intended to be a joint DoD/industry product. The MRLWG strives to ensure the MRL BoK through the following tactics: 

  • Identifies areas of risks, issues, and opportunities 
  • Minimizes manufacturing risk in product development to transition effectively to production 
  • Provides earlier manufacturing input to the design and decision processes 
  • Remains an up-to-date best practice allowing for maximum flexibility in application by the diverse industry and contractor community developing and producing various products.  
Taxonomy

The MRLWG thrust areas include:   

  • Body of Knowledge Management – Routine evaluation of the BoK to ensure that addresses current manufacturing-risk related trends within the user community and complies with the latest policies, regulations, and standards.    

  • Policy, Education, and Tools/Training – This concerted effort focuses on the management, education, training, and implementation of assessments of manufacturing risk/readiness using the MRL criteria.   

  • Outreach – As the standard-bearer for the MRL BoK, the MRLWG strives to conduct outreach activities with our government, industry, and academic partners to ensure the widest dissemination of the MRL BoK as a best practice.  

Schedule of Meetings

The MRLWG meets the 4th Tuesday of January, April, July, and October, in addition to a yearly workshop.  

MRLWG Chair

The MRLWG chair is a nominated position that typically has resided with the Air Force; however, it may be selected from any agency within the JDMTP.  The current chair of the MRLWG is Mr. Barry Burton from the Air Force Research lab. 

Primary organizations involved in the subpanel are Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency, Missile Defense Agency, Office of Secretary of Defense.  Additionally, defense industry and academic representatives serve as a vital link to operational implementation as the primary customer.