Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI)

Lean Enterprise Value Second Edition

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Value Second Edition Murman, Earll; Allen, Thomas; Bozdogan, Kirkor; Ckutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; McManus, Hugh; Nightingale, Deborah; Rebentisch, Eric; Shields, Tom; Stahl, Fred; Walton, Myles; Waremkessel, Joyce; Weiss, Stanley; Widnall, Sheila The 2002 edition of Lean Enterprise Value elevated prevailing lean production thinking into a bold new framework for lean enterprise value creation, focused on the challenge of transforming the greater aerospace enterprise. The book’s core message was that an enterprise must create value throughout its value stream, for all stakeholders, to achieve lasting success in an environment of fundamental and continuing change. This second edition enriches the book’s original message by bringing an important new insight: lean enterprise value creation can be significantly enhanced by a dynamic learning and value creating community. This concept is explored by focusing directly on the evolution of the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), since the initiative itself represents a model for such a community. Drawing principally on the initiative’s work in its second decade, the authors develop a new framework for evolving dynamic learning and value creating communities – defining their enablers, core attributes, and the overarching principles guiding their evolution. The framework is supported by concrete examples, case studies, and stories from LAI’s lived experience. This work is reported in an extensive new Epilogue and accompanying appendices, which contain a wealth of publicly available background material, references, resources, and tools, capturing LAI’s legacy. The second edition offers new insights into the challenge of creating value in technically complex modern enterprises, industries, and industrial ecosystems, reaching beyond aerospace. A major concluding suggestion is that LAI’s model as a dynamic learning and value creating community can be replicated as a template to tackle a variety of complex, large-scale, “messy” transformational challenges.

Supplier Management Self-Assessment Tool

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Management Self-Assessment Tool Lean Advancement Initiative; Bozdogan, Kirkor This tool represents a framework that companies can utilize to conduct a self-assessment of how much progress they have made in developing lean supply chain management capabilities. In addition, it can be used to establish future performance targets and identify further improvement opportunities. This tool differs from supplier lean assessment tools used by many aerospace companies, which focus on an assessment of the internal lean and six-sigma capabilities of individual supplier companies, such as the extent to which they have implemented basic lean manufacturing practices. Such tools take many forms, ranging from simple diagnostic instruments to detailed assessment tools. They are often used by primes and major suppliers as part of their supplier development process. The Self-Assessment Tool does require such supplier lean assessment steps, but only as part of a much larger and comprehensive framework for designing and managing lean supplier networks. The Self-Assessment Tool is linked to the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) and follows a similar approach. It defines eight overaching practices governing lean supply chain management and thirty enabling practices. The tool identifies five capability levels and defines the lean supply chain management attributes for each enabling practice at each one of these five capability levels. The tool provides, for each overarching practice, diagnostic questions, lean indicators and potential metrics. The tool is presented in a user-friendly Excel format, which provides an automated self-scoring feature that generates summary charts based on the self-scoring results and future improvement targets.

Lean Now Facilitator Course

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Now Facilitator Course Bryan, F. Terry The Lean Now Facilitator Course was developed by the LAI Transformation Director, Terry Bryan, to prepare industry and government lean facilitators to participate in an Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis (EVSMA) event (later named Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation (ESAT)). The course is a comprehensive 5-day course to prepare facilitators for a lean transformation event at the enterprise level. As such, the LAI Lean Now Facilitator Course was intentionally developed, and is best employed as, a multi-day instructional course. Provided with this course are folders labelled "Day 1" through "Day 5" which are designed to be accessed in chronological order; within each folder, the individual files are designed to be accessed in numerical order. There are two other folders: Action Tracker Files and Reference Files that are not indigenous to any one stage of the LAI Lean Now Facilitator Course, and may be accessed and utilized at any point. While any folder can be opened at any point and considered independently of another, the LAI Lean Now Facilitator Course follows a very specific program, with each component consciously designed to be utilized after another. To maximize the LAI Lean Now Facilitator Course, it is important that this day-by-day and step-by-step progression be maintained. To assist in this, checklists for the major components are included in the file entitled "Day 1-2 Project Checklist.pdf". In this way, a comprehensive approach to lean facilitation training is enabled, with each step building on what has been learned from the previous ones.

Lean Supply Chain Now: Proposed Concept Demonstration Initiative – Draft White Paper, Executive Summary

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Supply Chain Now: Proposed Concept Demonstration Initiative – Draft White Paper, Executive Summary Bozdogan, Kirkor The aerospace supplier base is characterized by complex interfaces that represent a significant source of waste, delay and defects. This is seriously undermining the achievement of affordability targets in current acquisition programs and blocking the development of an agile logistics capability supporting the operational forces. There is, hence, an urgent need for fresh thinking and action, particularly in view of the imperative to deliver effects-based capabilities to the warfighters and to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. aerospace industry. The objective is to develop and test a practical “change model” ca n be deployed by the aerospace community. The proposed effort would entail conducting a number of pilot projects that can serve as test-beds, providing not only a learning laboratory but also generating tangible benefits. The resulting product – structured methodology, best practices, and tools and techniques, training and educational materials – can be used by many organizations to pursue collaborative action, to validate their existing processes, and to deploy as needed in particular situations.

Lean Supply Chain Now: Proposed Concept Demonstration Initiative – An Activity of the Lean Aerospace Initiative Supplier Networks Working Group

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Supply Chain Now: Proposed Concept Demonstration Initiative – An Activity of the Lean Aerospace Initiative Supplier Networks Working Group Bozdogan, Kirkor The aerospace supplier base is characterized by complex interfaces that represent a significant source of waste, delay and defects. This is seriously undermining the achievement of affordability targets in current acquisition programs and blocking the development of an agile logistics capability supporting the operational forces. There is, hence, an urgent need for fresh thinking and action, particularly in view of the imperative to deliver effects-based capabilities to the warfighters and to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. aerospace industry. The objective is to develop and test a practical “change model” can be deployed by the aerospace community. The proposed effort would entail conducting a number of pilot projects that can serve as test-beds, providing not only a learning laboratory but also generating tangible benefits. The resulting product – structured methodology, best practices, and tools and techniques, training and educational materials – can be used by many organizations to pursue collaborative action, to validate their existing processes, and to deploy as needed in particular situations.

Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) – A Learning Community for Enterprise Transformation Through Holistic Enterprise Systems Thinking

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) – A Learning Community for Enterprise Transformation Through Holistic Enterprise Systems Thinking Bozdogan, Kirkor This white paper gives an overview of the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), defines LAI’s focus, outlines the central ideas and concepts driving LAI’s approach, explains the similarities and differences between LAI’s approach and various continuous process improvement methods, and highlights how all of these approaches can be used in combination most effectively to achieve enterprise change and transformation. The paper is addressed at a general business, government and academic audience interested in enterprise transformation, with particular focus on the role of the Lean Advancement Initiative as a unique industry-government-academic partnership dedicated to the creation of a learning community for enterprise transformation through holistic enterprise systems thinking.

Lean Aerospace (Advancement) Initiative Supplier Networks Research Group Theses and Publications

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace (Advancement) Initiative Supplier Networks Research Group Theses and Publications Bozdogan, Kirkor This document presents a listing of the theses and publications that have resulted from the research work of the Lean Aerospace (Advancement) Initiative Supplier Network Research Group over the period 1993 through 2007.

Enterprise Dynamics: Architecture-Based, Decision-Driven Approach A Collaborative MITRE-MIT Research Project

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Dynamics: Architecture-Based, Decision-Driven Approach A Collaborative MITRE-MIT Research Project Bozdogan, Kirkor This paper presents a summary discussion of the origins, evolution, and major results of the MITRE-MIT collaborative research project concentrating on the structure, dynamics, and computational modeling of complex modern enterprises. The project was initiated on October 1, 2006. The MITRE Principal Investigator for the project was Dr. Kenneth Hoffman. The MIT Principal Investigator was Dr. Kirkor Bozdogan, with Prof. Joseph Sussman serving as the MIT Co-Principal Investigator. The purpose of the project was to develop concepts, models and tools for managing enterprise complexity and dynamics in an emerging network-centric age. More specifically, the project focused on computational enterprise modeling and simulation for designing and evolving “next generation” enterprises that are flexible, adaptive and robust (FAR). The project stressed the development of a “proof-of-concept” enterprise modeling and simulation capability, to contribute towards the creation of complex enterprise systems architecting and engineering as a new field of inquiry and practice. Overall, the project has provided substantial mutual benefits to both MIT and MITRE.

Supplier Network part of the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Network part of the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool Bozdogan, Kirkor This is an aggregated version of the full Supplier Management Self-Assessment Tool, which is presented separately, as an integrated component of the LAI Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset.

Product Development Transition to Lean (PDTTL) Roadmap

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Transition to Lean (PDTTL) Roadmap McManus, Hugh L. The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Product Development (PD) Transition To Lean Module (TTL) is a tool for the transformation of PD efforts to a lean state. It has a parallel structure to, and is intended to by synergistic with, the existing LAI Enterprise TTL and Production Operations TTL. It is, essentially, a list of things to think about and do that are specific to the PD problem. It does not endeavor to teach basic lean principles, and it is not an exhaustive tool for the implementation of lean in PD. The PD TTL is aimed, in particular, at two sorts of PD improvement campaigns: improvements of the PD silo organization, and/or improvements of the PD process in the context of a specific program. In the former case, we will refer to the Parent Enterprise, meaning the company or organization for which the PD work is done. In the latter case, we will refer to the Program Enterprise—the set of stakeholders, from customer, through contractors, to subcontractors, engineers, and support personnel, who are involved in the development of, and ultimately production of, a product.

Building Lean Supplier Networks (The Roadmap Tool)

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks (The Roadmap Tool) Bozdogan, Kirkor This tool represents a "how-to" implementation guide that lays out a structured process for evolving lean supply chain management capabilities in order to build lean supplier networks. The Roadmap Tool is linked to the Transition-to-Lean Roadmap (TTL) at the enterprise level and follows a process architecture similar to that used in the TTL. It defines major building blocks and specific implementation steps. It also identifies key interactions and major feedback loops. In addition, the tool provides implementation aids ("Roadmap Explorations"). For example, for each major building block, it defines inputs, outputs, barriers, enablers, potential metrics, and tools and methods. At the same time, it discusses a number of issues and questions that are commonly faced in such an implementation effort (e.g., why, what, who, how, where, when) and identifies potential tensions or conflicts that can be anticipated and proactively addressed.

Lean Supplier Networks Framework

Fri, 14 Apr 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Supplier Networks Framework Bozdogan, Kirkor This framework was developed in 1995. The question was what are the main principles, practices, and metrics that the defense aircraft enterprises may strive to adopt in order to achieve significant improvements in terms of their overall performance (e.g., lower costs, higher productivity, higher quality, enterprise-level performance improvements (e.g., lower costs, higher productivity), in view of the fact that as much as sixty percent of the total end-product value is accounted for by the supplier base supporting individual enterprises. The framework draws upon the cumulative research results of MIT’s International Vehicle Program (IMVP) since 1985 focusing on supplier networks in the auto industry, as well as on the extant research available from the open literature on supply chain management, as modified by LAI’s focus group representing all parts of the U.S. defense aircraft industry to capture the special conditions and circumstances surrounding the larger aircraft industry. The novel feature of the framework is its chained conceptual architecture in arraying lean supply chain management practices: overarching practices, enabling practices, supporting practices, and operating practices, as well as performance metrics at all four levels. This particular architecture was chosen to enhance both the easy comprehension and the ready implementation of the overall framework. The same organizing architecture was also adopted in developing LAI’s Lean Enterprise Model.

Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Supplier Networks Working Group, Proposed Lean Supply Chain Now Concept Demonstration Initiative

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Supplier Networks Working Group, Proposed Lean Supply Chain Now Concept Demonstration Initiative Bozdogan, Kirkor; Akhbari, Hamid; Darden, Chris This presentation provides an overview of the proposed Lean Supply Chain Now concept demonstration initiative. The overall objective is to enable the development of lean, value-creating, U.S. aerospace supplier networks. The objective of this particular proposed initiative is to develop a validated deployment model for redesigning and streamlining vertical interfaces in the aerospace supplier base to achieve significant performance improvements (cost, quality, delivery).

Modeling-enabled Design of Enterprise Transformation: Implications for Complex Enterprise Systems Architecting and Engineering

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Modeling-enabled Design of Enterprise Transformation: Implications for Complex Enterprise Systems Architecting and Engineering Bozdogan, Kirkor This is a presentation given at the MITRE-MIT Enterprise Modeling Exchange Conference, MITRE Corp., McLean, VA, September 25-26, 2008. The presentation traces the causes of the failure of most enterprise transformation efforts, presents a new way of thinking about enterprise change and transformation, outlines a proposed conceptual framework for enterprise transformation by design, concentrating on the “fuzzy-front-end,” describes how enterprise modeling and simulation can help, and shows the links between modeling and specific change regimes, objectives, and change strategies. The presentation further maps model selection to enterprise state-space-contingent design targets and change strategies, by employing the concept of fitness landscapes from evolutionary biology. Finally, looking forward, the presentation defines complex enterprise systems science, architecting, and engineering as emerging new field of study requiring interdisciplinary research.

Overview of LAI’s Suppliers Networks Transformation Toolset (Version 1.0)

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Overview of LAI’s Suppliers Networks Transformation Toolset (Version 1.0) Bozdogan, Kirkor This is a PowerPoint overview of LAI ‘s main supplier networks transformation toolset (Version 1.0) developed by LAI’s Supplier Networks Working Group. The toolset was finalized and issued in 2004, after an extensive alpha and beta testing process. It expands the earlier (1995) supplier networks framework. The toolset was “pulled” by a growing need expressed by the LAI consortium members for an integrated framework addressing the following types of questions: (a) what are the lean supply chain management concepts and practices; (b) how do we develop lean supplier networks; (c) how do we assess where we are in evolving lean supply chain management capabilities? The toolset contains two major, integrated, components: Roadmap for Building Lean Supplier Networks (The Roadmap Tool), and Supplier Management Self-Assessment Tool. The Self-Assessment Tool has two versions: Version A is for the use of large system-integration enterprises as well as major suppliers. Version B, a condensed version of the main self-assessment tool, is developed for the use of smaller supplier organizations. An attachment to this PowerPoint overview document presents a listing of the pertinent LAI sponsored master’s and doctoral theses concentrating on various aspects of supply chain management, as well as pertinent LAI papers and publications, providing research support for the two components.

Knowledge Integration for Technical Problem Solving in Complex Aerospace Systems Development: The Case of Military Avionics

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge Integration for Technical Problem Solving in Complex Aerospace Systems Development: The Case of Military Avionics Haddad, Marc; Bozdogan, Kirkor This paper proposes a framework for knowledge integration in a complex product development setting, using case studies from large-scale manufacturing enterprises in the U.S. defense aerospace industry. The framework highlights the main channels and mechanisms used most frequently in different technical problem-solving situations. We conclude that, in view of the varying complexity of the technical problems that product development teams typically face, they would be advised to establish and use particular knowledge integration channels, and to adopt particular knowledge integration mechanisms, in order to address effectively the complexity of the particular problems they face in practice.

Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation Facilitator's Guide

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation Facilitator's Guide Stanke, Alexis; Nightingale, Deborah; Bryan, F. Terry This document is intended as a guide for ESAT facilitators. It provides an overview of the ESAT process, but it is assumed that all facilitators are comfortably familiar with the process as described in the ESAT Guide document and the ESAT KEE Modules (both instructional and facilitization).

An Implementation Roadmap for Lean Product Development

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

An Implementation Roadmap for Lean Product Development Rebentisch, Eric LPPDE Conference presentation

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Template for Respondents

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Template for Respondents Lean Advancement Initiative LESAT V.2 slide template

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Slide Template for Leadership

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Slide Template for Leadership Lean Advancement Initiative LESAT V.2 slide template

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Facilitator's Guide

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Facilitator's Guide Lean Advancement Initiative This new version of the Facilitator’s Guide is a companion to the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) Enterprise Self-‐Assessment Tool (LESAT) Version 2.0. LESAT Version 2.0 is an upgrade of LESAT 1.0, which was developed by LAI at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with the University of Warwick. The new version of LESAT is based on LAI’s enterprise-level research and facilitation experience as well as the experience of LAI members in using the LESAT 1.0.

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Calculator

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Calculator Lean Advancement Initiative LESAT V.2 calculator

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) V.2 Lean Advancement Initiative This LAI Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) Version 2.0 was developed at the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to assist in the enterprise transformation process by providing a structured tool and reference for enterprise assessment. LESAT 2.0 uses elements of the LAI Enterprise Transformation Roadmap and LAI LESAT 1.0 as sources of information to provide a structure and implementation reference for the self-assessment process. LESAT 1.0, 2.0, and the Enterprise Transformation Roadmap were developed at MIT by the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI). LESAT 2.0 builds upon LESAT Version 1.0, which was developed jointly by MIT and the Warwick Manufacturing Group of the University of Warwick under the auspices of the U.K. and U.S. Lean Aerospace Initiatives. LESAT Version 2.0 is based on cumulative LAI knowledge gained through years of enterprise-level research, researcher facilitation experience, and LAI member experience in using LESAT Version 1.0.

