Logistics & Supply Management

Integrated Product Support (IPS)

Integrated Product Support (IPS), use to be integrated logistics support (ILS), is a unified and
iterative approach to the management and technical activities needed to influence operational and
materiel requirements and design specifications for logistics support.  IPS define the support
requirements best related to system design and to each other, develop and acquire the required
support, provide required operational support at the lowest cost, seek readiness and Life-Cycle Cost
(LCC) improvements in the materiel system and support systems during the operational life cycle,
and repeatedly examine support requirements throughout the service life of the system. [2]

Definition: Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) is the management and technical process through
which supportability and logistic support considerations are integrated into the design of a system or
equipment and taken into account throughout its life cycle. It is the process by which all elements of
logistic support are planned, acquired, tested, and provided in a timely and cost-effective manner
[2].

Integrated Product Support (IPS) Manager

Product Support Managers develop, plan, and implement a comprehensive product support strategy
for all integrated product support elements and their material readiness. Product support managers
will make use of data-driven decision-making tools with appropriate predictive analysis capabilities
to improve systems availability and reduce costs. (DoDI 5000.02)

Integrated Product Support (IPS) Main Reference

The main reference for IPS that is used throughout the industry is the DAU Integrated Product
Support (IPS) Element Guidebook. The guidebook focused on the product support manager and
everything that is needed to successfully execute product support from system development to
disposal. The guidebook is below:

Guidebook: Integrated Product Support (IPS) Element Guidebook – Mar 2021

Integrated Product Support (IPS) Elements

The ten (12) Integrated Product Support (IPS) elements are as follows: [1]

1. Product Support Management: Plan, manage, and fund weapon system product support
across all Integrated Product Support (IPS) Element.
2. Design Interface: The design interface is the integration of the quantitative design
characteristics of systems engineering (reliability, maintainability, etc.) with the functional
IPS Elements.
3. Sustaining Engineering: Sustaining Engineering spans those technical tasks (engineering
and logistics investigations and analyses) to ensure continued operation and maintenance of
a system with managed (i.e., known) risk.
4. Maintenance Planning & Management: Identity, plan, resource, and implement
maintenance concepts and requirements to ensure the best possible equipment/capability is
available when the Warfighter needs it at the lowest possible LCC.
5. Manpower and Personnel: Identify, plan, resource, and acquire personnel, civilian, and
military, with the grades and skills required;
 o to operate equipment, to complete the missions, to effectively fight or support the
fight, and to win our Nation’s wars;
o to effectively support the Soldier and to ensure the best capability is available for the
Warfighter when needed.
6. Supply Support: Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to acquire
repair parts, spares, and all classes of supply to ensure the best equipment/capability is
available to support the Warfighter or maintainer when it is needed at the lowest possible
LCC.
7. Support Equipment: Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to
acquire and support the equipment (mobile or fixed) required to sustain the operation and
maintenance of the system to ensure that the system is available to the Warfighter when it is
needed at the lowest LCC.
8. Technical Data: Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to develop
and acquire information;
o to operate, maintain, and train on the equipment to maximize its effectiveness and
availability;
o effectively catalog and acquire spare/repair parts, support equipment, and all classes
of supply; and
o to define the configuration baseline of the system (hardware and software) to
effectively support the Warfighter with the best capability at the time it is needed.
9. Training and Training Support: Plan, resource, and implement a cohesive integrated
strategy to train military and civilian personnel to maximize the effectiveness of the
doctrine, manpower, and personnel to fight, operate, and maintain the equipment throughout
the life cycle.
10. Information Technology (IT) Systems Continuous Support: Identify, plan, resource, and
acquire facilities, hardware, software, documentation, manpower, and personnel necessary
for planning and management of mission-critical computer hardware and software systems.
11. Facilities and Infrastructure: Identity, plan, resource, and acquire facilities to enable
training, maintenance, and storage to maximize the effectiveness of system operation and
the logistic support system at the lowest LCC. Identify and prepare plans for the acquisition
of facilities to enable responsive support for the Warfighter.
12. Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation (PHST): Identify, plan, resource, and
acquire packaging/preservation, handling, storage, and transportation requirements to
maximize availability and usability of the material to include support items whenever they
are needed for training or the mission.

Where is Integrated Product Support (IPS) Documented

The Acquisition Strategy and Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP) will ensure that the requirements
for each of the elements of IPS are properly planned, resourced, and implemented. These actions
will enable the system to achieve the operational readiness levels required by the warfighter at the
time of fielding and throughout the life cycle.

