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Mil-Spec Guidelines

October 13, 2020

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again (though, it may not need to be said at all); there’s constant change when it comes to the United States military and the technologies they incorporate into the working pieces of their missives, tools, weaponry, transport, communications, and beyond. It’s imperative to the military defense needs that many of these technologies that have been deployed as a part of the operation(s) are focused on finding the most accurate and tactful way to defend the country during a time of conflict, with minimal calamities…

With all of that in mind, it’s no surprise that the United States Military doesn’t just allow anybody to provide the working pieces and parts of their mission critical technology sets. It’s a small pool of manufactures that see the bulk of the work United States Military contracts dole out, and, in order to be considered you are under the microscope as it relates to your own inhouse technologies, safety, and attention to detail. Management is key.

This brings us to today’s topic of conversation… Mil-Spec. The industry recognized guideline as it relates to manufacturing for the military sector.

What is Mil-Spec?

At its core, “Mil-Spec” is short for Military Specifications – a stringent set of guidelines for our nation’s most invaluable resource. Mil-Spec is used to describe a product’s physical and/or functional characteristics. Typically, these specifications go hand-in-hand with Mil-Std, which stands for “military standards” and describes what materials and processes can be used to fabricate a product. These guidelines can also be extended to the manufacturing and testing of a piece of equipment.

In short, Mil-Spec is used to make sure manufacturers under contract abide by them to achieve standardization objectives as derived by the U.S. Department of Defense. Said standardization throughout the manufacturing process is vitally beneficial in achieving:

  • Interoperability
  • Ensuring products meet exact unique requirements
  • Commonality
  • Reliability
  • Total cost of ownership
  • Compatibility with logistics systems
  • And many other similar defense-related objectives…

According to our friends at Wikipedia:

“Defense standards evolved from the need to ensure proper performance, maintainability and reparability (ease of MRO), and logistical usefulness of military equipment. The latter two goals (MRO and logistics) favor certain general concepts, such as interchangeability, standardization (of equipment and processes, in general), cataloging, communications, and training (to teach people what is standardized, what is at their discretion, and the details of the standards). In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th, the American and French militaries were early adopters and longtime developmental sponsors and advocates of interchangeability and standardization. By World War II (1939–1945), virtually all national militaries and trans-national alliances of the same (Allied Forces, Axis powers) were busy standardizing and cataloguing. The U.S. AN- cataloguing system (Army-Navy) and the British Defense Standards (DEF-STAN) provide examples.”

Why does this matter?

Well, the long and short of it is, if you’re a manufacturer not conforming to Mil-Spec guidelines as it relates to any work you’re doing for defense contractors, you’re going to be blacklisted and out of work quickly.

Mil-Spec is a way of living to manufacturers working within in the industry to best serve their customer, and, the greater good of everyone here in these United States. It’s a matter of trust, specificity, and security. Helping to advance our military by offering manufacturing practices that are Mil-Spec sound is helping to secure our borders and increase the safety of all of us.

At MuShield, we take Mil-Spec guidelines very seriously which is why we’re a trusted partner for defense related customers. We’re setup and have the tools and technologies to bolster any contract that comes our way that has Mil-Spec conformity contingencies in place, and we’re happy to serve in any way that we can!

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