CASE 2 - Electronic Systems Incorporated

Thu, 01 Nov 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE 2 - Electronic Systems Incorporated Hallam, Cory R. A. Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) Case Studies for Enterprise Transformation Training

CASE 1 - Advanced Composite Aerostructures Incorporated

Mon, 01 Oct 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE 1 - Advanced Composite Aerostructures Incorporated Hallam, Cory R. A. Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) Case Studies for Enterprise Transformation Training

Finding Opportunities for Commonality Across Complex Systems: A Study of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Finding Opportunities for Commonality Across Complex Systems: A Study of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Long, Lt. Col. David Student research poster

Alignment in Product Development How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Alignment in Product Development How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment Castro, Joao Student research poster

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment Castro, Joao Student research poster

LAI Research Overview

Wed, 19 May 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Research Overview Nightingale, Prof. Debbie LAI research overview

System Perspective and Lean Coordination: The Case of Open Source Software

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

System Perspective and Lean Coordination: The Case of Open Source Software Castro, Joao The Case of Open Source Software

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Metric Commonality

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Metric Commonality Friedman, Alissa H. LAI Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture Glazner, Dr. Chris LAI Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Increasing System Value through Flexibility

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Increasing System Value through Flexibility McConnell, Joshua Webex Presentation for LAI

Identifying Leverage Points in Defense System Acquisition

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying Leverage Points in Defense System Acquisition Wirthlin, Robb; Rebentisch, Dr. Eric LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture Glazner, Dr. Chris LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain Peck, Jordan Technology Management and Policy Graduate Consortium presentation

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Measure Commonality

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Measure Commonality Friedman, Alissa H. PSM User's Conference presentation

Enterprise Systems Principles

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Systems Principles Nightingale, Prof. Debbie International Engineering Systems Symposium presentation

Driving Open Innovation: Learning from Three Cases

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Driving Open Innovation: Learning from Three Cases Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" PRI presentation

Architecting Lean Software Enterprises: The TODC Story

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting Lean Software Enterprises: The TODC Story Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" SMS presentation

Real Options “In” a Micro Air Vehicle System

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Real Options “In” a Micro Air Vehicle System Wilds, Jennifer M.; Bartolomei, Jason E.; de Neufville, Richard; Hastings, Daniel E. The Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: Initial Results

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: Initial Results Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Rhodes, Donna H. The Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

The Tradespace Exploration Paradigm

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The Tradespace Exploration Paradigm Ross, Adam M.; Hastings, Daniel E. Over the past five years, researchers working on a number of system design projects in the Space Systems, Policy, and Architecture Research Consortium (SSPARC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a process of value-focused, broad tradespace exploration for the development of space systems. The broad tradespace framework has provided insights into communicating and quantifying the impact of changing requirements, uncertainty, and system properties such as flexibility and robustness. Additionally, insights have been made in applications to more complex cases, such as analyzing policy effects on system cost and performance, as well as understanding the time-dependent effects of architecture and design choices for spiral development. The tradespace exploration paradigm both broadens the perspective of designers in conceptual design to better understand the “physics” of the proposed solutions relative to one another, and focuses the designer on delivering systems of value to key system stakeholders.

Convergence of Expert Opinion via the Wideband Delphi Method: An Application in Cost Estimation Models

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Convergence of Expert Opinion via the Wideband Delphi Method: An Application in Cost Estimation Models Valerdi, Ricardo This paper discusses the notion of collective intelligence through the application of the Wideband Delphi method as a way to obtain convergence among a group of experts. The specific application is the definition and calibration of cost estimation models that use data collected from experts as part of their calibration. Convergence is important in this case because companies need to commit to cost estimates early in the planning cycle since so many other decisions are dependent on it. Our results demonstrate that, in most cases, convergence among experts can be achieved after three rounds of the Wideband Delphi.

The Human Element of Decision Making in Systems Engineers: A Focus on Optimism

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Human Element of Decision Making in Systems Engineers: A Focus on Optimism Valerdi, Ricardo; Blackburn, Craig Biases continue to be an important aspect of human judgment and decision making because they can lead to unfavorable outcomes. Optimism bias is one type of bias that is often overlooked because of its association with good health and positive outcomes. However, the existence of optimism bias in human judgment can be very damaging especially when it distorts a person’s view of future events. In order to better understand optimism bias we explore the benefits and downsides of optimism as well as some empirically-based origins of both optimism and pessimism. This provides a backdrop for a methodology for quantifying optimism and pessimism using the Brier score developed for calibrating weather reporters and a discussion about how sports bookies make well-calibrated decisions. Results are explored from an optimism survey given to a cohort of eighty systems engineers, which ultimately portray the degree to which optimism bias influences decision making in large projects. Further exploration of the key differences in optimism across professions helps distinguish motivational factors and characteristics of well-calibrated professions. We also present results from a calibration exercise, designed to infer if such activities can be adopted to assist systems engineering estimation. Finally, we provide prescriptive advice on how individual decision makers can better manage their optimism and become more realistic.

The Culture of innovation Styles: Are our Corporate Cultures Tuned for Innovation?

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Culture of innovation Styles: Are our Corporate Cultures Tuned for Innovation? Czaika, Ellen; Valerdi, Ricardo Systems engineering work is requiring increasing collaboration among various enterperprises, nations, and individuals to innovate to meet the comlex needs of large numbers of stakeholders. This indicates a need to better understand the cultural differences in innovation styles that can enable or hinder collaboration. This paper argues that applying the Hofstede Cross-Cultural Dimensions to enterprises will provide useful insights for systems engineering enterprises in working with cross-cultural teams. Furthermore, this paper seeks to apply the Hofstede dimensions to identifying enterprise cultures conducive to innovation, radical and incremental. By exploring the relationship between the Hofstede Dimensions and Miller and Friesen’s Conservative and Entreprenurial Innovation Models, and between the Hofstede Dimensions and Brown’s System Model of Technological Innovation, this paper seeks to help enterprises match their culture to the type of innovation their enterprise culture supports. Furthermore, it suggests future research to investigate and compare the Hofstede dimensions of defense organizations and of the companies listed on the BusinessWeek Most Innovative Companies List.

Principles of Enterprise Systems

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Principles of Enterprise Systems Nightingale, Deborah The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through its Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) research team has been conducting research and facilitating enterprise-level transformations in large complex sociotechnical enterprises for over fifteen years. These enterprises have spanned a broad base of industries and governmental organizations including aerospace, automotive, electronics, health care, transportation, construction, defense acquisition and logistics, research labs and many others. What has emerged from both the action research in the field and its application in case studies in graduate courses is the concept of “overarching” enterprise principles and transformation methodologies that are independent of the industry or organization. A framework for transformation that consists of a set of interdependent methodologies, tools and enterprise principles that support holistic enterprise transformation is described and includes the following five elements: 1) Key Principles of Enterprise Thinking, 2) Enterprise Transformation Roadmap, 3) Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool (LESAT), 4) Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation (ESAT) and 5) Enterprise Architecting Framework. The application of this framework to the enterprise systems analysis and design of various industry and governmental organizations is discussed.

Zen in the Art of Cost Estimation

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Zen in the Art of Cost Estimation Valerdi, Ricardo Engineering cannot wait until all phenomena are explained. Engineers may work effectively, often for centuries, with heuristics. This paper provides over thirty heuristics that have been inspired by the development and application of a systems engineering cost estimation model. The objective of this paper is to present such heuristics in a simple manner so that they can benefit those that develop, calibrate, and use cost models.

Cultural Barriers to the Adoption of Systems Engineering Research

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cultural Barriers to the Adoption of Systems Engineering Research Valerdi, Ricardo An extensive amount of time and money is spent on developing methodologies and tools to improve the systems engineering process but much less is spent on addressing the organizational factors that can facilitate or hinder their adoption. This is partially due to engineering approach to problem solving which is technology centric. What is needed is an organization centric approach that complements the methods and tools being developed and considers the context in which they will be used. This paper explores the notion of adoption of systems engineering research by focusing on a specific example involving measurement systems. Results from an industry survey on the most critical attributes for adoption are presented and implications of these results are discussed in terms of the broader issue of systems engineering research.

Collaborative Systems Thinking Research: Exploring Systems Thinking within Teams

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking Research: Exploring Systems Thinking within Teams Lamb, Caroline T.; Rhodes, Donna H. This paper describes ongoing research that seeks to develop an empirical basis for collaborative systems thinking, defined as “an emergent behavior of teams resulting from the interactions of team members and utilizing a variety of thinking styles, design processes, tools, and communication media to consider system attributes, interrelationships, context and dynamics towards executing systems design”. This type of thinking is critically important to addressing engineering systems challenges, and the research seeks to inform and enable effective systems engineering practice in contemporary engineering enterprises. Focusing on the aerospace domain, collaborative systems thinking is examined through the alignment of enterprise culture and standard technical processes. This paper draws on a variety of literature to compose a definition of collaborative systems thinking and propose a research agenda going forward.

Measuring Systems Engineering Success: Insights from Baseball

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring Systems Engineering Success: Insights from Baseball Blackburn, Craig; Valerdi, Ricardo Optimizing the efficiency of socio-technical systems and determining accurate measurements of performance is a critical issue in many systems engineering enterprises. In our analysis we explore some of the recurring themes of Michael Lewis’s study of baseball, depicted in the best selling book Moneyball, and we make the connection to corresponding systems engineering principles of interest. The paper will focus on the systems engineering roadmap inspired by Lewis’ study for developing and refining a meaningful set of metrics for organizational transformation. The following steps are highlighted to convey this transformation with the assistance of metrics: identify and understand value in the enterprise and your organization; consider an integrated system focus in your organization; use cost analysis methods to implement a strategy for executing the transformation; and manage risk throughout operations and improve the process continuously.

Defining System Changeability: Reconciling Flexibility, Adaptability, Scalability, and Robustness for Maintaining System Lifecycle Value

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Defining System Changeability: Reconciling Flexibility, Adaptability, Scalability, and Robustness for Maintaining System Lifecycle Value Ross, Adam M.; Rhodes, Donna H.; Hastings, Daniel E. Designing and maintaining systems in a dynamic contemporary environment requires a rethinking of how systems provide value to stakeholders over time. Classically, two different approaches to promoting value sustainment may include developing either alterable or robust systems. The first accomplishes value delivery through altering the system to meet new needs, while the second accomplishes value delivery through maintaining a system to meet needs in spite of changes. The definitions of flexibility, adaptability, scalability, and robustness are shown to be different parts of the core concept of “changeability,” which can be described by three aspects: change agents, change effects, and change mechanisms. Cast in terms of system parameter changes, flexibility and adaptability are shown to relate to the origin of the change agent (external or internal to a system boundary respectively). Scalability and robustness, along with the additional property of modifiability, are shown to relate to change effects. The extent of changeability is determined by the number of possible change mechanisms available to the system as accepted by decision makers. Creating changeable systems, which can incorporate both classical notions of alterability and robustness, empowers systems to maintain value delivery over their lifecycle, in spite of changes in their contexts, thereby achieving value robustness to stakeholders over time.

Using a Boundary Object Framework to Analyze Interorganizational Collaboration

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Using a Boundary Object Framework to Analyze Interorganizational Collaboration Fong, Allan; Valerdi, Ricardo; Srinivasan, Jayakanth The U.S. military is facing a plethora of challenges as a result of tightening procurement budgets and the need to acquire new capabilities to operate in modern war environments. This requires integrating legacy systems with developing technologies in what is loosely defined to be a System of Systems. Most Systems of Systems require some integrator to manage and operate the system interfaces. In addition to technical integration challenges, these system integrators have the difficult undertaking of integrating various organizations. The boundary object framework proposed by this paper provides a tool for systems integrators working in System of Systems or any type of complex system to identify and categorize communication, coordination, and collaboration interfaces and address possible failures.

Assessing Changeability in Aerospace Systems Architecting and Design Using Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing Changeability in Aerospace Systems Architecting and Design Using Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration Ross, Adam M.; Hastings, Daniel E. A framework for assessing changeability in the context of dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) is proposed and applied to three aerospace systems. The framework consists of two parts. First, changeability concepts such as flexibility, scalability, and robustness are defined in a value-centric context. These system properties are shown to relate “real-space to value-space” dynamic mappings to stakeholder-defined subjective “acceptable cost” thresholds. Second, network analysis is applied to a series of temporally linked tradespaces, allowing for the quantification of changeability as a decision metric for comparison across system architecture and design options. The quantifiable is defined as the filtered outdegree of each design node in a tradespace network formed by linking design options through explicitly defined prospective transition paths. Each of the system application studies are assessed in the two part framework and within each study, observations are made regarding the changeability of various design options. The three system applications include a hypothetical low Earth orbit satellite mission, a currently deployed weapon system, and a proposed large astronomical on-orbit observatory. Preliminary cross-application observations are made regarding the embedding of changeability into the system architecture or design. Results suggest that the low Earth orbit satellite mission can increase its changeability by having the ability to readily change its orbit. The weapon system can increase its changeability by continuing to embrace modularity, use of commercial off-the-shelf parts (COTS), and simple, excess capacity interfaces. The large astronomical observatory can increase its potential changeability by having the ability to reconfigure its physical payloads and reschedule its observing tasks. The analysis approach introduced in this paper is shown to be a powerful concept for focusing discussion, design, and assessment of the changeability of aerospace systems.

Screening for Real Options “In” an Engineering System: A Step Towards Flexible System Development

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Screening for Real Options “In” an Engineering System: A Step Towards Flexible System Development Bartolomei, Jason E.; Hastings, Daniel E.; de Neufville, Richard; Rhodes, Donna H. The goal of this research is to develop an analytical framework for screening for real options “in” an engineering system. Real options is defined in the finance literature as the right, but not the obligation, to take an action (e.g. deferring, expanding, contracting, or abandoning) at a predetermined cost and for a predetermined time. These are called "real options" because they pertain to physical or tangible assets, such as equipment, rather than financial instruments. Real options improve a system’s capability of undergoing classes of changes with relative ease. This property is often called “flexibility.” Recently, the DoD has emphasized the need to develop flexible system in order to improve operational, technical, and programmatic effectiveness. The aim of this research is to apply real options thinking to weapon acquisitions in order to promote the ability of weapon system programs to deftly avoid downside consequences or exploit upside opportunities.

A First Course in Software Engineering for Aerospace Engineers

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A First Course in Software Engineering for Aerospace Engineers Lundqvist, Kristina; Srinivasan, Jayakanth Software is a critical component of mission capability in all aerospace systems. This capability is realized directly through the use of onboard software, and enabled through the use of software on ground support systems. Students attending an aerospace engineering program come with a highly diversified background in software development ranging from novice user to expert programmer. A first course in software development has to account for the diversity, and as an outcome provide both a common vocabulary, as well as a common baseline of skills. This paper presents our learning from designing and teaching such a course for aerospace engineering undergraduates.

A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty and its Mitigation and Exploitation in Complex Systems

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty and its Mitigation and Exploitation in Complex Systems McManus, Dr. Hugh; Hastings, Prof. Daniel A framework to aid in the understanding of uncertainties and techniques for mitigating and even taking positive advantage of them is presented. The framework is an attempt to clarify the wide range of uncertainties that affect complex systems, the risks (and opportunities) they create, the strategies system architects can use to mitigate (or take advantage) of them, and the resulting system attributes. Current and developing methods for dealing with uncertainties are projected onto the framework to understand their relative roles and interactions.

Accelerating the Development of Senior Systems Engineers

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Accelerating the Development of Senior Systems Engineers Davidz, Heidi L.; Nightingale, Deborah J.; Rhodes, Donna H. As more senior systems engineers are needed to handle the increasing complexity of contemporary systems, there is an increasing need to accelerate the development of these senior professionals. However, the process of efficiently developing a senior systems engineer is not well-understood. To compact this problem, the skill set needed by senior systems engineers continues to broaden as system complexity increases and as system boundaries expand. In order to better understand the mechanisms that most effectively and efficiently develop these individuals, this article discusses enablers, barriers, and precursors to this development process. In addition to reviewing related literature, specific interventions currently used to accelerate systems thinking development are discussed. Findings from ongoing research related to this topic provide preliminary information about current understanding and practice. Better understanding of systems thinking development provides a foundation for educational interventions and employee development in systems thinking for engineering professionals across industry, government, and academia.

Integration of Space into LAI

Tue, 13 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Integration of Space into LAI Warmkessel, Joyce M. Space Sector Kick-off presentation

Lean Space Initiative

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Space Initiative Hastings, Daniel A study of the benefits and character of a lean space initiative, complementary to the LAI, was sponsored by the Air Force Space and Missile Center and Mantech last summer. This nine month “Quick Look” identified potential stakeholders and surveyed them as to perceived benefits, the priorities for research topics, willingness to participate, and appropriate relationship to the LAI program. Since many of the principals are already partners in LAI, there was clear indication that “lean space” could benefit by and add to the data base for LAI and that it should be incorporated as a sector in the Phase two activity of the latter. These results were briefed to General DeKok, commander of SMC, and his staff on July 18, receiving strong endorsement and directions to proceed toward a start date of September 1, 1997, with the need to take the necessary steps to coordinate with and obtain LAI stakeholder approval.

The Lean Space Quick Look Study: Results

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Space Quick Look Study: Results Hastings, Daniel Space Sector Kick-off presentation

An Overview of Supplier Rating, Certification and Selection Systems in the Defense Aircraft Industry

Wed, 01 Mar 1995 00:00:00 GMT

An Overview of Supplier Rating, Certification and Selection Systems in the Defense Aircraft Industry Shapiro, Jeremy F. In this paper, we report on the status of supplier rating, certification and selection systems in the US Defense Aircraft Industry. Our findings result from a range of information gathering activities over the past eighteen months including: Site visits to companies; a one day review session at Lockheed Fort Worth Company on February 7, 1994 in which 10 companies made presentations of their systems; the study of documents received from over a dozen companies pertaining to rating, certification and selection systems; and, responses to the Survey of Supplier Systems and Relationships. The purposes of this report are: • To identify and review current practices with respect to supplier rating, certification and selection systems based on our current state of knowledge; • To discuss the extent to which these systems support the process of supplier base optimization.

