A digital engineering (DE) framework allows for increased rigor and extensibility from product engineering to manufacturing/depot test set requirements and test generation. The digital environment facilitates a methodology for assessing the product hardware architecture to optimize test requirement development and extend into test development applications. In the test development phase, algorithms and foundation software constructs for test creation can be added in model repositories and exported for software coding utilization. The DE environment fosters improved integration, quicker defect containment, and a more agile test lifecycle through leveraging digital information exchange and layering across models. It enhances the capability to transition engineering domain knowledge from design to test environments, facilitates closed loop update capability for maturation over the lifecycle, and sets up the technical information necessary for robust diagnostic understanding. This paper walks through a digital engineering framework methodology example to showcase the capabilities and benefits that can be realized from the transition between product design and manufacturing/depot test development phases. Gap areas and challenges are discussed along with recommendations for path forward. In summary, a DE framework capability for manufacturing/depot test development provides a digital transformation methodology leveraging critical engineering information necessary for successful test and diagnostic frameworks.

Keywords—Digital Engineering, MBSE, MBE, Test Development, Diagnostics