Control of Total Ownership Costs of DoD Acquisition Development Programs Through Integrated Systems Engineering Processes and Metrics

Abstract

Many DoD weapon systems acquisition programs are exceeding their original estimates for total ownership costs. There are probably many contributing factors to this cost growth, but is Systems Engineering (SE) one of them? How can systems engineering processes, methods, and practices be improved to better control total ownership cost growth in DoD acquisition programs? This paper discusses research in developing an understanding of how SE can be optimized for developing high confidence estimates and better control of acquisition program total ownership costs (TOC). Although this research is in the very early stages, we discuss the technical approach to investigating systems engineering methods and practices related to TOC as executed at one of the Navy's major system acquisition commends (Naval Air Systems Command-NAVAIR). We discuss very preliminary findings and set the stage for further research results.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 30, 2011
Accession Number
ADA543797

Entities

People

  • Paul Montgomery
  • Ron Carlson

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Business Administration
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Integrated Systems
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Management Personnel
  • Materials Science
  • Military Acquisition
  • Reliability
  • Students
  • Supply Chain
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Systems Engineering
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Software Engineering.