"Pie-Sharing" in Complex Collaboration Contexts

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

"Pie-Sharing" in Complex Collaboration Contexts Jap, Sandy D. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the development of collaborative relationships between organizations. Much attention has been given to how organizations ‘expand the pie’ of benefits between them; however, there is little that addresses the ensuing issue – how organizations divide the expanded pie. This research examines the relational impact of pie sharing in complex collaboration contexts marked by uncertainty in resources and outputs, information asymmetries, intangible aspects, and noncomparable factors and processes. A conceptual framework is developed that examines how the use of equity and equality sharing principles in conjunction with various resource and organizational conditions can be used to systematically impact relational outcomes. Survey results of 300 R&D managers, scientists, and engineers indicate that sharing principles can have a positive or negative effect on the relationship depending on the type of sharing principle used, and the characteristics of the resources and organizations. In particular, sharing processes should be responsive to the goals of the collaboration. The results underscore the strategic nature of the sharing phenomenon as well as the importance of relational concerns in complex and uncertain interorganizational settings.

Direct and Indirect Bargaining Costs and the Scope of the Firm

Thu, 01 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Direct and Indirect Bargaining Costs and the Scope of the Firm Simester, Duncan; Knez, Marc Forthcoming publication in The Journal of Business

The Effect of Enterprise Design on Stakeholders and Value Creation

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Effect of Enterprise Design on Stakeholders and Value Creation Matty, LTC Doug LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Standardizing Product Development Processes

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Standardizing Product Development Processes Rupani, Sid LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

A Practical Look at Architecting an Enterprise for Value Delivery

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A Practical Look at Architecting an Enterprise for Value Delivery Cropsey, Lt. Col. Luke LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Assessing Stakeholder Salience Through the view of Lean Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing Stakeholder Salience Through the view of Lean Enterprise Transformation Sisto, Gwendolyn LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Organizational Assessment Processes for Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Assessment Processes for Enterprise Transformation Abdimomunova, Leyla LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Metric Commonality

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Metric Commonality Friedman, Alissa H. LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

New Insights on Implementing Lean in Product Development Systems

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

New Insights on Implementing Lean in Product Development Systems Rebentisch, Eric; Hoppmann, Joern LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Identifying Leverage Points in Defense System Acquisition

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying Leverage Points in Defense System Acquisition Wirthlin, Robb; Rebentisch, Eric LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event

Design, Evaluation, and Management of Flexible Systems

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Design, Evaluation, and Management of Flexible Systems McConnell, Joshua LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation Blackburn, 1LT Craig D. LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Enterprise Behavior Using a Hybrid Simulation of Enterprise Architecture Glazner, Dr. Chris LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Designing and Deploying Lean Healthcare Curriculum

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Designing and Deploying Lean Healthcare Curriculum Murman, Earll M. LAI Webinar Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

Measuring the Efficiency of Commonality Implementation: Application to Commercial Aircraft Cockpits

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring the Efficiency of Commonality Implementation: Application to Commercial Aircraft Cockpits Bador, Damien P.M.D.; Seering, Warren J.; Rebentisch, Eric S. Increasing commonality across their models allows commercial aircraft manufacturers to reduce the product development cycle time and tailor their models to their customers’ needs. The cockpit is an area where commonality is thought to be particularly desirable, since it also simplifies the pilots training process for the airline companies. However, no set of metrics is currently able to measure the efficiency of commonality application at this level from a total lifecycle standpoint. In this paper, we propose a set of metrics adapted to large commercial aircraft and taking into account the main parts of the product lifecycle. The concept of lead time is central in our measurement of commonality, as it strongly influences the value of the aircraft for all primary stakeholders. We examine the extent to which these metrics are independent from aircraft particularities (such as physical dimensions). We indicate their limitations and what additional research should be performed to obtain a set of metrics able to measure the efficiency of commonality implementation for the whole aircraft. We use the example of two competing medium-haul aircraft families to test our set of metrics. We evaluate the efficiency of commonality according to our metrics and we compare with field results obtained from the manufacturers’ studies and from the results of interviews of airlines pilots. We show how our set of metrics can help determining how to optimize the level of commonality for all stakeholders.

Real Options “In” a Micro Air Vehicle System

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Real Options “In” a Micro Air Vehicle System Wilds, Jennifer M.; de Neufville, Richard; Bartolomei, Jason E.; Hastings, Daniel E. International Conference On Engineering Design (ICED’07) presentation

A Constructivist Approach to Teaching Software Process

Sun, 20 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A Constructivist Approach to Teaching Software Process Srinivasan, Jayakanth; Lundqvist, Kristina 29th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE’07) presentation

Teaching Lean Thinking Principles Through Hands-on Simulations

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching Lean Thinking Principles Through Hands-on Simulations McManus, Hugh L.; Rebentisch, Eric; Muman, Earll M.; Stanke, Alexis The teaching of Lean Enterprise Thinking in the aerospace context requires that students understand a complex subject—aerospace enterprises and their transformation—in a deep and intuitive way. Without this context, the lessons of the LAI Lean Academy Course® will make little sense. A rich simulation of an enterprise with a structure and problems typical of the US aerospace industry is used as a teaching tool. The simulation allows students to understand Lean Thinking at an intuitive level, and practice lean tools in a realistic setting. The simulation enables a CDIO approach (in this case, Comprehend, Design, Implement and Operate), by having the students take two iterations through a CDIO process to transform the simulated enterprise from an inefficient legacy state to a high performance future state (x3 to x6 production using the same resources). The simulation and its teaching goals are described, with reference to the limited literature on simulations in education. The process used in the simulation is then described in a CDIO context. Finally, the success of the simulation is evaluated using limited quantitative and more extensive qualitative data. It is found that the simulation is a powerful learning tool and a key component of the LAI Lean Academy.

Doing More with Less at Ariens: A Leadership and Transformation Case Study

Wed, 16 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Doing More with Less at Ariens: A Leadership and Transformation Case Study Hartwell, Jennifer K.; Roth, George This case study illustrates the challenges of organizational change and transformation. The company studies, Ariens Company, used "lean" principles and methods in making these changes. As a manufacturer of snow and lawn equipment, the promises of lean manufacturing from the automotive industry were very appealing to Ariens' management. Indeed, the company faced a crisis in 1998 - overproduction had left it with excessive inventory, and its costs were too high to sell its products through retail channels. Distribution costs are most of the possible profit margins in selling through dealers. The company needed sweeping changes - a financial restructuring, change in its distribution system, reduction of inventory, new production methods, and lower cost and better quality products. The company as a whole, from senior leadership to shop floor workers, needed to work together to achieve these changes. The thinking, process and sequence of top, middle and front-line management changes, is the focus for this case study of lean transformation.

Systems Engineering Confronts Enterprise Change: Frameworks and Lessons from MITRE Projects

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Confronts Enterprise Change: Frameworks and Lessons from MITRE Projects Carroll, John S.; Roth, George Our collaborative MIT/MITRE team has structured the research as a series of case studies. Although we incorporate elements of grounded theory, there are several frameworks that we are actively using in the analysis of our case data (primarily interview-based). In this paper, we will present these frameworks and propose them as a nascent theory of enterprise change.

Using Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration to Develop Value Robust Systems

Thu, 24 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Using Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration to Develop Value Robust Systems Ross, Dr. Adam M. Sikorsky IEEE CT AES Lunch Seminar presentation

Standardized Process as a Tool for Higher Level Systems Thinking

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Standardized Process as a Tool for Higher Level Systems Thinking Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Rhodes, Donna H. 2007 INCOSE International Symposium presentation

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: Initial Results

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: Initial Results Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Rhodes, Donna H. 5th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Myth Buster: Do Engineers Trust Parametric Models Over Their Own Intuition?

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Myth Buster: Do Engineers Trust Parametric Models Over Their Own Intuition? Valerdi, Ricardo This paper explores the abilities of engineers to estimate everyday tasks and their reliance on their own intuition when performing cost estimates. The approach to answering these questions is similar to that of the popular television show MythBusters which aims to separate truth from urban legend using controlled experiments. In MythBusters, methods for testing myths and urban legends are usually planned and executed in a manner to produce the most visually dramatic results possible, which generally involves explosions, fires, or vehicle crashes. While the question of parametric models versus intuition is not as exciting, we provide an interesting result that demonstrates the difference between what is real and what is fiction in the world of cost estimation. Two heuristics, representativeness and anchoring, are explored in two experiments involving psychology students, engineering students, and engineering practitioners. The first experiment, designed to determine if there is a difference in estimating ability in everyday quantities, demonstrates that the three groups estimate with relatively equal accuracy. The results shed light on the distribution of estimates and the process of subjective judgment. The second experiment, designed to explore abilities for estimating the cost of software-intensive systems given incomplete information, shows that predictions by engineering students and practitioners are within 3-12% of each other. Results also show that engineers rely more on their intuition than on parametric models to make decisions. The value of this work is in helping better understand how software engineers make decisions based on limited information. Implications for the development of software cost estimation models are discussed in light of the findings from the two experiments.

Boundary Objects as a Framework to Understand the Role of Systems Integrators

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Boundary Objects as a Framework to Understand the Role of Systems Integrators Fong, Allan; Valerdi, Ricardo; Srinivasan, Jayakanth 5th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Using a Boundary Object Framework to Analyze Interorganizational Collaboration

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Challenges in the Development of Systems Engineering as a Profession

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Challenges in the Development of Systems Engineering as a Profession Dixit, Indrajeet; Valerdi, Ricardo 2007 INCOSE International Symposium presentation

A Research Agenda for Systems of Systems Architecting

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A Research Agenda for Systems of Systems Architecting Axelband, Dr. Elliot; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 17th INCOSE Symposium presentation

Reducing Risk and Uncertainty in COSYSMO Size and Cost Drivers: Some Techniques for Enhancing Accuracy

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Reducing Risk and Uncertainty in COSYSMO Size and Cost Drivers: Some Techniques for Enhancing Accuracy Valerdi, Ricardo; Gaffney, John E., Jr. 5th Conference on Systems Engineering Research presentation

Pioneers of Parametrics

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Pioneers of Parametrics Valerdi, Ricardo This paper provides a historical account of the development of the field of parametrics through information obtained during interviews of twelve pioneers of the field. Cost model developers, users, and practitioners were interviewed with the intent to capture their views on the impact between cost estimation research and practice. The individuals interviewed represent a diverse range of perspectives including academia, government, and industry. Each perspective sheds light on the areas in which the field of parametrics has had an impact and which synergies have been influential in the development of the field. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of the future challenges for the field of parametrics.

Cognitive Limits of Software Cost Estimation

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Cognitive Limits of Software Cost Estimation Valerdi, Ricardo This paper explores the cognitive limits of estimation in the context of software cost estimation. Two heuristics, representativeness and anchoring, motivate two experiments involving psychology students, engineering students, and engineering practitioners. The first experiment, designed to determine if there is a difference in estimating ability in everyday quantities, demonstrates that the three populations estimate with relatively equal accuracy. The results shed light on the distribution of estimates and the process of subjective judgment. The second experiment, designed to explore abilities for estimating the cost of software-intensive systems given incomplete information, shows that predictions by engineering students and practitioners are within 3-12% of each other. The value of this work is in helping better understand how software engineers make decisions based on limited information. The manifestation of the two heuristics is discussed together with the implications for the development of software cost estimation models in light of the findings from the two experiments.

Lessons Learned From Industrial Validation of COSYSMO

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Lessons Learned From Industrial Validation of COSYSMO Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo; Roedler, Garry; Wheaton, Marilee; Rieff, Dr. John; Wang, Dr. Gan 2007 INCOSE International Symposium presentation

Systems Engineering Cost Estimation for Space Systems

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Cost Estimation for Space Systems Valerdi, Ricardo; Wheaton, Marilee J.; Fortune, Jared The applicability of COSYSMO, a systems engineering cost model, is explored in the context of space systems through the analysis of two main assumptions. First, the WBS elements of the model are mapped to a prototypical WBS for space systems. Second, the life cycle phases assumed in the model are mapped to the phases outlined in the latest National Security Space acquisition policy. Through the analysis of these assumptions, the applicability of COSYSMO to space systems can be improved. Moreover, techniques for performing partial estimation of systems engineering by systems engineering activity and life cycle phase are provided to further the applicability of COSYSMO to space systems.

From Research to Reality: Making COSYSMO a Trusted Estimation Tool in Your Organization

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

From Research to Reality: Making COSYSMO a Trusted Estimation Tool in Your Organization Valerdi, Ricardo; Miller, Chris As the COSYSMO model transitions from the development phase into the adoption phase, industry stakeholders are beginning to embrace the model and integrate it into their existing measurement processes. To date, much of the guidance provided by the COSYSMO development team has been focused on the usage of the model. In the adoption phase, users need guidance on how to adopt the model as they work to convince management to invest resources in competition with other process improvement initiatives. This paper outlines a process which provides guidance on the piloting and institutionalization of COSYSMO designed to help scope the effort needed for successful adoption and implementation. The process has been developed as a result of interactions with over a dozen organizations that have participated in the industry calibration of the model and have begun to integrate the model into their internal processes. The knowledge obtained from working with these organizations is reflected in this process.

Technology, Government, Business, and Universities: The Innovation Ecosystem

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Technology, Government, Business, and Universities: The Innovation Ecosystem Tang, Victor; Osorio-Urzua, Carlos A. The purpose of this presentation is to present an overview of the roles of the government, business enterprises, and universities in the promotion and creation of innovation. Our approach is to present key concepts, principles, methods, tools and use illustrative examples from research and executive practice. We begin by defining “innovation”. We argue that innovation is both a process and an output. From a process perspective, innovation is an emergent property of a complex social-technical system composed of government, business enterprises, and universities. The behavior of this system is the result of policies engineered by the government. We illustrate this point with examples of various macro economies, e.g. Chile. Using these examples we illustrate effective government policies. Next we discuss innovation as an output from business enterprises. We focus on enterprise level methods and tools for innovation. They are: business model transformation, business process reengineering, inventive problem solving, analysis of customer requirements, technology roadmapping, and knowledge management. Consistent with our practice, we illustrate the use of these methods and tools in detail. Next, we touch on the role of universities. For universities to promote innovation, we identify six research paths, three research strategies, and two goals. We cite a few examples from MIT. We present a key role of universities: to create interpretation spaces for researchers, government, and business where new innovative knowledge and ideas can be explored and generated in an environment of strong mutual trust. Innovation is impossible without decisive executives who are committed to action. Therefore, we present a detailed discussion of a new prescriptive approach that take a fresh look at decision-making for executives and policy makers. Finally, we distill from all of the above a set of principles that help unlock innovation. Finally we distill from all of the above a set of principles that help to unlock innovation.

Ex Ante Evaluation and Improvement of Forecasts

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ex Ante Evaluation and Improvement of Forecasts Tang, Victor; Otto, Kevin N.; Seering, Warren P. The dominant approach reported in the literature is to evaluate forecasts after the fact. We take a different approach, we present a way to evaluate and Improve forecasts before the fact. We reconceptualize forecasts as thought experiments grounded on mental models. We show the results of our process which debiases and reduces the asymmetry of forecasters’ mental models. We also reconceptualize forecasting as measurements with errors. And to analyze and improve the entire forecasting process as a system, we use the methods of Design of Experiments (DOE) and Gage R&R from Measurement System Analysis (MSA). We show the results of our analyses using two new metrics, repeatability and reproducibility and discuss new opportunities for research.

Using Design of Experiments (DOE) for Decision Analysis

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Using Design of Experiments (DOE) for Decision Analysis Tang, Victor; Otto, Kevin N.; Seering, Warren P. We take an engineering design approach to a problem of the artificial - corporate decision-analysis under uncertainty. We use Design of Experiments (DOE) to understand the behaviour of systems within which decisions are made and to estimate the consequences of alternative decisions. The experiments are a systematically constructed class of gedanken (thought) experiments comparable to “what if” studies, but organized to span the entire space of controllable and uncontrollable options. We therefore develop a debiasing protocol to forecast and elicit data. We consider the composite organization, their knowledge, data bases, formal and informal procedures as a measurement system. We use Gage theory from Measurement System Analysis (MSA) to analyze the quality of the data, the measurement system, and its results. We report on an in situ company experiment. Results support the statistical validity and managerial efficacy of our method. Method-evaluation criteria also indicate the validity of our method. Surprisingly, the experiments result in representations of near-decomposable systems. This suggests that executives scale corporate problems for analyses and decision-making. This work introduces DOE and MSA to the management sciences and shows how it can be effective to executive decision making.

Solar Power Satellites: Historical Perspectives with a Look to the Future

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Solar Power Satellites: Historical Perspectives with a Look to the Future Laracy, Joseph R.; Bador, Damien; Adams, Danielle; Weigel, Annalisa; Chambers, Richard; Kwon, Daniel; Proudfoot, David; Qu, Shen; Shoepe, Ted Since the late 1960s, there has been interest in the United States, and later in other nations, to capture solar energy in space and efficiently transmit it back to Earth. Starting with his seminal paper in 1968, Dr. Peter Glaser began architecting a prototype system that was further explored by the US Department of Energy in the Concept Development and Evaluation Program. This initial study showed that the project was very ambitious and fraught with technical, social, and economic uncertainties. Energy economics and the lack of a reliable, high frequency space launch capability brought most research to a halt in the 1990s. This paper proposes a rational technical strategy to refocus Solar Power Satellite (SPS) research. It suggests a 30 year timeline for program milestones and analyzes potential technical performance. Real options analysis is used to manage uncertainty and permits the exploration of possible futures that are dependent on launch costs and electricity market prices. We propose that the U.S. can make progress toward implementing a small scale SPS system within several decades if work is begun now on technology development and on addressing societal concerns.

