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A SYSTEM ENGINEERING APPROACHTO VALUE ENGINEERING CHANGE

PROPOSALS (VECP)

James R. Vickers, Karen J. Gawron,and Connie L. Cobo,

Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS)

June 2008

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June 2008 2

Background

{ Interest in Value Engineering (VE)

waned in late 1990sz Impacted by performance-based

acquisition

z Loss of knowledgeable staff

{ RMS began efforts to reenergize VE

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June 2008 3

Background (contd)

{ RMS Formed teams

z Customer team meets annually

z Contracts team and technical team meet quarterly

{ Established fund for use with ValueEngineering Change Proposals (VECP)

{ Status of projects discussed at meetings{ Led to Systems Engineering VE approach

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June 2008 4

VECPS - Proposal to Change Contract

and Share in the Savings

{ Simple Type

z Establish second source

z Change containers, packaging, etc.

{ More Complexz Change can affect other subsystems

z Change can require extensive testing

{ Therefore need a systemsengineering approach

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June 2008 5

Systems Engineering Approach

{ Unique issues with weapon systems

z VECPs for one item saved money

z Often resulted in other increased costsin related components or subsystems

zSuboptimization

{ Look at system as a whole

{ Conduct functional analysis

{ Decomposition of the system

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Weapon System Components

{ Operator

{ Fire control system

{ Launch platform

{ Missilez Mounted various ways - fixed location

or mounted for travel

z Land vehicle, ship, aircraft, shoulder ofwarfighter

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US Air Force Weapon System

F-16 Aircraft

Launcher

Missile

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Components of a Missile{ Warhead

{ Propulsion (rocket motor){ Airframe

{ Guidance and control (guidance section,

control section, wings, and fins).

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Developmental Issues

{ Long lead-time required

{ Full-scale production may take upto ten years

{ Parts become obsolete and/orexcessively priced

{ Extensive testing requirementslimits the ability to change things

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VE Changes at Component Level

{ One-piece mirror being phased out

by the manufacturer

{ Replaced with three-piece mirror

z Reduced the unit pricez Provided the same performance

z Was readily available

{ Adversely impacted guidancesystem

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Unexpected Problem

{ One-piece mirror had compensation

factors for mass properties injectedinto firmware

{ Three-piece mirrors had differentmass propertiesz Guidance section was compensating for

the wrong measurements

z Caused shut down of production line tofix problem

z Resulted in increased costs

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Taking a Different Approach to

Implementing VECPs

{ Replace an Inertial Measurement

Unit (IMU)z Original IMU priced at $32K, was

approximately 7 years old, reliable, andvery accurate.

z New IMU with equal performance usinga different technology was priced atapproximately $10K

z Could result in a $22K savings per unit

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The Fast Approach

{ Three questionsz What is it?z What does it do?

z What must it do?

{ Functions documented andcategorized into basic, dependentand independent functions

{ A classical FAST diagram wascreated

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Example of Original IMU FAST

DiagramIMU

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June 2008 15

Example of New IMU FAST

DiagramIMU

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June 2008 16

Example of Original Navigation

Processor FAST Diagram

IMU NavigationProcessor

Assembly

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June 2008 17

Example of New Navigation

Processor FAST Diagram

IMU

NavigationProcessorAssembly

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June 2008 18

Benefit to the Modified Approach

{ Inter-relationships of the lower level to

upper level components became obvious{ Various types of trade studies were

performed on each level of the system

that depicted a difference in the FASTdiagrams

{ Studies documented all system

components that would change inimplementing the new IMU

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Conclusion

{ Modified FAST approach proved a

viable solution to system sub-optimizations

z

Negative effects of the VECP can beneutralized

z May result in increased savings and

performance for the entire system.