NATO CALS Management Board

NATO CALS Handbook 2nd Draft - March 1996

This 2nd Draft is not yet a formally agreed document and should not be quoted as a reference. It does not necessarily represent the official position of the nations on all issues discussed

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Guide for developing a NATO/Government CALS Concept of Operation

This section provides guidance to project managers and others who have an interest in applying CALS to the acquisition of data products in support of defence systems. This guidance is in the form of a NATO/Government Concept of Operation (NCoO), and identifies typical user's needs for technical data throughout all life cycle activities of weapons systems management, design, manufacture, and support functions. The NCoO section walks the Project manager through the eight-step NCoO development process, and provides details regarding the type of information needed for each step and how to obtain that information. It also includes the CALS Implementation Strategy to be addressed in defining the Acquisition Plan (AP).

Applying CALS to the Acquisition Logistics and Operational Logistics processes.

This section is intended to provide the project manager with an overview of Business practices for the creation, management, and use of ILS and LSAR data in a CALS environment. This section also provides information on various digital data media, format, and content options available for obtaining ILS and LSAR data. The purpose of this section is to provide the planning for the creation, management, and use of LSA data, and the proliferation of this data through the ILS element functional areas. These areas need to take advantage of the capabilities provided by the automation and integration capabilities of information systems. This section will also identify and correlate Acquisition Workshop and Operational Logistics Workshop results.

Applying CALS to the creation, management and use of Technical Data Packages.

This section is intended to provide the project manager with an overview of business practices for the creation, management, and use of Technical Data Packages (TDPs) in a CALS environment. This section also provides information on various digital data media, format, and content options available for obtaining TDPs. The planning process for the creation, management, and use of TDPs in a CALS environment needs to take advantage of the capabilities provided by the automation and integration of information systems. Various data content, media, and format options are available for the delivery of digital TDPs needed to define and support a defence system. The intent of this section is to:

Describe content, format, and media options for TDPs
Explain the benefits and caveats for the available options
Examine the life cycle considerations for all options
Describe the infrastructure necessary to support the various options
Provide guidance for specific contract language required to support the selection of the options

Applying CALS to the creation, management and use of Technical Manuals.

This section is intended to provide the project manager with an overview of business practices for the creation, management, and use of Technical Manuals (TMs) in a CALS environment. The section also provides information on various digital data media, format, and content options available for obtaining TMs. Various format options are available for the delivery of TMs that are needed to define and support a defence system. The intent of this section is to:

Provide an overview of the TM acquisition process
Provide a step-by-step process for each TM decision
Describe delivery options available for TM acquisition
Provide a method to determine the cost associated with each option
Provide guidance for specific contract language required to support the options selected
Discuss contractor validation and Government verification procedures.

Implementation of Contractor Integrated Technical Information Service (CITIS).

The CITIS section provides the project manager with information on the acquisition and implementation of a CITIS. This document provides guidelines for the decision to acquire CITIS, including data deliverables, programmatic and economic considerations. Then, acquisition managers are instructed on how to select the services and functions that should be included in their CITIS. Guidance is then provided on how to acquire a CITIS, including a sample Statement of Work for the development of a CITIS. The CITIS section also includes discussions on strategy issues such as data repositories and hardware, software and networks. Finally, some of the legal issues unique to CITIS are presented.

Sample Statement of Work Language (SOW) and source selection criteria.

This section provides sample generic CALS Statement of Work (SOW) language and CALS source selection criteria to assist the acquisition manager in the implementation of CALS for a Project. This CALS-related language should be used in developing the functional requirements within each applicable section of the Request for Proposal (RFP).

Infrastructure requirements for the creation, management and use of digital data.

This section provides an overview of hardware, software, telecommunication, and network requirements in a CALS environment. This section addresses the considerations for an information infrastructure such as: computer architecture, computer operating system, storage devices, computer graphics and monitors, network devices, application software, software licensing, network protocols, local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and data process.

Guidelines and sample clauses for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) agreement.

This section offers guidelines and sample clauses to be used when a signed document needs to be established between a Ministry of Defence or a NATO Agency and its trading partners with respect to electronic data exchange.

Product, Process and Data Integration Standards.

This section describes each of the current integration standards and addresses their purpose, status, and implementation issues. Notably:

Digital Representation for Communication of Product Data: IGES Application Subsets
Markup Requirements and Generic Style Specification for Electronic Printed Output and Exchange of Text (SGML)
Digital Representation for Communication of Illustration Data: CGM Application Profile
Hypermedia Time-based Document Structuring Language (HyTime)
Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP)

CALS Standards overview.

This section presents a brief summary of CALS standards