Active Learning Strategies for Teaching Lean Thinking

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Active Learning Strategies for Teaching Lean Thinking Candido, Jacqueline P.; Murman, Earll M.; McManus, Hugh Active learning is a method of designing instruction so that classroom students are actively involved in learning concepts and content. Instead of casting students into the role of passive listener, active learning techniques strive to engage learners in reading, writing, discussing and doing things to connect the learners to the material. The Lean Aerospace Initiative sponsored the development of a foundational LAI Lean Academy® course about lean concepts. The class is targeted for an audience with little or no experience in lean concepts and it was designed with a learner-centered focus using active learning techniques. Several strategies used successfully in this class will be described in this paper, specifically: plant tours, the supply chain puzzle, mechanical assembly for lean engineering and interviews/out briefs. Results from student feedback indicate that class participants enjoy the active learning segments of the class much better than modules that are mostly lecture-based.

Assessing Information Waste in Lean Product Development

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing Information Waste in Lean Product Development Graebsch, Martin; Seering, Warren P.; Lindemann, Udo Lean Product Development seeks to enhance the efficiency of product development projects by reducing and eliminating non-value-adding activities or waste, which can exist on every process level. The value stream through product development processes is a flow of information, and hence waste exists in interpersonal communication. The study elaborates the hypothesis that most information transfers do not add value to the product. It was further theorized that different means of communication are better suited for different kinds of information, at least from the lean point of view. In order to understand the occurrence and ramifications of waste in product development information flows, the information transferred between team members was analyzed in two student product development projects. With the help of a paper-based value stream map, frequencies of waste drivers in information, the share of waste in information transfers, the interdependencies of waste and means of communication, as well as timeliness of information transfers were analyzed. The study’s results show that waste is omnipresent in product development information transfers, as only twelve percent of all information transfers contribute value to the product, and nearly half of the information transfers could have been omitted without a decrease in product value. Assuming that preparing, sending, receiving and retrieving information accounts for most of the time spent in product development processes, an enormous theoretical potential for efficiency enhancements could thus be identified.

Adaptable Enterprise Architecture and Long Term Value Added Partnerships in Healthcare

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Adaptable Enterprise Architecture and Long Term Value Added Partnerships in Healthcare Jorge, Oliviera; Nightingale, Deborah Healthcare expenditure has increasingly been growing as a percentage of the GDP of several developed nations and it is feared that it will soon become unbearable. Additionally hospitals are faced with an estimated nursing shortage and with an aging patient base that demands better quality at a lower cost. Furthermore, hospitals tie up a large percentage of their budgets in inventory and in the required labour to manage it. Moreover, future improvements will necessarily require a solution beyond statistically sound inventory policies and software packages. This paper adopts a holistic enterprise architecture approach encompassing technology, processes, strategy, and stakeholder values. The study included two hospitals leading the way in such architectures with a leading healthcare vendor in the USA market. The research methodology consisted of field observations, 47 interviews and data analysis of the visited hospitals. Research findings are presented and supported by graphical representations of soft data collected. Finally conclusions are provided and also include lessons learned on how to adapt enterprise architectures and align stakeholder incentives.

Network Centric Operations and the Brigade Unit of Action: A System Dynamics Perspective

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Network Centric Operations and the Brigade Unit of Action: A System Dynamics Perspective Minami, Major Nathan A.; Rhodes, Dr. Donna In the midst of fighting a global War on Terror, the U.S. Army is concurrently attempting to transform to a more agile and deployable organization, which is centered largely on the integration of new information technologies into its command posts. While most Army leaders are reporting that many of these new information “tools” such as the Army Battle Command System (ABCS) give them an unprecedented level of situational awareness and are beginning to enable a new style of war labeled by some as Network Centric Warfare, other leaders are reporting that the integration of this new digital technology comes with some unintended consequences that in some cases actually slows and decreases the quality of information flow by orders of magnitude. We studied the “Brigade Unit of Action” concept with specific emphasis on the Brigade’s ability to disseminate and process information within and between command posts, using System Dynamics as a modeling tool to help better understand the impact of various policy decisions made by the U.S. Army. Our study concentrated on some of the possible strengths and pitfalls of NCW theory, and led to the formulation of five heuristics that Army leaders should consider when developing the future command and control architecture for the Brigade Unit of Action.

Defining System Changeability: Reconciling Flexibility, Adaptability, Scalability, and Robustness for Maintaining System Lifecycle Value

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Towards a Work Breakdown Structure for Net Centric System of Systems Engineering and Management

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Towards a Work Breakdown Structure for Net Centric System of Systems Engineering and Management Wang, Dr. Gan; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo; Lane, Jo Ann; Boehm, Dr. Barry As the system engineering industry sees an increasing focus on the lifecycle development, acquisition, and sustainment of net-centric Systems of Systems (SoS), organizations find that current processes and tools need to evolve to handle the increased scope, scale, and complexity of these efforts. One such tool, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is important in planning, monitoring, and re-focusing of program activities as requirements and goals of the program evolve. This paper provides an overview of the limitations of current standard WBSs with respect to SoS efforts and presents a proposed WBS structure that more adequately reflects the evolving processes and cross-organizational complexities.

A Theory of Objective Sizing

Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

A Theory of Objective Sizing Valerdi, Ricardo The process of building parametric models to estimate the cost of large scale complex systems have recently uncovered unanticipated challenges. The most difficult of which includes the ability to define the boundary of the system being estimated. This boundary is an essential step towards determining the size of the system; a major input into parametric models. In this paper, we build on a concept from psychology known as the moon illusion to develop a theory of objective sizing. This theory has two main benefits: it helps explain why stakeholders have different views of systems and it provides an approach for how these differences can be reconciled. Ultimately it will help technical communities arrive at a more objective way for measuring system size which will ultimately improve the accuracy and influence of parametric models.

Extensions of COSYSMO to Represent Reuse

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Extensions of COSYSMO to Represent Reuse Valerdi, Ricardo; Gaffney, John; Roedler, Garry; Rieff, John As the maturity of COSYSMO increases, users continue to identify areas in which the model can be improved. Recent emphasis has been placed on the clarification of counting rules for the COSYSMO size drivers. These drivers represent various attributes of the total size of the task of the systems engineering effort estimated by COSYSMO; in terms of person months. The intent of these rules is to ensure consistent interpretation and use of the size input parameters that include: requirements, interfaces, algorithms, and operational scenarios. Experience in applying these rules has exposed a limitation of the current version of the model; there was no way of including the affect of reusing system components in the calculation of systems engineering effort. This has resulted in inaccurate estimates of systems engineering effort for systems that incorporated significant reuse, as in the case of programs with a high degree of COTS integration. As a result, a method was needed to account for the fact that not all of the requirements that drive systems engineering effort are new. Specifically, some of the requirements for a new system may be “reused” from a prior system. Further, some of the new system’s requirements may be “modified” from a prior system. Moreover, the evolution of system requirements over the system life cycle may result in “deleted” requirements from the initial configuration baseline. On the surface, the notion of reuse in COSYSMO may appear as a necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention activity but in reality it was an inevitable feature. One reason is that most software cost estimation models – especially COCOMO II – go into great detail in addressing aspects of software reuse. The other is that reuse is more prevalent among defense contractors that aim for higher productivity gains as they avoid pursuing designs from scratch. For these reasons, this paper provides (1) an approach for handling reuse in systems engineering in terms of the number of systems requirements in COSYSMO, (2) a discussion on the potential cost drivers that could be influenced by reuse, and (3) strategies in which this approach can be extended to include the three other size drivers in the model.

On the Use of Architectural Products for Cost Estimation

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

On the Use of Architectural Products for Cost Estimation Valerdi, Ricardo; Dixit, Indrajeet The Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) provides a standard set of views that illustrate specific attributes of a system. These views give different levels of detail and purpose that allow engineers to express operational, system, technical, and architectural properties for specific purposes. The twenty six different views available can be useful and at the same time overwhelming to someone unfamiliar with the framework. An increasing number of defense contractors are using DoDAF to characterize system attributes. These same contractors are responsible for providing cost estimates for the development and implementation of systems. This paper provides the link between these two areas by relating architectural views to system representation for cost estimation. There are several benefits to this link. First, the cost estimation community can benefit from a deeper understanding of the DoDAF and its objectives to improve the field of cost estimation through the development of models that better represent system architectures. Second, DoDAF can serve as a common language between customers and contractors by improving the representation of stakeholder needs and objectives. Third, the architecting community can benefit from the identification of subjective cost drivers currently not addressed in the DoDAF products. In this spirit, this paper describes how DoDAF architecture frameworks can be used to determine functional system size for adequate estimating of systems engineering effort. This is illustrated through the use of the OilCo FastPass system defined in previous work. The utility of using the FastPass system is that it is well documented in journal articles and it is a system familiar to the general systems engineering audience.

Advancing an Ontology for Systems Engineering to Allow Consistent Measurement

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Advancing an Ontology for Systems Engineering to Allow Consistent Measurement Honour, Eric C.; Valerdi, Ricardo Past analysis has shown that there is a quantifiable correlation between the amount, types and quality of systems engineering efforts used during a program and the success of the program. For any given program, an amount, type and quality of systems engineering effort can be selected from the quantified correlations. The optimal nature of these selections, however, has not yet been explored. An ongoing project, Systems Engineering Return on Investment (SE-ROI), aims to quantify the correlations by gathering data on current and completed programs. It is the purpose of this paper to advance an ontology that can support useful quantification of the desired correlations. This ontology is based on a review of current systems engineering standards, historical systems engineering activities, and data gathered on the COSYSMO and Value of Systems Engineering projects. In this paper, the ontology is further explored to create broadly-based definitions of key terms such as "systems engineering effort," "amount of effort," "type of effort," "quality," "success," and "optimum." The SE-ROI project is continuing to convert the ontology into a methodology for measuring Return on Investment. This measurement will yield more specific relationships between systems engineering activities, such as requirements management effort, and the cost/schedule compliance of the program.

Role of Software Readability on Software Development Cost

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Role of Software Readability on Software Development Cost Collar, Emilio, Jr.; Valerdi, Ricardo This paper explores the role of software readability on software development cost. We argue that the up front cost of incorporating software readability pays off handsomely at later stages in the life cycle, especially at the maintenance phase which is where most of the life cycle cost of software is expended. Our analysis of different software development activities shows that software readability has a global effect on software development cost and is independent of software size (i.e., KSLOC). Moreover, we explore the links between software readability and programming domain knowledge. This paper is organized into the following three sections: overview of software readability, how readability fits into the context of software cost estimation, and how results can lead to the development of a new COCOMO cost driver focused on software readability.

Screening for Real Options “In” an Engineering System: A Step Towards Flexible System Development

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing Changeability in Aerospace Systems Architecting and Design Using Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Coupling Lean Thinking and Systems Thinking at the Enterprise Level

Tue, 16 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Coupling Lean Thinking and Systems Thinking at the Enterprise Level Nightingale, Deborah; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 15th Industrial Engineering Research Conference presentation

Lean Engineering: Doing the Right Thing Right

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Engineering: Doing the Right Thing Right McManus, Hugh; Haggerty, Al; Murman, Earll Lean techniques are having a major impact on aerospace manufacturing. However, the cost and value of aerospace (and many other) products is determined primarily in product development. Migrating lean to engineering processes is ongoing in the industry, and a subject of study at the MIT Lean Aerospace Initiative. This paper summarizes findings to date, with references to both research literature and successful implementation examples. To implement lean engineering, a three-part approach is needed: Creating the right products, with effective lifecycle and enterprise integration, using efficient engineering processes.

IT Enabled Enterprise Transformation: Perspectives Using Product Data Management

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

IT Enabled Enterprise Transformation: Perspectives Using Product Data Management Hines, Erisa K.; Srinivasan, Jayakanth Implementing a new information technology (IT) system often requires an enterprise to adopt many changes in order to exploit the full set of capabilities generated by the new system. However, the new IT system itself can often act as a barrier to change rather than as an enabler. The challenge in making sure that the new IT system serves as an enabler, rather than a barrier, to change requires the concurrent performance of three sets of activities with the aim of exploiting the synergies among them: redesign processes, develop and implement the system through a mix of internal talent and external suppliers, and involve the user community. Product Data Management (PDM) technology represents a substantial portion of the rather sizeable investment by industry in IT systems over the last decade. The selection, development, and deployment of PDM solutions were studied in the context of the aerospace industry, wherein data management (DM) is critical due to high product complexity and long system life cycles. A study of current PDM-related implementation experiences in nine different aerospace company sites highlights the difficulty in reaching PDM technology's full potential to deliver customer value. The timing of system implementation, the creation and composition of the team, and a willingness to overcome organizational inertia are the three most important factors in developing a solution that meets an organization’s needs. All three factors and the interactions across them are highlighted in the two case studies focusing on two companies designated as Aero Company and Space Company, respectively.

Value-Based System of System Development

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Value-Based System of System Development Rebentisch, Eric AIAA Infotech Conference presentation

The Tradespace Exploration Paradigm

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Cost Metrics for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Cost Metrics for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Valerdi, Ricardo This paper aims to enhance the understanding of UAV cost metrics and their uses. The paper is organized into three main areas: (1) overview of current approaches for aircraft, (2) life cycle issues with UAV cost estimation, and (3) cost metrics and model approach as applied to UAVs. As a result of this work we hope to provide a better understanding of the cost factors influencing the recently publicized scrutiny of UAV cost overruns. More importantly, we hope to begin the foundation for the development of Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs) that can potentially lead to the development of a parametric cost model for UAVs.

Sea Level Requirements as Systems Engineering Size Metrics

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Sea Level Requirements as Systems Engineering Size Metrics Valerdi, Ricardo; Raj, Jatin The Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model (COSYSMO) represents a collaborative effort between industry, government, and academia to develop a general model to estimate systems engineering effort. The model development process has benefited from a diverse group of stakeholders that have contributed their domain expertise and historical project data for the purpose of developing an industry calibration. But the use of multiple stakeholders having diverse perspectives has introduced challenges for the developers of COSYSMO. Among these challenges is ensuring that people have a consistent interpretation of the model’s inputs. A consistent understanding of the inputs enables maximum benefits for its users and contributes to the model’s predictive accuracy. The main premise of this paper is that the reliability of these inputs can be significantly improved with the aide of a sizing framework similar to one developed for writing software use cases. The focus of this paper is the first of four COSYSMO size drivers, # of Systems Requirements, for which counting rules are provided. In addition, two different experiments that used requirements as metrics are compared to illustrate the benefits introduced by counting rules.

A Framework for Understanding Uncertainty and its Mitigation and Exploitation in Complex Systems

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Effect of Schedule Compression on Project Effort

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Effect of Schedule Compression on Project Effort Yang, Ye; Chen, Zhihao; Valerdi, Ricardo; Boehm, Barry Schedule pressure is often faced by project managers and software developers who want to quickly deploy information systems. Typical strategies to compress project time scales might include adding more staff/personnel, investing in development tools, improving hardware, or improving development methods. The tradeoff between cost, schedule, and performance is one of the most important analyses performed during the planning stages of software development projects. In order to adequately compare the effects of these three constraints on the project it is essential to understand their individual influence on the project’s outcome. In this paper, we present an investigation into the effect of schedule compression on software project development effort and cost and show that people are generally optimistic when estimating the amount of schedule compression. This paper is divided into three sections. First, we follow the Ideal Effort Multiplier (IEM) analysis on the SCED cost driver of the COCOMO II model. Second, compare the real schedule compression ratio exhibited by 161 industry projects and the ratio represented by the SCED cost driver. Finally, based on the above analysis, a set of newly proposed SCED driver ratings for COCOMO II are introduced which show an improvement of 6% in the model estimating accuracy.

Enabling Factors in Successful Product Development

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Factors in Successful Product Development Tang, Victor; Liu, Bing; Kellam, Benjamin A.; Otto, Kevin N.; Seering, Warren P. The research literature and industry best-practices report a vast number of enabling factors that contribute to successful product development (PD). Collectively this body of work also establishes the causal linkages between these enabling factors and overall success in PD. But what specific factors will produce what specific outcomes are vague and ambiguous. To address this apparent void, we find distinct sets of PD enabling factors that are statistically accurate predictors of the specific project outcomes of profit, market share, customer satisfaction, organizational effectiveness, and product quality. We are also motivated to help organizations improve their PD. To that end, we develop a diagnostic tool using the factors that predict our five PD outcomes. The tool is used to pinpoint weaknesses and focus improvements to achieve specific desired outcomes. Results of in situ testing of the tool are reported in this article. The guiding principles of this work are specificity and actionability: specific enabling factors that can produce specific results, and an actionable diagnostic-tool that practitioners can use to improve the practice and results of their PD projects.

Synthesizing SoS Concepts for Use in Cost Estimation

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Synthesizing SoS Concepts for Use in Cost Estimation Lane, Jo Ann; Valerdi, Ricardo Today’s need for more complex, capable systems in a short timeframe is leading many organizations towards the integration of existing systems into networkcentric, knowledge-based system-of-systems (SoS). Software and system cost model tools to date have focused on the software and system development activities of a single system. When viewing the new SoS architectures, one finds that the effort associated with the design and integration of these SoSs is not handled well, if at all, in current cost models. This paper includes (1) a comparison of various SoS definitions and concepts with respect to cost models, (2) a classification of these definitions in terms of product, process, and personnel focus, and (3) the definition of a set of discriminators for defining model boundaries and potential drivers for an SoS cost estimation model. Eleven SoS definitions are synthesized to provide reasonable coverage for different properties of SoS and illustrated in two examples.

