We account for human factors during product use to ensure that our safety measures are realistic and relevant to customers. In 2023, product quality and safety was added to our updated Code of Ethics and Business Conduct to provide further education and awareness about the development and delivery of high-quality products and services, and to remind employees to use a “see something, say something” approach if anything does not appear to conform to the standards expected. In addition to implementing our own QMS, Lockheed Martin requires all suppliers to have a QMS that meets our requirements, and we verify supplier quality through program-specific processes and site reviews. More information can be found on our Supplier Quality website.

SMS is a formal top-down, organization-wide approach to managing product safety risk and ensuring the effectiveness of safety risk controls. The implementation of our SMS increases safety by supporting a proactive, predictive method of managing safety to identify and address problems before they occur by improving data-informed decision making to prioritize resource allocation and enhancing communication about safety by using common, consistent terminology within the organization and throughout the industry. SMS increases customer confidence in our ability to operate safely and potentially increases new and return business, while also, increasing our eligibility for certain contracts.