LANCASHIRE, England –
An engineer team’s new approach will save time and money by catching defects early-on in the F-35 production. This Defense Contract Management Agency United Kingdom based group led efforts to reduce product defects known as non-conforming material, or NCM, in F-35 components across its three variants.
These defects may seem as simple as a slightly oversized drilled hole but could lead to wasted time, labor and materials later in the assembly line because the part did not meet the specifications outlined in the contract.
“By reducing NCM materials in F-35 production, the program delivers a more reliable, safer and more affordable aircraft to the warfighter,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Samantha Coburn, DCMA UK commander. “This translates into improved readiness, increased mission effectiveness and ultimately, a greater chance of success in combat.”
The effort’s labor savings is projected to exceed $9 million for the F-35 program. Beginning in 2023, the agency’s UK engineering team decreased minor defects by 22% and 24% in 2024. The program had nearly 5,900 NCMs in 2022, before the engineering team began applying their reduction plan. After a year of implementing that plan, the program saw just over 4,800 NCMs at the end of 2023, then another drop to just then another drop to just over 3,400 in 2024.
"Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the team, the contractor is on track for another 25% reduction for 2025, resulting in less than 2,600 total defects,” said Brian Gary, the DCMA UK engineering supervisor and project initiator.
Future cost savings and NCM reductions project to positively impact the program moving forward. The buying commands benefit from reduced costs while reclaiming time for more impactful work.
“Less material waste and fewer delays would enable (the commands) to acquire more aircraft or allocate those savings to other areas like training, maintenance or research and development efforts,” said Coburn. “A reduction in NCMs means a higher quality aircraft that’s inherently safer to fly, minimizing the risk of mechanical failures or system malfunctions during flight, which protects the lives of our pilots, the crew and anyone nearby.”
The DCMA UK engineering team’s mission is to review and track defects across major F-35 components, including the aft fuselage, tail assemblies, tailhook trestle, nozzle bay doors and outboard wing. These items, which can experience a range of NCM challenges from manufacturing anomalies like over-deep countersinks to out-of-spec titanium grain size, require attention to detail from every angle.
"Our recommendations led to enterprise-wide process improvements, including the agency’s adoption of a consolidated labor tracking method for consideration packages,” Gary said. “These reductions translated to annual labor savings of more than $170,000 in 2023 and over $334,000 in 2024.”
The team collaborated with the contractor to implement a joint defect reduction plan to include improved business processes, reduce waste, reallocate resource production and pre-approve repeat-deviations that DCMA engineers determined would not impact overall production or safety of the aircraft.
“Knowing DCMA’s capacity was limited, the contractor made measurable changes to reduce defects and improve documentation,” Gary said. “It’s an approach worth considering across other programs.”
Although the UK engineering team was small, their work on the high-risk F-35 program required diligence. They needed to do more with less while avoiding the need to increase overtime. To accomplish this, they imposed a cap on the number of minor defects they would review weekly, which placed more responsibility on the contractor to produce conforming parts and improve the quality of submitted NCM packages.
Jason Wold, the project and engineering lead, highlighted the importance of implementing such a reduction plan, emphasizing that Federal Acquisition Regulation and DCMA policy discourage repeat non-conforming material supplies or services.
“An NCM reduction program puts this requirement into practice,” Wold said. "All functions should be working together to ensure conforming product is delivered to our warfighters.”
Throughout the campaign, DCMA engineers maintained regular communication with other manufacturers, the F-35 Joint Program Office and other stakeholders. They met monthly to evaluate risks, analyze data and align corrective action responses.
“It’s our mission to ensure product integrity while also safeguarding taxpayer dollars by preventing unnecessary expenses,” said Navy Capt. Bari Jones, DCMA International commander. “I’m extremely proud of our group of engineers who took this proactive approach to identify and reduce the number of non-conforming materials.”
The team’s contributions extended to the development of contractor process maps, root cause analyses and engineering change proposal reviews.
“The DCMA UK team in Samlesbury, in close collaboration with the contractor, is making significant strides to reduce non-conforming materials in F-35 production,” said Todd Ice, DCMA Technical Operations director. “Their dedication directly supports our acquisition priorities by delivering a more dependable and cost-effective fleet, enabling more efficient resource allocation and potential for increased investment.”
The DCMA UK engineering team’s performance also resulted in several firsts, including the agency’s initial use of a single-functional PDREP Letter of Delegation and a requirement for DCMA approval in the facility’s engineering change review process.
“The team set a standard for excellence,” said Mark Wolf, DCMA’s Technical Directorate deputy director. “Their combined expertise, consistent communication and strategic leadership delivered measurable results that support mission readiness and operational affordability.”