Non-Intrusive System Level Fault-Tolerance

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Non-Intrusive System Level Fault-Tolerance Lundqvist, Kristina; Srinivasan, Jayakanth; Gorelov, Sébastien High-integrity embedded systems operate in multiple modes, in order to ensure system availability in the face of faults. Unanticipated state-dependent faults that remain in software after system design and development behave like hardware transient faults: they appear, do the damage and disappear. The conventional approach used for handling task overruns caused by transient faults is to use a single recovery task that implements minimal functionality. This approach provides limited availability and should be used as a last resort in order to keep the system online. Traditional fault detection approaches are often intrusive in that they consume processor resources in order to monitor system behavior. This paper presents a novel approach for fault-monitoring by leveraging the Ravenscar profile, model-checking and a system-on-chip implementation of both the kernel and an execution time monitor. System fault-tolerance is provided through a hierarchical set of operational modes that are based on timing behavior violations of individual tasks within the application. The approach is illustrated through a simple case study of a generic navigation system.

Assessing the Challenges to a Geosynchronous Space Tug System

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing the Challenges to a Geosynchronous Space Tug System Richards, Matthew G.; Springmann, Philip N.; McVey, Michelle E. A space tug vehicle is designed to rendezvous and dock with a space object; make an assessment of its current position, orientation, and operational status; and then either stabilize the object in its current orbit or move the object to a new location with subsequent release. A subset of on-orbit servicing, space tug missions in the geosynchronous belt include stationkeeping of satellites which have lost attitude control and repositioning of satellites. Repositioning of spacecraft may be desirable as a means to rescue satellites launched into incorrect orbits, for the retirement of satellites into “graveyard” orbits, and for on-demand maneuvers that support flexible mission requirements. This paper aims to unify the political, legal, operational, and financial aspects of the space tug concept and highlight the challenges that stand in the way of an operational space tug vehicle. U.S. Space Transportation Policy is reviewed, and a space tug operation is recognized as an enabler of emerging national space transportation requirements. Customary international and United States laws are explored as potential constraining forces on future tug missions. A concept of operations in geosynchronous orbit, including parking orbit selection and approach strategies, is analyzed with emphasis placed on safety and reliability. Potential financing models and the issue of insurance for space tugs are discussed and identified as the principal challenges facing implementation of a space tug system. This paper offers a positive forecast for the future of on-orbit servicing and endorses continued government support for proof-of-concept missions.

Accelerating the Development of Senior Systems Engineers

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as Front End for Effective Space System Design

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as Front End for Effective Space System Design Ross, Adam M.; Hastings, Daniel E.; Warmkessel, Joyce M.; Diller, Nathan P. The inability to approach systematically the high level of ambiguity present in the early design phases of space systems causes long, highly iterative, and costly design cycles. A process is introduced and described to capture decision maker preferences and use them to generate and evaluate a multitude of space system designs, while providing a common metric that can be easily communicated throughout the design enterprise. Communication channeled through formal utility interviews and analysis enables engineers to better understand the key drivers for the system and allows for a more thorough exploration of the design tradespace. Multi-attribute tradespace exploration with concurrent design, a process incorporating decision theory into model- and simulation-based design, has been applied to several space system projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Preliminary results indicate that this process can improve the quality of communication to resolve more quickly project ambiguity and to enable the engineer to discover better value designs for multiple stakeholders. The process is also integrated into a concurrent design environment to facilitate the transfer of knowledge of important drivers into higher fidelity design phases. Formal utility theory provides a mechanism to bridge the language barrier between experts of different backgrounds and differing needs, for example, scientists, engineers, managers, etc. Multi-attribute tradespace exploration with concurrent design couples decision makers more closely to the design and, most important, maintains their presence between formal reviews.

Using Stakeholder Value Analysis to Build Exploration Sustainability

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Using Stakeholder Value Analysis to Build Exploration Sustainability Rebentisch, Eric S.; Crawley, Edward F.; Loureiro, Geilson; Dickmann, John Q.; Catanzaro, Sandro N. The sustainability of space exploration will depend in large part on its ability to consistently and reliably deliver valued benefits to societal stakeholders over an extended period. This on-going research studies the values of prospective stakeholders in the space exploration enterprise—both in the near term and with a perspective extending over decades. The immediate focus is human and robotic exploration of the Earth/Moon system, but extends to the exploration of Mars as well. Potential beneficiaries of space exploration are identified in broad societal sectors. An analysis of these stakeholders, their values and needs leads to the development of a comprehensive set of space exploration objectives that address those needs. The relative priority of exploration objectives is weighted using information about stakeholder characteristics, values, and their role and place in the exploration value stream. The weighted exploration objectives can then be used to assess the relative value of different technical system architectures, and to design exploration enterprise architecture, attributes and policy frameworks to enable value delivery to societal stakeholders. Ultimately, through stakeholders’ continuing support, sustainable space exploration will be delivered.

A Next Generation Launch Capacity Model for the U.S. Eastern Range

Tue, 02 May 2000 00:00:00 GMT

A Next Generation Launch Capacity Model for the U.S. Eastern Range Steare, David H.W. 2nd NRO/AIAA Workshop on Space Launch Integration presentation

Cross-Industry Characterization of Spacecraft Integration and Test Discrepancies: Transforming Discrepancies into Product Development Improvements

Tue, 19 Sep 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Cross-Industry Characterization of Spacecraft Integration and Test Discrepancies: Transforming Discrepancies into Product Development Improvements Weigel, Annalisa L.; Warmkessel, Joyce M. This paper presents the results of cross-sector benchmarking research on discrepancies encountered during spacecraft system-level integration and test. Analysis results demonstrate which subsystems have the highest occurrence of discrepancies, which integration and test environments precipitate the greatest number of discrepancies, and what the leading causes are of discrepancies. In addition, the paper presents cost data for spacecraft discrepancies, and concludes with a discussion of important factors to consider in evaluating the cost-benefit trade of upstream preventative investment to avoid problems before they occur versus downstream reactive measures after problems occur.

Tube Production and Assembly Systems: The Impact of Compliance and Variability on Yield

Sun, 10 Sep 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Tube Production and Assembly Systems: The Impact of Compliance and Variability on Yield Wei, Yu-Feng; Thornton, Anna C. Variation modeling is used in design to predict and diagnose potential quality problems. Most variation modeling assumes the parts are rigidly assembled. However, in some cases, this assumption is invalid. For example, when hydraulic tubes are assembled into aircraft structures, the compliance of the tube facilitates assembly. If the tubes were rigid, they cannot be assembled, i.e., the variations of the tubes and structures are too great. Despite the importance of compliance in assembly, it is typically not explicitly modeled during design. This paper proposes a new method to directly predict the assemblability of any tube design with minimal dependence CAD/FEM modeling and simulation. The model includes a variation model for the tubes and aircraft, compliance model and assembly model. It can be used during design to improve yields.

A Framework for Achieving Lifecycle Value in Aerospace Product Development

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A Framework for Achieving Lifecycle Value in Aerospace Product Development Stanke, Alexis; Murman, Earll Creation of lifecycle value - a balance of performance with cost and other attributes - represents a challenge for the development of aerospace products in the twenty-first century. This paper examines the concept of lifecycle value that stems from existing approaches of value management and analysis, lifecycle costing, and systems engineering. To ascertain common characteristics of lifecycle value creation, case studies were done for four aircraft programs: F/A- 18E/F, JAS 39 Gripen, F-16C/D, and B-777. A lifecycle value creation framework is introduced, comprised of three phases: value identification, value proposition, value delivery. Based upon observed practices in the four case studies, six value creation attributes were identified. Capability maturity models for the six attributes and three value creation phases are presented. The resulting framework represents a starting point for programs seeking to create lifecycle value for aerospace products.

Value Stream Analysis and Mapping for Product Development

Sun, 08 Sep 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Stream Analysis and Mapping for Product Development McManus, Hugh L.; Millard, Richard L. This paper explores the concept of Value Stream Analysis and Mapping (VSA/M) as applied to Product Development (PD) efforts. Value Stream Analysis and Mapping is a method of business process improvement. The application of VSA/M began in the manufacturing community. PD efforts provide a different setting for the use of VSA/M. Site visits were made to nine major U.S. aerospace organizations. Interviews, discussions, and participatory events were used to gather data on (1) the sophistication of the tools used in PD process improvement efforts, (2) the lean context of the use of the tools, and (3) success of the efforts. It was found that all three factors were strongly correlated, suggesting success depends on both good tools and lean context. Finally, a general VSA/M method for PD activities is proposed. The method uses modified process mapping tools to analyze and improve process.

Introduction to LAI

Wed, 26 Sep 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction to LAI Murman, Earll M. Introduction to LAI (delivered at AEDC) presentation

Process Capability Database Usage In Industry: Myth vs. Reality

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Process Capability Database Usage In Industry: Myth vs. Reality Tata, Melissa M.; Thornton, Anna C. Process capability data (PCD) is needed for robust design, optimal tolerance allocation, and variation simulation analysis. Process capability databases (PCDBs) have been developed in many industries and are being used by the manufacturing community to monitor quality; however, they are not being effectively utilized by design. When the PCDBs1 were developed, the intent was for design to use PCD for optimization and product cost minimization, but this ideal situation has not been realized. A survey of a variety of design and manufacturing companies was circulated to determine both the state-ofthe- art in PCDBs and the barriers preventing design from fully utilizing PCD. Two key barriers were identified for internal PCDBs: lack of a company-wide vision for PCD usage and poor communication between manufacturing and design. Supplier PCDBs have the additional barriers of lack of trust between suppliers and customers and time lag for data entry. Management support, training, database population, and common systems were identified as potential solutions to the identified barriers.

Use of Dependency Structure Matrices for Product Development Cycle Time Reduction

Wed, 15 Jul 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Use of Dependency Structure Matrices for Product Development Cycle Time Reduction Browning, Tyson R. Cycle time reduction is an important aspect of integrated product and process development (IPPD). This paper outlines some of the challenges that impede efforts to reduce cycle time for complex system development projects. Several facets of these challenges can be summarized using the general concept of design iterations. After reviewing this concept, the paper provides an overview of a process modeling approach utilizing dependency structure matrices (DSMs - also known as design structure matrices). DSMs allow a simple, visual representation of processes and highlight potential iterations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways DSM-based methods help manage some of the cycle time reduction challenges.

Sources of Schedule Risk in Complex System Development

Sun, 26 Jul 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Sources of Schedule Risk in Complex System Development Browning, Tyson R. From one perspective, developing complex systems is an exercise in uncertainty reduction and risk management. In this article I first organize the principle sources of risk in product development into five categories: market risk, product performance risk, technology risk, development cost risk, and schedule risk. Second, I synthesize research findings from literature and interviews with experienced product development managers and system engineers at a major aerospace company regarding the sources of uncertainty underlying one of these categories, schedule risk. Relationships between these sources of schedule uncertainty are shown using a causal framework. The goal of this preliminary work is to highlight areas for increased attention in planning and management processes, while providing a systems view of the effects of certain actions.

Exploring Integrative Mechanisms with a View Towards Design for Integration

Wed, 20 Aug 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring Integrative Mechanisms with a View Towards Design for Integration Browning, Tyson R. The integrated product development (IPD) paradigm has gained recognition as a preferred approach to product development. In complex system development programs, the concurrent engineering aspect of IPD is often approached through the use of integrated product teams (IPTs), each assigned to develop various components of the overall system. Many have struggled to determine the characteristics of highly effective IPTs and the circumstances in which particular perspectives should be incorporated within an IPT. However, much less research has addressed the nature and management of the relationships between IPTs—the integration of IPTs within a program. While many have lamented that coordination problems have played a large part in diminishing the performance of their overall programs, a systematic approach for considering these issues a priori in program design is lacking. This paper presupposes a familiarity with interteam integration issues and (1) describes a framework for thinking about organization integration within a program, (2) presents integrative mechanisms (IMs) useful for managing IPT interfaces, and (3) begins to develop a systematic approach for designing programs that explicitly considers integration needs, design for integration (DFI).

Mechanisms for Interteam Integration: Findings from Five Case Studies

Sun, 03 Aug 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Mechanisms for Interteam Integration: Findings from Five Case Studies Browning, Tyson R. Many product development programs consist of multiple integrated product teams (IPTs) and functional groups. Interteam information dependencies greatly affect program success. Program integration has thus become an issue of increasing interest. This paper summarizes findings from five case studies of integrative mechanisms (IMs) in complex system product development projects at Chrysler, General Electric Aircraft Engines, McDonnell Douglas, Sundstrand, and Texas Instruments. Two types of IMs are investigated in this paper: (1) Systems engineering and interface optimization and (2) Improved information and communication technologies. As the appropriateness of a given IM varies as a function of many parameters—such as program stage, size, complexity, risk, etc.—the goal of this research was not to formulate a universal template for IM application. Rather, it is hoped that the lessons learned by these five programs will help others determine the appropriateness of particular IMs in their situations. Also, the continued development of an IM categorization scheme will hopefully prove useful to those developing an integration “tool kit.”

Multi-team Integration: Interdependence and Integrative Mechanisms

Sun, 07 Jul 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-team Integration: Interdependence and Integrative Mechanisms Browning, Tyson R. The drive towards Integrated Product Development (IPD) includes an impetus to organize around Integrated Product Teams (IPTs). The use of IPTs has brought with it many issues, including those at the IPT interfaces. Program integration (crossfunctional, upstream/downstream, customer and supplier) can exist at several levels, within IPTs and between IPTs. This paper focuses on the realm of IPT interdependence and categorizes several Integrative Mechanisms (IMs) to facilitate interteam integration. IMs are strategies and tools for effectively coordinating actions across IPTs within a program. This paper is based on studies in the aerospace industry, but the implications extend to any large, complex development program.

Methods of Integrating Design and Cost Information to Achieve Enhanced Manufacturing Cost/Performance Trade-offs

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Methods of Integrating Design and Cost Information to Achieve Enhanced Manufacturing Cost/Performance Trade-offs Hoult, David P.; Meador, C. Lawrence In this paper we address problems which arise when large organizations attempt a tight integration of design and cost while developing complex products. Topics include the sources of cost and design data, the arrangement of the databases, and the interfaces required. We also discuss the management methods required to develop and implement Design/Cost Database Commonality.

Empirical Research on Systems Thinking and Practice in the Engineering Enterprise

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Empirical Research on Systems Thinking and Practice in the Engineering Enterprise Rhodes, Donna H.; Lamb, Caroline T.; Nightingale, Deborah J. The paper discusses recent and ongoing research on engineering systems thinking and practices within the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. . The research seeks to impact the effectiveness of systems engineering in modern enterprises through development of new empirical-based knowledge related to systems thinking and practice in engineering. The paper will discuss research progress and outcomes to date as they apply to improving the effectiveness of systems engineering practice and competency development in industry, government and academia. The research involves highly collaborative engagement, use of grounded theory methods, and both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The challenges and lessons learned in performing research of this nature and applying non-traditional methods in systems engineering research are discussed.

Systems Thinking as an Emergent Team Property: Ongoing Research into the Enablers and Barriers to Team-level Systems Thinking

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Thinking as an Emergent Team Property: Ongoing Research into the Enablers and Barriers to Team-level Systems Thinking Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Rhodes, Donna H. This paper describes ongoing research exploring systems thinking at the team level. Termed collaborative systems thinking by the authors, the concept of higher level systems thinking is envisioned as a means both to build workforce competency and to explicitly deal with system complexity at a higher level within an organization. This paper introduces the key research questions, an initial definition of collaborative systems thinking, demographic and technical motivators, and summarizes the research progress to date and plan for completion. The results of this research will inform the design of technical processes and provide empirical knowledge to support workforce development interventions aimed at developing systems thinking within engineering teams. The role of organizational culture is also considered as a factor in enabling collaborative systems thinking.

Enterprises as Systems: Context, Boundaries, & Practical Implications

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprises as Systems: Context, Boundaries, & Practical Implications Valerdi, Ricardo; Nightingale, Deborah; Blackburn, Craig 6th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Enterprise Risk in Acquisition: Initial Findings and Implications

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Risk in Acquisition: Initial Findings and Implications Wirthlin, Major Robb Seventh National Symposium on Space Systems Engineering & Risk Management presentation

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Towards an Understanding of Team-level Systems Thinking

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Towards an Understanding of Team-level Systems Thinking Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Nightingale, Deborah J.; Rhodes, Donna H. As the engineering workforce ages, skills with long development periods are lost with retiring individuals faster than are younger engineers developing the skills. Systems thinking is one such skill. Recent research, (Davidz 2006), has shown the importance of experiential learning in systems thinking skill development. However, an engineering career begun today has fewer program experiences than in past decades because of extended program lifecycles and a reduction in the number of new large-scale engineering programs. This pattern is clearly visible in the aerospace industry, which (Stephens 2003) cites as already experiencing a systems thinking shortage. The ongoing research outlined in this paper explores systems thinking as an emergent property of teams. Collaborative systems thinking, a term coined by the authors to denote teamlevel systems thinking, may offer an opportunity to leverage and develop a skill in short supply by concentrating on the team in addition to the individual. This paper introduces the proposed definition for collaborative systems thinking, as developed by the authors, and the outlines the structure and progress of ongoing case research into the role of organizational culture and standard process usage in the development of collaborative systems thinking.

Understanding Enterprise Risk Across an Aquisition Portfolio: A Grounded Theory Approach

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Enterprise Risk Across an Aquisition Portfolio: A Grounded Theory Approach Wirthlin, Major Joseph R.; Seering, Warren; Rebentisch, Eric Every acquisition program contains risks. But what impact do these risks have on the entire portfolio of acquisition activities? What does risk at the Enterprise level really mean? For example, risk collectively could portend great danger to the acquisition manager’s overall portfolio which might be otherwise masked by traditional program performance and analysis. Alternatively, these risks also might represent opportunities to achieve greater results when analyzed from a portfolio perspective. Initial review of the literature suggests that most leaders are unable to articulate the risk carried by their portfolio of product development activities or what this means to them. However, the same literature suggests they strongly desire this capability. Beginning with a review of the applicable literature in the areas of risk, product development (acquisition) and product portfolio management, portfolio-level risk applications are found to be sparse and ill-conceived. Initial analysis of interviews with portfolio leaders involving military product development activities in portfolios of large, complex, system development will be presented with a discussion of the implications of enterprise risk for product portfolio management.

