Design for Defense Affordability

Achieving higher performance with less cost is at the top of the DoD agenda today.  Manufacturers have long known that dollars spent up front on affordability have a much greater return than those spent late in the design cycle.  Yet most have failed to use a new structure and way of design thinking to make this really happen.

In these times of shrinking defense budgets, the tactic of squeezing out saving through late-in-the game cost reduction initiatives rarely meets the cost reductions DoD programs demand.  Over 75% of all defense program costs are set in motion at the early design concept stage.  Attacking cost at this early stage requires a design method and measurements that systematically surfaces and reduces all life cycle costs.

Deep Experience

The Huthwaite Innovation Institute has more than 25 years of helping DoD suppliers design products through its methodology known as Lean Innovation.  This is a way of identifying potential cost drivers and reducing them through more effective design without compromising system performance.  The result: Higher performance, lower cost.  More than 1,000 integrated product and process team have benefited.   
 

Measurable Leading Indicators in Design for Achieving Navy Ship Cost Objectives

The following is in a request for comments on two trigger questions at the SNAME-ASNE Joint Ship Design Committee.

A- Identifying Measurable Leading Indicators in Design for Achieving Cost Objectives. “What are the critical leading indicators that can be measured during the ship design process to ensure that the design is meeting its cost requirements?” 

B- Changing the Ship Design Culture to Focus on Ship Costs in the Ship Design Process. “What are the critical actions required for changing the ship design culture to focus on ship costs in the ship design process?”

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Application of the Lean Innovation CUBE at Raytheon Missile Manufacturing System

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Design for DoD Affordability
US Army and Raytheon Missile Apply Lean Innovation

Defense policy now requires more affordable solutions delivered faster.  Raytheon Missile and the Army are teaming to use Lean Innovation to cut costs.

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Advantages of Using the Innovation CUBE Model
Director of Quality Management

When I first heard of the Innovation CUBE on an Industry Week telecast, I found the model to be quite intriguing.  After reading through The Rules of Innovation text by Bart Huthwaite, I found that the model helps the user examine the problem at hand from various different perspectives.  These varying perspectives will offer unique ways to develop solutions while using the tried and true brainstorming techniques.

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Mike Ferraris
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt / Continuous Process Improvement POC

We are locked in a constant struggle against the forces of waste in managing our programs here at NUWC. The wastes take many forms – schedule slips, requirement creep, test failures, defects, rework, incomplete or insufficient documentation, technical complications – and the list could go on and on. How much of our time is spent trying to identify these wastes – where they are and how to eliminate them? We define metrics up front, track them, document them, use them to monitor ourselves and our contractors, report them to our sponsors, yet we still struggle to accomplish our goals on time and on budget. What if there were ways to be proactive instead of reactive about these things? What if, instead of constantly engaging in the endless “firefighting” we could put “fire prevention” measures in place?

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Lean Innovation and Systems Engineering
Larri Ann Rosser
Raytheon Corporation Learning Institutes

At first glance, it might seem that Lean Innovation and Systems Engineering don’t go together. Systems engineering is known for its standards and repeatable processes, and innovation is about doing what hasn’t been done before. When we discuss systems engineering, we use words like “discipline”, “rigor” and “best practices”, while innovation conjures up terms like “creativity”, “disruption” and “out of the box thinking”.

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Measurable Leading Indicators in Design for Army Smart Munitions Cost Objectives
David W. Panhorst

There is a great deal of design trade space in the development of an Army Smart Munition program. There is a continuous balancing act between Critical Performance Parameters (Customer), delivery schedule (Supply), overall development cost of the munition (Design), and unit cost of the final product (Operations). Changing one factor can adversely impact other factors, and a method to understand the interdependencies will minimize waste and reduce the overall cost. This paper will outline the trade study techniques that will maximize attributes and minimize waste for fielding an Army Smart Munition, specifically as they are applied to the development of the Mid-Range Munition (MRM).

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The evolving defense acquisition policy requires more affordable solutions delivered faster and on cost and schedule. To achieve an affordable product, acquisition professionals must clearly understand their desired end-state and develop innovative solutions to close the gap between where they are today and where they want to be in the future. The Department of Defense’s current mindset is to avoid new ideas and settle for a solution it is comfortable with, thereby driving the department toward designs similar to those created in the past.

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