AcqLinks and References:

 Integrated Product Support (IPS) Element Guidebook – Mar 2021

 Old: [1] Integrated Product Support Element Guidebook – Dec 2011
 Army Regulation 700-127 “Integrated Logistics Support” – 26 Mar 2012
 [2] DAU Glossary – 13th Edition

Updated: 6/19/2021
Elements of Integrated Product Support The twelve (12) elements of IPS are segregated into three (3) categories with
four (4) elements in each, as follows:

Category 1 - Life Cycle Sustainment Management

 1 Product Support Management - development and implementation of support strategies to

ensure product supportability is considered throughout its life cycle; accomplished by balancing the
performance outcomes of reliability, availability, maintainability, and reduced total ownership
costs.
 2 Supply Support - actions, procedures and techniques necessary to acquire, catalog, receive, store,
transfer, issue and dispose of spares, repair parts, and supplies; includes provisioning for initial
support, as well as acquiring, distributing, and replenishing inventories.
 3 Packaging, Handling, Storage, & Transportation - the combination of resources, processes,
procedures, design, considerations, and methods to ensure that all system, equipment, and
support items are preserved, packaged, handled, and transported properly, including
environmental considerations, equipment preservation for the short and long storage, and
transportability.
 4 Maintenance Planning & Management - developing, implementing and managing the
maintenance requirements, concept, and detailed procedures for a system; includes personnel who
performs the required maintenance tasks and location where tasks will be accomplished; also
includes identifying all the resources and funding needed to develop and implement the
maintenance plan.

Category 2 - Technical Management

 1 Design Interface - integration of the quantitative design characteristics of systems engineering

(reliability, maintainability, etc.) with the functional logistics/integrated product support elements,
reflecting the driving relationship of system design parameters to product support resource
requirements; design parameters are expressed in operational terms rather than as inherent values
and specifically relate to system requirements; thus, product support requirements are derived to
ensure the system meets its availability goals and design costs, and that support costs are
effectively balanced.
 2 Sustaining Engineering - identification, review, assessment, and resolution of deficiencies
throughout a system's life cycle; returns a system to its baselined configuration and capability, and
identifies opportunities for performance and capability enhancement; includes the measurement,
identification and verification of system technical and supportability deficiencies, associated root
cause analyses, evaluation of the potential for deficiency correction, and the development of a
range of corrective action options.
 3 Technical Data - recorded information of a scientific or technical nature regardless of form or
character necessary to acquire, operate or support the system; consists of equipment technical
manuals, engineering drawings, engineering data, specifications, standards and Data Item
Descriptions (DID); may also include product, financial and program management data.
 4 Computer Resources - information technology resources and infrastructure required to operate
and support mission critical systems to include manpower, personnel, hardware, software, and
documentation such as licenses and services.

Category 3 - Infrastructure Management

 1 Facilities & Infrastructure - the permanent and semi-permanent real property assets and
infrastructure required to support a system; includes studies to define types of facilities and
infrastructure, facility and infrastructure improvements, location, space needs, environmental and
security requirements, and equipment; also includes facilities and infrastructure for training,
equipment storage, maintenance, supply storage, etc.
  2 Manpower & Personnel - identification and acquisition of personnel (military and civilian) with
the skills and grades required to operate, maintain and support systems over their lifetime.
 3 Support Equipment - equipment (mobile or fixed) that is not inherently part of the primary
system but is required to support the operation and maintenance of the system; includes but is not
limited to associated multiuse end items, ground handling and maintenance equipment, tools
metrology and calibration equipment, manual/automatic test equipment; also includes the support
for the support equipment itself.
 4 Training & Training Support - policy, processes, procedures, techniques, Training Aids Devices,
Simulators and Simulations (TADSS), planning and provisioning for the training including equipment
used to train civilian and military personnel to acquire, operate, maintain, and support a system;
includes New Equipment Training (NET), institutional, sustainment training and Displaced
Equipment Training (DET) for the individual, crew, unit, collective, and maintenance through initial,
formal, informal, on the job training (OJT), and sustainment proficiency training.

Acquisition Logistics Support

Applying IPS strategy to new acquisition/construction of materiel affords the opportunity to

maximize the beneficial impact of the IPS elements on the materiel not only during the acquisition
phase but throughout its operational life cycle.

ASR has experience/ expertise in performing logistics support at various stages of the acquisition
process. ASR uses the Defense Acquisition Framework (DAF) depicted below as a guide for
managing system acquisition programs.

 The Acquisition Logistics Planning Process includes a review of system capabilities and analysis of
existing system Reliability, Maintainability and Supportability (RMS) issues and concerns. The
primary sources for RMS information are from logistics system feedback reports and/or from the
maintenance history. Data Analysis identifies issues and/or opportunities that impact RMS and LCC.
 Input from the analysis is used to define the support strategy and maintenance concept. Support
strategy identifies the program approach to meet life-cycle logistics (LCL) objectives. The
maintenance concept defines in broad terms how the system will be maintained to meet threshold
availability objectives. The support strategy and maintenance concept form the foundation of the
product support development process.
 The next step in the acquisition logistics planning process is to perform market surveys to
determine if current design trends address RMS issues, further refine the RMS issues, and identify
the RMS market trends to focus on. Based on the analysis conducted, the support strategy is
refined to shortlist the cost-effective support alternative for the system and its maintenance
concept.
 Finally, RMS objectives are documented in capabilities and contractual documents. This is done to
ensure LCL objectives are adequately described and captured to be translated into real
requirements that support the system acquisition/ source selection. The ILS elements that will
comprise the Product Support Package (PSP) are also documented during this stage.