Collaborative Systems Thinking Research: Exploring Systems Thinking within Teams

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring Systems Engineering Success: Insights from Baseball

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Human Factors Analysis of Predator B Crash

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Human Factors Analysis of Predator B Crash Carrigan, Geoff; Long, Dave; Cummings, M.L.; Duffner, John The 2006 crash of a Predator B in Arizona has prompted a great amount of scrutiny into Unmanned Arial System (UAS) operations. The direct cause of the Predator crash can be tied to an initial failure of the displays and a failed transfer of controls between operators. However, using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), many latent errors that contributed to the accident were uncovered that were not addressed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report. The HFACS approach for this accident examined all issues leading up to the crash and uncovered several organizational influences that were significant contributors to the Predator crash. Through augmenting NTSB efforts with the HFACS method, future UAS incidents can be prevented by addressing all causes, regardless of their distance from the pilot’s seat.

Strategy Alignment & Deployment through Enterprise Change Capabilities

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Strategy Alignment & Deployment through Enterprise Change Capabilities Roth, Dr. George DoD CPI Symposium presentation

The Changing Nature of Systems Engineering and Government Enterprises: Report from a Case Study Research Effort

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Changing Nature of Systems Engineering and Government Enterprises: Report from a Case Study Research Effort Brooks, JoAnn M.; Beard, Jon W.; Carroll, John S. In this paper, we examine the changing nature of systems engineering work and, in particular, how The MITRE Corporation is confronting the challenges of expanding its role and capabilities to deliver what it calls “Enterprise Systems Engineering” to its government clients. Systems engineers exemplify technical knowledge workers whose work is expanding beyond the traditional skills and habits of thought developed through their disciplinary training (cf., Davidz 2006). Changes in technology, systems acquisition practices, and enterprise structures are challenging systems engineers to expand their roles and capabilities to manage the boundaries among technological systems and organizations of many sizes and types (e.g., government customers, systems integrators, suppliers, end users). Systems development takes place in an ever more complex environment of inter-organizational enterprises where implementation increasingly catalyzes enterprise change and demands greatly expanded and often unrecognized roles beyond that of technical expert or project manager.

Zen in the Art of Cost Estimation

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Zen in the Art of Cost Estimation Valerdi, Ricardo 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Systems Engineering (APCOSE) presentation

Zen in the Art of Cost Estimation

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cultural Barriers to the Adoption of Systems Engineering Research

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cultural Barriers to the Adoption of Systems Engineering Research Valerdi, Ricardo 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Systems Engineering (APCOSE) presentation

Cultural Barriers to the Adoption of Systems Engineering Research

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Paradigms of Development and Employment of Weapon Systems

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Paradigms of Development and Employment of Weapon Systems Gillespie, Daniel M. Weapons procurement decisions are extremely complex, with an unmanageable quantity of variables to take into account. The human brain, unable to process such a complex problem in a strictly rational way, seeks mechanisms to bound the problem and therefore simplify it. One way this occurs is through the development of paradigms, or common viewpoints held by decision makers that incorporate the irrational, emotional, and qualitative experience and knowledge, as well as quantitative knowledge such as analysis and test results. A paradigm in use by decision makers in the U.S. Air Force is the propensity to buy weapons developed and produced in America. This study traces the origins of this paradigm, and how it evolved over time. Drawing on examples from recent history it identifies the sources of the paradigm which are: a need to maintain the nation’s technological base, the inadequacy of foreign weaponry to meet U.S. needs, the fact that the U.S. economy is able to support a strong defense industry, the ability to advance its policies by transfer of weapons to allies, the desire to share standardized equipment with allies, and the desire to gain the economic benefits from being an exporter of weapons. It concludes that existing paradigms influence what weapon systems the U.S. will procure, and that in turn affects the strategy the nation employs. Relating the paradigm of American-made weapons procurement to the cases of the F-35 fighter and the recently cancelled Air Force tanker program, it asks questions about the future of weapons procurement choices in a global defense environment.

Lean Product Development in the Aerospace Enterprise

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Product Development in the Aerospace Enterprise Rebentisch, Eric The International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) 2008 Annual Conference presentation

Lean Enterprise Transformation Framework

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Transformation Framework Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" DoD CPI Symposium presentation

Architecting Lean Software Enterprises: The TODC Story

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting Lean Software Enterprises: The TODC Story Srinivasan, Jayakanth 'JK' Workshop on Open Innovation in Services, University of Cambridge, UK presentation

Driving Open Innovation: Learning from Three Cases

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Driving Open Innovation: Learning from Three Cases Srinivasan, Jayakanth 'JK' SMS Conference on Strategic Innovation in a Flat World, Indian School of Business, India presentation

Architecting Systems for Value Robustness: Research Motivations and Progress

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting Systems for Value Robustness: Research Motivations and Progress Ross, Adam M.; Rhodes, Donna H. The contemporary environment and large-scale systems challenges motivate research in support of a new paradigm: value robustness. Value robustness is defined as the ability of a system to continue to deliver stakeholder value in the face of changing contexts and needs. The authors’ research seeks to develop methods for concept exploration, architecting, and design using a dynamic perspective for the purpose of realizing systems, products, and services that deliver sustained value to stakeholders in a changing world. The research is aimed at improving the development of real world systems and systems of systems, and involves deep engagement with government and industry stakeholders in the research conduct and the transition of research outcomes to industry practice.

Navigating the Metrics Landscape: An Introductory Literature Guide to Metric Selection, Implementation, & Decision Making

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Navigating the Metrics Landscape: An Introductory Literature Guide to Metric Selection, Implementation, & Decision Making Blackburn, Craig; Valerdi, Ricardo The focus of this paper is to depict the vast landscape of literature related to enterprise performance measurement in a concise and comprehensible manner for researchers and practitioners. We focus particularly on the enterprise as the unit of analysis and consider measurement systems from stakeholders at all levels. A broad range of considerations will be explored, ranging from micro-level considerations such as employee performance measurement to macro-level considerations such as enterprise measurement systems. Moreover, we discuss measurement-related problems identified in practice and solutions proposed in academic literature. To illustrate this evolution of measurement knowledge over time, we discuss the effects of metrics from three distinct viewpoints: (1) selecting the right metrics, (2) creating and implementing measurement frameworks; and (3) metrics for decision making.

Practical Implementation of an Enterprise Measurement System: From Inception to Transformation

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Practical Implementation of an Enterprise Measurement System: From Inception to Transformation Blackburn, 2ndLt. Craig; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 7th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Navigating the Metrics Landscape: An Introductory Literature Guide to Metric Selection, Implementation, & Decision Making

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Navigating the Metrics Landscape: An Introductory Literature Guide to Metric Selection, Implementation, & Decision Making Blackburn, 2ndLt. Craig; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 7th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Product Development Process Standardization in Multi-Project Organizations

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Process Standardization in Multi-Project Organizations Rupani, Sid 20th Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS 2009) presentation

Product Complexity and Mode Choice in Global Product Development

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Product Complexity and Mode Choice in Global Product Development Makumbe, Pedzi; Seering, Prof. Warren; Rebentisch, Dr. Eric 20th Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS 2009) presentation

Product Complexity and Mode Choice in Global Product Development

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Product Complexity and Mode Choice in Global Product Development Makumbe, Pedzi; Seering, Warren; Rebentisch, Eric Despite the growth in the practice of global product development, little work has been done to understand factors that influence mode choice in global product development. Our research fills this gap in the literature by empirically investigating variables that drive firms to either globally outsource, globally partner or develop modules themselves in a foreign country. We assume a product-centric view, and combine the transaction cost theory and the resource based view of the firm to explain mode choices based on the analysis of electromechanical products developed across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America for (or by) American firms. Though we focus on complexity, we address product content specificity, product strategic importance and designer’s technological capability as well. We find significant relationships between the type of global product development and the product characteristics. However, the significance of the relationship between complexity and the mode varies by region when we divide the world into emerging countries and mature countries. While the relationship is significant in the emerging countries, it is not significant in mature countries. These findings have implications for decision making in systematically assigning modes of development to different products being developed globally.

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi‐Project Organizations

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi‐Project Organizations Rupani, Sid 2nd International Symposium on Engineering Systems presentation

Teaching an Engineering Systems Doctoral Seminar: Concepts and Structure

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching an Engineering Systems Doctoral Seminar: Concepts and Structure Roberts, Christopher; Magee, Prof. Christopher; Sussman, Prof. Joseph Second International Symposium on Engineering Systems presentation

Enterprise Systems Principles

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Systems Principles Nightingale, Prof. Debbie International Engineering Systems Symposium presentation

Re-conceptualizing the Work of Systems Engineers

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Re-conceptualizing the Work of Systems Engineers Dixit, Indrajeet; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo MIT 2nd International Engineering Systems Symposium presentation

Harmonizing Systems and Software Cost Estimation

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Harmonizing Systems and Software Cost Estimation Wang, Gan; Valerdi, Ricardo; Gaffney, John E. Jr. The objective of this paper is to examine the gaps and overlaps between software and systems engineering cost models with intent to harmonize the estimates in engineering engineering estimation. In particular, we evaluate the central assumptions of the COSYSMO and COCOMO II models and propose an approach to identify gaps and overlaps between them. We provide guidelines on how to reconcile and resolve the identified gaps and overlaps. The ultimate purpose of this work is to develop effective techniques for accurately estimating the combined systems and software engineering effort for software-intensive systems.

Towards a Holistic, Total Engineering Cost Model

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Towards a Holistic, Total Engineering Cost Model Wang, Gan; Turnidge, Jon; Shernoff, Alex; Valerdi, Ricardo In this paper, we explore a new approach for a unified and interdisciplinary model for estimating the total engineering effort in developing and delivering a parametric software-intensive complex system. We begin by reviewing some of the limitations of using existing engineering discipline-focused tools for estimating total engineering cost and by articulating the benefits of such a holistic model. Applying a two step method combining heuristic analysis and data validation, we propose three hypotheses to expand the basic cost estimating relationship of COSYSMO, a systems engineering model, to the total engineering scope by including software size drivers. The implementation of the hypotheses and the validation approach are also discussed. We conclude the discussion by outlining the future work required to realize such a model and to apply it to supporting successful system development endeavours.

An Exploration of Matching Teaching to the Learning Preferences of Systems Engineering Graduate Students

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

An Exploration of Matching Teaching to the Learning Preferences of Systems Engineering Graduate Students Valerdi, Ricardo; Ferris, Tim; Jain, Rashmi; Kasser, Joseph This paper provides an exploratory study on the relationship between learnings of systems engineering graduate students and delivery methods of systems preference engineering coursework. We begin by providing an overview of learning in the systems engineering context, followed by two central research questions that guide the rest of the paper. Our study is focused on measuring learning preferences based on a previously developed survey instrument called VARK. We provide a detailed description of VARK and some insight into the existing database that sheds light on the typical distribution of learning preferences across disciplines. We provide some preliminary results and discuss their implications on systems engineering curriculum development and delivery. Finally, we discuss additional questions that remain to be explored as we strive to understand the learning preferences of systems engineering graduate students.

The Human Element of Decision Making in Systems Engineers: A Focus on Optimism

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Approaches to Calculating Systems Engineering Schedule in Parametric Cost Models

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Approaches to Calculating Systems Engineering Schedule in Parametric Cost Models Gaffney, John E.; Valerdi, Ricardo; Ross, Michael A. This paper provides two similar approaches for calculating project schedule from a systems engineering perspective. To illustrate the genesis of each approach, we provide two analogies; one from economics and one from physics. These are complemented with mathematical derivations that provide quantitative comparisons of the tradeoff between the duration of a project and the optimal effort. Connections are made to Books’ Law and Parkinson’s Law to validate the theoretical discussion with the pragmatic observations from the software engineering literature.

Exploring the Sources of Enterprise Agility in Software Organizations

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring the Sources of Enterprise Agility in Software Organizations Srinivasan, Jayakanth; Lundqvist, Kristina; Norstöm, Christer Organizations involved in the design, development and sustainment of software systems have to manage the tension between creating new products and services, while at the same time maintaining their existing portfolio. This paper explores the sources of enterprise agility in software firms, wherein agility is defined as the ability of the organization to sense changes in its environment (both internal and external), and effectively respond to these changes. Using engaged scholarship as the overarching paradigm, we report on the findings of a process study that uses semi-structured interviews, observation, and archival firm & project information for data gathering, and grounded theory methods and comparative case analysis for data analysis and theory generation. The analysis highlights the importance of the four organizational enablers of: stakeholder alignment, employee empowerment, group & organizational learning, and governance mechanisms, as necessary but not sufficient precursors to obtaining enterprise agility. Furthermore, we provide illustrative case examples of the three mechanisms: Continuous Improvement, Creating Systems of Innovation, and Leveraging Globally available Capabilities, that software organizations use to gain enterprise agility.

Principles of Enterprise Systems

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Estimating Systems Engineering Reuse

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Estimating Systems Engineering Reuse Fortune, Jared; Valerdi, Ricardo; Boehm, Barry W.; Settles, F. Stan Systems engineering reuse is the utilization of previously developed systems engineering products or artifacts such as architectures, requirements, and test plans across different projects. Such reuse is intended as a means of reducing development cost, project schedule, or performance risk, by avoiding the repetition of some systems engineering activities. Although projects involving systems engineering reuse are becoming more frequent, models or tools for estimating the cost, benefit, and overall impact on a project as a result of reusing products or artifacts have not yet been adequately developed. This paper provides an overview of systems engineering reuse and recent developments with the Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model (COSYSMO) to estimate the effect of reuse on systems engineering effort. The overview of systems engineering reuse includes a review of how reuse is handled in other domains and results from an industry survey. The recent developments in COSYSMO presents on-going research in the creation of a reuse extension for the model such as the identification of categories of systems engineering reuse, reuse extensions for the size drivers in the model, and a revised set of cost drivers.

Beyond Cost: Product Complexity and the Global Product Development Location Advantage

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Beyond Cost: Product Complexity and the Global Product Development Location Advantage Makumbe, Pedzi; Seering, Warren; Rebentisch, Eric Discussions of location advantages in global product development are largely based on self-reported surveys, and often agnostic to product characteristics. We build on this previous work by investigating location advantages and the influence of product complexity using negative binomial models. We find that the likelihood of developing products in a country increases as its market size, number of engineering graduates and national capability increases. However, it neither varies with labor cost nor market growth rate. We also find that complex products are more likely to be developed in countries with high national capability, and national capability is directly related to firm capability.

Finding Opportunities for Commonality in Complex Systems

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Finding Opportunities for Commonality in Complex Systems Long, Lt. Col. David; Seering, Warren; Rebentisch, Eric Many complex systems with similar functionalities are independently developed, entered into service, and must be supported through their lifecycles. Costs to support and maintain the systems could be decreased by employing strategies that increase commonality in the systems. We present a process for identifying opportunities and evaluating subsystems for increasing commonality in complex systems. Stakeholders can use our process to improve system management and decrease support costs of systems.

Teaching an Engineering Systems Doctoral Seminar: Concepts and Structure

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching an Engineering Systems Doctoral Seminar: Concepts and Structure Roberts, Christopher J.; Magee, Christopher L.; Sussman, Joseph M. This paper describes the current state of the evolving engineering systems doctoral seminar in the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) at MIT. This subject is required for all first year engineering systems doctoral students. It is intended to bring them into the culture of ESD, and to establish a common base on which subsequent subjects can build. It is the first of three required subjects that make up the core of the ESD doctoral program. The seminar is intended to provide students with the foundations and context of engineering systems, largely focused on providing an appreciation for the many facets of socio-technical complexity. We discuss the seminar’s pedagogy, learning objectives, assignments and readings, and provide insights gained from teaching the course.

Scenario Planning in Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Scenario Planning in Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration Roberts, Christopher J.; Richards, Matthew G.; Ross, Adam M.; Rhodes, Donna H.; Hastings, Daniel E. The long time scales associated with complex system design and operation necessitate front-end systems engineering methodologies that enable consideration of alternative futures. This paper advances scenario planning techniques through a parameterization and ordering of potential future contexts and stakeholder expectations (e.g., articulated system attributes, available technology, funding levels, and supporting infrastructures). After surveying existing approaches for scenario planning, a methodology for specifying and analyzing large numbers of alternative system timelines is presented. A satellite radar case study is used to motivate and illustrate the value of this approach. Benefits of the methodology include: (1) broader and more rigorous consideration of alternative future needs, contexts, and timelines, (2) identification of gaps in traditionally-derived scenario sets, (3) identification of passively value-robust system alternatives, and (4) providing a basis for evaluating system evolution strategies that enable sustainment of value delivery across potential timelines.

