| POLICY |
| 1.11 Integrated Product Development
The philosophy of the Integrated Product Development System (IPDS) is to team functional disciplines systematically, and thereby integrate and apply all relevant processes to produce an effective and efficient product or service that satisfies customer needs. This system is built on the concept of "teams leading teams," and requires a cultural and organizational focus that understands and accommodates the mechanics and dynamics of team operation. It stresses cutting across organizational "stovepipes," and emphasizes full lifecycle responsibility from program inception to disposal for products and termination for services. There are four levels of teams within the IPDS: the Product Team (PT), Integrated Product Team (IPT), Integrated Management Team, and the Integrated Product Leadership Team. The Integrated Product Team is a cross-functional, empowered team that is given a budget and other resources to accomplish lifecycle acquisition and management for specific products or services. An Integrated Product Team may be organized with sub-IPTs, called Product Teams, in cases where multiple products or services need to be broken into manageable elements. IPTs or PTs, as appropriate, are the primary lifecycle acquisition management teams. They are empowered at the lowest level to make binding, team-based decisions on the programs within their purview in the interests of all stakeholders, users, and customers in accomplishing their mission (see Figure 1-2). The IPDS includes Integrated Management Teams, consisting of IPT leaders and functional managers, to assist and support IPTs and PTs in each of the product/service areas. The Integrated Product Leadership Team, consisting of director-level managers, oversees the entire IPDS operation and resolves high-level, cross-domain issues requiring senior management assistance and support. Integrated Product Teams will be used for all acquisitions, whether at headquarters or for field activities, including those pre-existing to April 1, 1996. The size and composition of individual Integrated Product Teams will vary widely. A complex development of a NAS system may require an IPT of many people with varied capabilities. On the other hand, the procurement of low-cost products or services may involve an IPT of as few as two people, representing the provider and the user or customer. Product Team leadership typically shifts over time as a solution transitions from development to production to implementation and then to in-service management. Leadership during development and production typically resides with an IPT member from the providing organization, while during in-service management, leadership will typically shift to an IPT member from the operating organization when the primary focus of the team changes from acquisition to operations. This document refers to lifecycle acquisition management teams as IPTs throughout as a convention, with the understanding that the lowest level of empowered teams, Product Teams or two-person field teams, will most often execute acquisition programs for their assigned products or services. Even though all lines of business have not yet reorganized under IPDS principles, the policies of the AMS and IPDS apply and should be tailored to fit existing organizational needs. Figure 1-2 Product Teams are empowered to carry out acquisition programs
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