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations Rupani, Sid INFORMS Annual Meeting presentation

Product Development Practices for Meeting Financial Objectives

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Practices for Meeting Financial Objectives Makumbe, Pedzi; Gupta, Nisheeth; Rebentisch, Eric; Seering, Warren; Barrett, Christie; Gordon, Mike; Musso, Chris; Link, Jochen This paper reports product development practices that separate the most successful product development programs from the rest. A detailed understanding of best product development practices is important because product development is fundamental to corporate success (Clark & Fujimoto, 1991; Eisenhardt & Tabrizi, 1995; Eppinger & Chitkara, 2006). Teams from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and McKinsey and Company have collaborated to investigate practices used for 112 product development projects at 57 firms in the medical device, industrial, and high-tech industries. Preliminary results suggest that certain practices are particularly important for influencing project outcomes. Our research is consistent with and contributes to best practices reported previously by the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) (see Barczak, Griffin, & Kahn, 2009; Griffin & Page, 1996; Page, 1993). As this previous research has shown, best practices in product development evolve. For example, the 1990 PDMA study found that successful firms differentiated themselves from the rest by having well defined New Product Development (NPD) processes and new product strategies (Page, 1993). The second study, conducted in 1995, found that successful firms measured their product development efforts and outcomes, did qualitative market research, and used engineering design tools such as CAD (Griffin & Page, 1996). The third study, completed in 2003, found that successful firms put more emphasis on portfolio management, use a wide variety of software tools, have supporting organizational mechanisms and processes in place, and use formal processes for generating ideas (Barczak, Griffin, & Kahn, 2009). The findings presented here contribute additional understanding of practices that lead to successful product development. Researchers and practitioners often investigate product development from the perspectives of cost, schedule, and performance. There are many more ways to evaluate product development processes and outcomes (Cooper, 1979). Griffin and Page (1996) identified over 75 different product development metrics documented in the literature. Some researchers categorize these metrics into firm level, project level, or product level metrics (e.g. Montoya-Weiss & Calantone, 1994); others categorize them into financial and non-financial metrics (e.g. Hart, 1993). This paper presents our work on correlating product development practices with a broad set of financial metrics.

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architecture: Insights from a Multi-method Exploratory Case

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architecture: Insights from a Multi-method Exploratory Case Oliveira, Jorge F.; Nightingale, Deborah J.; Wachendorf, Maria T. The US healthcare system is a critical infrastructure grappling with as much as 16% of the GDP in its expenditures and unsatisfactory outcomes, and undergoing considerable public scrutiny. High ranking officials have both singled out the US healthcare system as the most expensive and among the least effective in the developed world. Hospitals hoping to find “The Toyota Way” so as to rid themselves of waste through lean and six sigma improvement initiatives, have mostly focused in applying tools at a process level, rather than adopting an enterprise perspective and understanding the full breadth of their socio-technical complexity. This paper adopts a systems thinking approach in describing a leading Boston hospital’s enterprise architecture through a multi-method exploratory case. The initial exploratory question proposed by hospital senior leadership was “How to speed patient flow in the Emergency Department?”, however as results became available, the scope was expanded to include the whole hospital enterprise. Both qualitative and quantitative data evidence were collected through a variety of methods, namely observation, archival records, documentation, and interviews. Analysis includes techniques consistent with the grounded theory approach, as well as more traditional quantitative data analysis. Hospital enterprise performance is hypothesized to be related to hospital enterprise architecture, and an alternative hospital enterprise architecture is proposed as well as future work.

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Uncovering the Rules of Team-level Systems Thinking

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Uncovering the Rules of Team-level Systems Thinking Twomey Lamb, Caroline; Rhodes, Donna H. IEEE International Systems Conference presentation

PD Practices for Meeting Financial and Operational Objectives

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

PD Practices for Meeting Financial and Operational Objectives Makumbe, Pedzi; Gupta, Nisheeth; Rebentisch, Eric; Seering, Warren; Gordon, Mike; Barrett, Christie; Musso, Chris; Link, Jochen 33rd Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) Annual International Conference presentation

Optimizing Optimism in Systems Engineers

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Optimizing Optimism in Systems Engineers Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo Biases continue to be an important aspect of human judgment and decision making because they often occur subconsciously and can frequently lead to unfavorable outcomes. Optimism bias is one type of cognitive illusion that is often overlooked because of its association with good health and positive outcomes. However, the existence of optimism bias in human judgment can be very damaging especially when it distorts a person's view of future events. In order to better understand optimism bias we explore the benefits and downsides of optimism as well as some empirically-based origins of both optimism and pessimism. This provides a backdrop for a methodology for quantifying optimism and pessimism followed by a discussion about certain professions that make well-calibrated decisions. Results are explored from an optimism survey given to a cohort of eighty systems engineers, which ultimately portray the degree to which optimism bias influences decision making in the estimation of cost and schedule of large projects. A calibration exercise is designed to calibrate optimism in systems engineers with the ultimate goal of helping cost estimation realism. Finally, prescriptive advice is provided to help individual decision makers better optimize their optimism. The implications of this work are twofold. First, the mechanism for quantifying optimism in systems engineers provides useful insight into the degree of optimism that exists among this group of decision makers. This can influence a number of decision making processes that may traditionally be seen as immune from biases due to their routine nature. Second, the process for calibrating optimism provides a way to validate the effectiveness of optimism reduction techniques on different types of decision makers. It also helps to distinguish between certain people who are more receptive to bias corrections and are therefore more likely to be better estimators in real life.

Using Cost Models to Capture Project Risk: A Knowledge-Based Approach

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Using Cost Models to Capture Project Risk: A Knowledge-Based Approach Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 12th ECALAS (ECATA Alumni Association) International Aerospace Seminar: Risk and Opportunity Management in Programs presentation

The Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at MIT and Principles of Enterprise Systems

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at MIT and Principles of Enterprise Systems Nightingale, Prof. Debbie Boeing Lean+ Conference presentation

Principles of Lean Enterprises

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Principles of Lean Enterprises Nightingale, Prof. Debbie BAE Systems 2009 Global Lean Summit

A Lean Enterprise Systems Approach to Healthcare Transformation

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A Lean Enterprise Systems Approach to Healthcare Transformation Nightingale, Prof. Deborah MIT Conference on Systems Thinking for Contemporary Challenges presentation

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy at Northeastern University

Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy at Northeastern University McManus, Hugh 2009 Lean Educator Conference presentation

Designing a Lean Healthcare Curriculum

Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Designing a Lean Healthcare Curriculum Murman, Earll M. Lean Educator Conference presentation

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Unbundling Standardization: Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations Rupani, Sid CCC Annual Doctoral Colloquium presentation

Finding Common Ground: A Value-Focused Approach to Military UAS Airspace Integration

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Finding Common Ground: A Value-Focused Approach to Military UAS Airspace Integration Cropsey, Major Luke C.G. Integrating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into nonsegregated1 airspace is a topic of much debate and significant energy, particularly with respect to military operations. This paper applies leading‐edge research in enterprise architecting and value focused thinking to examine the development of alternative approaches to the U.S. military’s UAS airspace integration challenge. The motivation for this research drew upon several years of experience the author had in attempting to coordinate and integrate multiple U.S. military and other government agencies in an effort to secure wider operational use of nonsegregated airspace for military UAS operations.

Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems Test and Evaluation: Challenges and Opportunities

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems Test and Evaluation: Challenges and Opportunities Ferreira, Susan; Medvidović, Nenad; Deonandan, Indira; Valerdi, Ricardo; Hess, John; Mikaelian, Tsoline; Shull, Gayle The introduction of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems (UAS) brings substantial, interesting, and in many cases, new challenges to the Department of Defense’s Test and Evaluation community. The test and evaluation of UASs becomes significantly more complicated than traditional systems, especially as we approach more fully autonomous systems and need to test integrated systems of systems in joint military operational testing environments. Compounding the multi-faceted considerations involved in test and evaluation, systems have continuously increasing complexity and capabilities and can be at different maturity levels. Emergent properties, particularly those that are unplanned and undesired, also need to be considered. Challenges identified by the Unmanned and Autonomous Systems Test community and related to the test and evaluation of the UASs are discussed. This paper presents various approaches for addressing these challenges including an innovative Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework and decision support system, PATFrame.

Accelerating System of Systems Engineering Understanding and Optimization through Lean Enterprise Principles

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Accelerating System of Systems Engineering Understanding and Optimization through Lean Enterprise Principles Lane, Jo Ann; Valerdi, Ricardo By applying a lean enterprise lens to studies of the evolving field of system of systems engineering (SoSE), it has been observed that many SoSE teams are developing processes that are consistent with many lean enterprise principles. These SoSE processes are designed to efficiently evolve the group of systems to meet new needs using limited resources. This paper provides further insights and recommendations for the evolution of system of systems processes using lean concepts. We conclude with a discussion of the potential conflicts between SoSE and lean paradigms and provide thirteen SoS case studies to illustrate the emphasis on lean thinking.

When Systems Thinking Is Not a Natural Act

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

When Systems Thinking Is Not a Natural Act Valerdi, Ricardo; Rouse, William B. Competence in systems thinking is implicitly assumed among the population of engineers and managers – in fact, most technical people will self-identify as systems thinkers. But systems thinking competencies are not as prevalent as these assertions might lead one to assume. Controlled experiments show that systems thinking performance, even among highly educated people, is poor. This paper provides a set of systems thinking competencies and demonstrates how these are not as common as advertised. We also discuss how these competencies can be measured. Our main thesis is that systems thinking is not a natural act because evolution has favored mechanisms tuned to dealing with immediate surface features of problems. We discuss the implications of this philosophy and provide recommendations for closing

Better Requirements Decomposition Guidelines Can Improve Cost Estimation of Systems Engineering and Human Systems Integration

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Better Requirements Decomposition Guidelines Can Improve Cost Estimation of Systems Engineering and Human Systems Integration Liu, 2ndLt. Kevin; Valerdi, R.; Laplante, P. 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Automating Systems Engineering Risk Assessment

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Automating Systems Engineering Risk Assessment Madachy, Ray; Valerdi, Ricardo 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

COSYSMO & COSYSMO-R Parameter Estimation Biases

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

COSYSMO & COSYSMO-R Parameter Estimation Biases Smith, Eric D.; Pineda, Ricardo L.; Aldous, Karla; Valerdi, Ricardo 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

Lessons Learned about Mixed Methods Research Strategies in Systems Engineering: Evidence from PhD Dissertations

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lessons Learned about Mixed Methods Research Strategies in Systems Engineering: Evidence from PhD Dissertations Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo; Liu, 2ndLt. Kevin; Fortune, Dr. Jared 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research presentation

Towards a Framework of Research Methodology Choices in Systems Engineering

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Towards a Framework of Research Methodology Choices in Systems Engineering Brown, Samantha; Valerdi, Ricardo; Muller, Gerrit 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER)

The Role of Complexities in Systems Engineering Cost Estimating Processes

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Role of Complexities in Systems Engineering Cost Estimating Processes Young, Leone Z.; Farr, Dr. John V.; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 8th Annual Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) presentation

A Systems-of-Systems Perspective on Healthcare: Insights from Two Multi-method Exploratory Cases of Leading UK and US Hospitals

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A Systems-of-Systems Perspective on Healthcare: Insights from Two Multi-method Exploratory Cases of Leading UK and US Hospitals Oliviera, Jorge F.; Nightingale, Deborah J.; Wachendorf, Maria T. Several developed nations around the world are grappling with high healthcare expenditures and unsatisfactory outcomes. High level country benchmarks show that there is wide variation in health outcomes for countries with similar levels of income and education [1,2,3], and the US healthcare system in particular is often singled out as the least effective system amongst developed countries [4]. A common US and UK characteristic is that the highest source of healthcare expenditures are hospital services and infrastructure [5,6]. Consequently, the strategies and operations developed and implemented by hospitals have a significant effect on access, quality, and cost of care [7]. This paper’s intended contribution is twofold. Firstly, to provide a system’s perspective of healthcare beyond traditional high level country benchmarking exercises, and conduct two exploratory cases of leading hospital enterprises, one from the US and another from the UK, so as to further our understanding of hospitals’ inherent system complexity, which has remained buried within traditional high level comparative country statistics. Secondly, to address a recent call from the systems engineering community to adopt a multidisciplinary research approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative methods with the goal of further supporting the systems-of-systems (SoS) practice.

A Prescriptive and Adaptive Framework for UAS SoS Testing in LVC Environment

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A Prescriptive and Adaptive Framework for UAS SoS Testing in LVC Environment Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo ITEA Live-Virtual-Constructive Conference presentation

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation for the Materiel Enterprise

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation for the Materiel Enterprise Rebentisch, Dr. Eric INFORMS Annual Meeting presentation

Using Relational Model Transformations to Reduce Complexity in SoS Requirements Traceability: Preliminary Investigation

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Using Relational Model Transformations to Reduce Complexity in SoS Requirements Traceability: Preliminary Investigation Dickerson, Charles; Valerdi, Ricardo The principles and methods of Model Driven Architecture are applied to the problem of requirements traceability for a System of Systems (SoS). Model transformations of operational threads are used to reduce the complexity of modeling mission requirements and their flow into the architecture of the SoS. The allocation of requirements to operational mission threads (OMTs) rather than to individual systems reduces the complexity of the requirements tracing. Relational transformations provide a mathematically based formalism for model transformations that permit precise computation of the transformation of operational threads into threads of systems allocated from the SoS. Connectivity requirements for the SoS are also exposed in this way and the number of permissible system threads are seen to correspond directly to the number of permissible transformations. The principles and methods are illustrated by an elementary case study for sensor fusion.

Test and Evaluation of a SoS using a Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Test and Evaluation of a SoS using a Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework Hess, John T.; Valerdi, Ricardo Testers need the ability to adapt test planning on the order of days and weeks. PATFrame will use its reasoning engine to prescribe the most effective strategies for the situation at hand. Strategies in this context include methods of experimental designs, test schedules and resource allocation. By facilitating rapid planning and re-planning, the PATFrame reasoning engine will enable users to use information learned during the test process to improve the effectiveness of their own testing rather than simply follow a preset schedule. This capability is particularly attractive in the domain of Systems of Systems testing because the complexity of test planning and scheduling make frequent re-planning by hand infeasible.

Cost and Risk Considerations for Test and Evaluation of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cost and Risk Considerations for Test and Evaluation of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems Deonandan, Indira; Valerdi, Ricardo; Lane, Jo Ann; Macias, Filiberto The evolutionary nature of Unmanned and Autonomous systems of systems (UASoS) acquisition needs to be matched by evolutionary test capabilities yet to be developed. As part of this effort we attempt to understand the cost and risk considerations for UASoS Test and Evaluation (T&E) and propose the development of a parametric cost model to conduct trade-off analyses. This paper focuses on understanding the need for effort estimation for UASoS, the limitations of existing cost estimation models, and how our effort can be merged with the cost estimation processes. We present the prioritization of both technical and organizational cost drivers. We note that all drivers associated with time constraints, integration, complexity, understanding of architecture and requirements are rated highly, while those regarding stakeholders and team cohesion are rated as medium. We intend for our cost model approach to provide management guidance to the T&E community in estimating the effort required for UASoS T&E.

Cost and Risk Considerations for Test and Evaluation of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cost and Risk Considerations for Test and Evaluation of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems Deonandan, Indira; Valerdi, Ricardo; Lane, JoAnn; Macias, Filiberto IEEE Systems of Systems Engineering Conference presentation

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Measure Commonality

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Improving Enterprise Decision-Making: The Benefits of Measure Commonality Friedman, Alissa H. 14th Annual PSM Users' Group Conference presentation

Heuristics for Systems Engineering Cost Estimation

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Heuristics for Systems Engineering Cost Estimation Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 14th Annual PSM Users' Group Conference presentation

Practical Software and Systems Measurement: A Foundation for Objective Project Management

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Practical Software and Systems Measurement: A Foundation for Objective Project Management Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo; Peña, Mauricio COSYSMO Requirements Volatility Workshop presentation

Use of the Air Force HSI Requirements Pocket Guide to Improve Writing and Interpretation of Human-Centered Requirements

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Use of the Air Force HSI Requirements Pocket Guide to Improve Writing and Interpretation of Human-Centered Requirements Liu, Kevin; Simpkiss, Bridget; Valerdi, Ricardo; Greene, Fran Undersea Human Systems Integration Symposium 2010 presentation

How Engineers Really Think About Risk: A Study of JPL Engineers

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

How Engineers Really Think About Risk: A Study of JPL Engineers Hihn, Dr. Jairus; Chattopadhyay, Deb; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 25th International Forum on COCOMO and Systems/Software Cost Modeling presentation

Characterizing the Impact of Requirements Volatility on Systems Engineering Effort

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Characterizing the Impact of Requirements Volatility on Systems Engineering Effort Peña, Mauricio; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo 25th International Forum on COCOMO and Systems/Software Cost Modeling presentation

A Systematic Approach to Estimate the Life Cycle Cost and Effort of Project Management for Technology Centric Systems Development Projects

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A Systematic Approach to Estimate the Life Cycle Cost and Effort of Project Management for Technology Centric Systems Development Projects Young, Leone; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo; Wade, Dr. Jon 25th International Forum on COCOMO and Systems/Software Cost Modeling presentation

Development, Validation and Implementation Considerations of a Decision Support System for Unmanned & Autonomous System of Systems Test & Evaluation

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Development, Validation and Implementation Considerations of a Decision Support System for Unmanned & Autonomous System of Systems Test & Evaluation Cowart, Kris; Valerdi, Ricardo; Kenley, C. Robert Test Week 2010, Policies, Programs, People, and Resources presentation

A Survey of Systems and Improvement Approaches for Psychological Healthcare

Sat, 21 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A Survey of Systems and Improvement Approaches for Psychological Healthcare Wang, Judy; Kamin, Cody; Glover, Wiljeana J. This paper reviews the literature to date that uses industrial and systems engineering and operations management methods to improve psychological healthcare in the military setting as well as in the civilian sector. The study findings are categorized using an Enterprise Architecture framework; the categorization highlights the enterprise architecting views that have been more thoroughly studied and those areas that have not been addressed as extensively by the present research. The review also found that methods based in industrial and systems engineering and operations management concepts related to improvements in policy may be developed more holistically in the both the military and civilian sectors. In conclusion, methods used to improve psychological healthcare in both sectors may be transferable across sectors and should be considered for to the improvement of psychological health at large.

LAI and Enterprise Excellence: Presented to Lean Flight Initiative 4

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

LAI and Enterprise Excellence: Presented to Lean Flight Initiative 4 Kenley, C. Robert Lean Flight Initiative 4 Conference presentation

Convergence of Expert Opinion via the Wideband Delphi Method: An Application in Cost Estimation Models

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain Peck, Jordan; Gaehde, Stephan; Benneyan, James; Graves, Stephen; Nightingale, Deborah Often, in a health care delivery chain, lack of coordination has been detrimental to timely, high quality care. This paper focuses on the two steps of the hospital health care delivery chain, an emergency department and a hospital’s inpatient units. Past research into this chain has suggested that early prediction of patient need for admission can be used to better align flow between the two departments. This chain and the nature of prediction in health care delivery are discussed as well as a how prediction may be useful in this context. Finally tools for making admission predictions are tested and their possible implications are explored. The results of this exploration show that both expert opinion and a Naïve Bayesian statistical approach have predictive value in this context.

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Using Prediction to Improve Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain Peck, Jordan 2011 Technology Management and Policy Graduate Consortium presentation

It’s All Rocket Science: On the Equivalence of Development Timelines for Aerospace and Nuclear Technologies

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

It’s All Rocket Science: On the Equivalence of Development Timelines for Aerospace and Nuclear Technologies Crépin, Maxime; Kenley, C. Robert; El-Khoury, Bernard Early in the lifecycle of a system development, systems engineers must execute trade studies to allocate resources between different research and development efforts that are developing technologies to be deployed into the system, and they must prepare risk management plans for the selected technologies. We have been developing a statistical model for schedule and cost uncertainty based on a small number of inputs that are quite objective and are already integrated with technology readiness assessment. An algorithm that transforms Technical Maturity (TM) scores from Department of Energy projects into a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) score was created, allowing us to add data from a US Department of Energy to an existing set of data from NASA. We statistically tested whether the two samples (i.e. the DoE and NASA datasets) were randomly drawn from the same population and concluded that the transition times for developing aerospace and nuclear technologies are very similar.

An Analysis of TRL-Based Cost and Schedule Models

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

An Analysis of TRL-Based Cost and Schedule Models Kenley, C. Robert; El-Khoury, Bernard The GAO's, NASA's, and the DoD's adoption of the technology readiness level (TRL) scale to improve technology management has led to the emergence of many TRL-based models that are used to monitor technology maturation, mitigate technology program risk, characterize TRL transition times, or model schedule and cost risk for individual technologies, as well as technology systems and portfolios. In the first part of this paper, we develop a theoretical framework to classify those models based on the (often implicit) assumptions they make; we then propose modifications and alternative models to make full use of the assumptions. In the second part, we depart from those assumptions and present a new decision-based framework for cost and schedule joint modeling.

Lean Enterprise Architecture for System Technological Innovation

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Architecture for System Technological Innovation Makumbe, Pedzi Student research poster description sheet

Lean Enterprise Architecture for System Technological Innovation

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Architecture for System Technological Innovation Makumbe, Pedzi Student research poster

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System Mahidhar, Vikram Student research poster description sheet

Using PDVSM to Better Characterize Waste and Value in Complex Product Development

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Using PDVSM to Better Characterize Waste and Value in Complex Product Development Whitaker, Ryan Student research poster description sheet

Designing Enterprise Decisions Using Engineering Methods

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing Enterprise Decisions Using Engineering Methods Tang, Vic Student research poster description sheet

Multi-Platform Thinking: Knowledge Integration in the Lean Enterprise

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Platform Thinking: Knowledge Integration in the Lean Enterprise Haddad, Marc Student research poster description sheet

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as an Enabler of Architecting an Extensible On-Orbit Servicing System

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as an Enabler of Architecting an Extensible On-Orbit Servicing System Richards, Matt Student research poster description sheet

Enterprise Change: Improving Complex Enterprises with System Models

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Change: Improving Complex Enterprises with System Models Hemann, Justin Student research poster description sheet

Dynamic Evolution of Enterprise and System Architectures

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Dynamic Evolution of Enterprise and System Architectures Dickmann, John Q. Student research poster description sheet

US Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

US Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities Cohen, Jessica Student research poster description sheet

Enablers, Barriers, and Precursors to the Development of Systems Thinking in Engineers

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enablers, Barriers, and Precursors to the Development of Systems Thinking in Engineers Davidz, Heidi Student research poster description sheet

Enabling Product Development and Other Life Cycle Processes

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Product Development and Other Life Cycle Processes Hines, Erisa K. Student research poster description sheet

Enterprise Integration Strategies Across Complex Enterprise Networks

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Integration Strategies Across Complex Enterprise Networks Glazner, Christopher G. Student research poster description sheet

Creating High Performance X-Enterprises Applying X-Team Concepts to Aerospace Programs

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Creating High Performance X-Enterprises Applying X-Team Concepts to Aerospace Programs Stanke, Alexis Student research poster description sheet

Incorporating System Properties into Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration with Concurrent Design

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Incorporating System Properties into Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration with Concurrent Design Ross, Adam Student research poster description sheet

Knowledge Integration Research: Multi-Platform Thinking: Integrating Knowledge in the Lean Enterprise

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge Integration Research: Multi-Platform Thinking: Integrating Knowledge in the Lean Enterprise Haddad, Marc Student research poster

Enterprise Change

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Change Hemann, Justin Student research poster

Waste in Product Development

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Waste in Product Development Oehmen, Josef Student research poster

US Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

US Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities Cohen, Jessica Student research poster

Enablers, Barriers, and Precursors to the Development of Systems Thinking in Engineers

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enablers, Barriers, and Precursors to the Development of Systems Thinking in Engineers Davidz, Heidi Student research poster

Enabling Product Development and other Life Cycle Processes with PDM

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Product Development and other Life Cycle Processes with PDM Hines, Eriska K. Student research poster

Creating High Performance X-Enterprises: Applying X-Team Theory to Aerospace Programs

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Creating High Performance X-Enterprises: Applying X-Team Theory to Aerospace Programs Stanke, Alexis Student research poster

Incorporating System Properties into Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration with Concurrent Design

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Incorporating System Properties into Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration with Concurrent Design Ross, Adam Student research poster

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System Mahidhar, Vikram Student research poster

Designing Enterprise Decisions

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing Enterprise Decisions Tang, Vic Student research poster

Lifecycle Processes: Using PDVSM to Better Characterize Waste and Value in Complex Product Development

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lifecycle Processes: Using PDVSM to Better Characterize Waste and Value in Complex Product Development Whitaker, Ryan Student research poster

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as an Enabler of Architecting an Extensible On-Orbit Servicing System

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration as an Enabler of Architecting an Extensible On-Orbit Servicing System Richards, Matt Student research poster

Systems Thinking in Engineers

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Thinking in Engineers Davidz, Heidi Student research poster for INCOSE conference

Multi-attribute Tradespace Exploration

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-attribute Tradespace Exploration Ross, Adam Student research poster for INCOSE conference

Enterprise Architecting: Enterprise Integration Strategies Across Virtual Extended Enterprises

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Architecting: Enterprise Integration Strategies Across Virtual Extended Enterprises Glazner, Chris Student research poster

Enterprise Architecting: Dynamic Evolution of Enterprise-Technical System Architectures

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Architecting: Dynamic Evolution of Enterprise-Technical System Architectures Dickmann, John Student research poster

Utilizing Product Development Value Stream Mapping In U.S. Air Force Acquisition Program Offices

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Utilizing Product Development Value Stream Mapping In U.S. Air Force Acquisition Program Offices McKenzie, Scott Student research poster

Platform Issues in Aircraft Companies

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Platform Issues in Aircraft Companies Bador, Damien Student research poster

Benchmarking USAF and USN Lean Enterprise Transformation

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Benchmarking USAF and USN Lean Enterprise Transformation Shoepe, Ted Student research poster

Managing Risk and Uncertainty: Traditional Methods & the Lean Enterprise

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Managing Risk and Uncertainty: Traditional Methods & the Lean Enterprise Wirthlin, Major Robb Student research poster

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking: Aligning Culture and Standardized Process

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking: Aligning Culture and Standardized Process Twomey Lamb, Caroline Student research poster

Managing Risk to Maximize Enterprise Product Development Portfolio Value

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Managing Risk to Maximize Enterprise Product Development Portfolio Value Wirthlin, Major Robb Student research poster

Life-Cycle Flexibility: Design and Exercise of Flexibility in Blended Wing Body Type Aircraft & Houston Ground Transportation Network

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Life-Cycle Flexibility: Design and Exercise of Flexibility in Blended Wing Body Type Aircraft & Houston Ground Transportation Network McConnell, Joshua Student research poster

Understanding and Modeling Interaction Effects in Complex Engineering Enterprises

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding and Modeling Interaction Effects in Complex Engineering Enterprises Glazner, Christopher Student research poster

Knowledge Integration Research: Knowledge Integration for Problem Solving in the Development of Complex Aerospace Systems

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge Integration Research: Knowledge Integration for Problem Solving in the Development of Complex Aerospace Systems Haddad, Marc Student research poster

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment Castro, Joao Student research poster

Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Symbiotic Models for Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Symbiotic Models for Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises Sgouridis, Sgouris Student research poster

Designing and Transforming Enterprise-Technical System Architectures for Flexibility and Adaptability

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Designing and Transforming Enterprise-Technical System Architectures for Flexibility and Adaptability Dickmann, John Q. Student research poster

Enterprise Network Diagrams: Facilitating Enterprise Improvement & Change

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Network Diagrams: Facilitating Enterprise Improvement & Change Colatat, Phech Student research poster

Identifying Needs for New Air Force Aircraft

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying Needs for New Air Force Aircraft Gillespie, Lt. Col. Dan Student research poster

Boundary Objects: Improving Inter-organizational Communication

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Boundary Objects: Improving Inter-organizational Communication Fong, Allan Student research poster

System-of-Systems Interface Synchronization in Military Satellite Communications

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

System-of-Systems Interface Synchronization in Military Satellite Communications Davis, Major Mark J. Student research poster

Globally vs. Locally Distributed Product Development: A Quantitative Comparative Analysis in Engineering Systems

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Globally vs. Locally Distributed Product Development: A Quantitative Comparative Analysis in Engineering Systems Makumbe, Pedzi Student research poster

A Framework for Representing and Analyzing Socio-Technical Systems Using Coupled Design Structure Matrices

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A Framework for Representing and Analyzing Socio-Technical Systems Using Coupled Design Structure Matrices Bartolomei, Jason Student research poster

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes

Thu, 10 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes Rupani, Sid Student research poster

Understanding the Roles of Modularity and System Architecture in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding the Roles of Modularity and System Architecture in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Long, Lt. Col. Dave Student research poster

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft into the National Airspace System: An Application of Value-Focused Thinking and Enterprise Architecting

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating Unmanned Aircraft into the National Airspace System: An Application of Value-Focused Thinking and Enterprise Architecting Cropsey, Luke Student research poster

Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams Twomey Lamb, Caroline Student research poster

The Origin of Needs and Advancement of Ideas for Military Systems

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Origin of Needs and Advancement of Ideas for Military Systems Gillespie, Lt. Col. Dan Student research poster

Design and Evolution of Flexible Enterprises: Operationalizing an Architecture Model Using Case Studies in Combat Air Operations

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Design and Evolution of Flexible Enterprises: Operationalizing an Architecture Model Using Case Studies in Combat Air Operations Dickmann, John Q. Student research poster

Enterprise Risk and Product Development Portfolios

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Risk and Product Development Portfolios Wirthlin, Major Robb Student research poster

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation Blackburn, Craig D. Student research poster

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes Rupani, Sid Student research poster

Globally Distributed Product Development: Role of Complexity on the What, Where and How

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Globally Distributed Product Development: Role of Complexity on the What, Where and How Makumbe, Pedzi Student research poster

Architecting Ambient Knowledge in Enterprises: IT Enabled Enterprise Integration & Transformation

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting Ambient Knowledge in Enterprises: IT Enabled Enterprise Integration & Transformation Gagne, Danny Student research poster

Design for Harmony: An Exploration of Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespace Dynamics

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Design for Harmony: An Exploration of Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespace Dynamics Roberts, Christopher J. Student research poster

Modularity in Complex Systems: Understanding System Architecture in Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Modularity in Complex Systems: Understanding System Architecture in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Long, Lt. Col. Dave Student research poster

Enterprise Network Diagrams: Insight Through Enterprise Measurement

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Network Diagrams: Insight Through Enterprise Measurement Colatat, Phech Student research poster

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Alignment in Product Development: How Different Disciplines Successfully Interact within an Organizational Environment Castro, João Student research poster

Enterprise “Research”: Analytical and Empirical Methods for Enterprise Management

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise “Research”: Analytical and Empirical Methods for Enterprise Management Matty, LTC Doug Student research poster

High Performance Hospital Enterprise Architecture

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

High Performance Hospital Enterprise Architecture Oliveira, Jorge Student research poster

Enterprise Management System for the U.S. Army

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Management System for the U.S. Army Matty, Douglas Student research poster

System Perception and Coordination in Product Development

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

System Perception and Coordination in Product Development Castro, Joao Student research poster

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architectures

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architectures Fradinho Oliveira, Jorge Student research poster

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Identifying the Enablers and Barriers of Higher-level Systems Thinking in Aerospace Engineering Teams

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking: Identifying the Enablers and Barriers of Higher-level Systems Thinking in Aerospace Engineering Teams Twomey Lamb, Caroline Student research poster

Brown Field System Architecting: Driving Commonality Across Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Brown Field System Architecting: Driving Commonality Across Unmanned Aircraft Systems Long, Lt. Col. David Student research poster

Exploring Dynamic Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespaces

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring Dynamic Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespaces Roberts, Christopher J. Student research poster

Exploring Dynamic Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespaces

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring Dynamic Enterprise and Product Architecture Tradespaces Roberts, Christopher J. Student research poster

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Commonality in Enterprise Product Development Processes Rupani, Sidharth Student research poster

Characterizing the Enterprise of Military Systems Acquisition

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Characterizing the Enterprise of Military Systems Acquisition Wirthlin, Robb Student research poster

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Metrics for Enterprise Transformation Blackburn, Craig D. Student research poster

Operational Flexibility in Complex Enterprises: Case Studies from Recent Military Operations

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Operational Flexibility in Complex Enterprises: Case Studies from Recent Military Operations Dickmann, John Student research poster

Metric Commonality and its Application in Aircraft Engines

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Metric Commonality and its Application in Aircraft Engines Friedman, Alissa Student research poster

Structure and Dynamics of FLOSS Communities: IT Enabled Enterprise Integration & Transformation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Structure and Dynamics of FLOSS Communities: IT Enabled Enterprise Integration & Transformation Gagne, Danny Student research poster

Designing a Health Treatment Network: Optimizing Performance in the Modern Health Care Delivery System

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Designing a Health Treatment Network: Optimizing Performance in the Modern Health Care Delivery System Peck, Jordan S. Student research poster

Codifying the Invisible, Further Enabling Lean Transformation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Codifying the Invisible, Further Enabling Lean Transformation Sisto, Gwendolyn Student research poster

Application of Portfolio Management Theory: Managing the US Air Force Acquisition Portfolio

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Application of Portfolio Management Theory: Managing the US Air Force Acquisition Portfolio Vixama, Chez Student research poster

Globally Distributed Product Development: Role of Product Characteristics on the What, Where and How

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Globally Distributed Product Development: Role of Product Characteristics on the What, Where and How Makumbe, Pedzi; Seering, Prof. Warren

Mission Emphasis and the Determination of Needs for New Weapon Systems

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mission Emphasis and the Determination of Needs for New Weapon Systems Gillespie, Dan Student research poster

The Lean Innovation Roadmap - A Systematic Approach to Introducing Lean in Product Development Processes and Establishing a Learning Organization

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Innovation Roadmap - A Systematic Approach to Introducing Lean in Product Development Processes and Establishing a Learning Organization Hoppmann, Joern Student research poster

Developing a Culture of Lean in Supply Planning Operations (SPO)

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a Culture of Lean in Supply Planning Operations (SPO) Olschewsky, Scott Student research poster

Enabling Lean Behavior Through Customer-Focused Metrics

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Lean Behavior Through Customer-Focused Metrics SEN, Avijit Student research poster

Organizational Assessment Processes for Lean Enterprise Transformation

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Assessment Processes for Lean Enterprise Transformation Abdimomunova, Leyla Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Portfolio Risk Index: Characterizing Risk at the Portfolio Level

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Portfolio Risk Index: Characterizing Risk at the Portfolio Level Bukhari, Hassan Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Metric Commonality Across an Operating Life Cycle

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Metric Commonality Across an Operating Life Cycle Friedman, Alissa Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Adaptive Test Strategies Using PATFrame

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Adaptive Test Strategies Using PATFrame Hess, John T. Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Organizational Assessment: An Essential Tool for Enterprise Transformation

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Assessment: An Essential Tool for Enterprise Transformation Perkins, L. Nathan Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Application of Prediction Markets for Cost and Risk Assessment in Defense Acquisition Programs

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Application of Prediction Markets for Cost and Risk Assessment in Defense Acquisition Programs Aggarwal, Taroon Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Standardization in Enterprise Product Development Processes

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Standardization in Enterprise Product Development Processes Rupani, Sidharth Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Assessing Stakeholder Salience Through the View of Lean Enterprise Transformation

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing Stakeholder Salience Through the View of Lean Enterprise Transformation Sisto, Gwendolyn Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Cost and Risk Considerations for Testing Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Cost and Risk Considerations for Testing Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems Deonandan, Indira; Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architecture

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

High Performing Hospital Enterprise Architecture Fradinho Oliveira, Jorge Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Finding Opportunities for Commonality Across Complex Systems: A Study of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Finding Opportunities for Commonality Across Complex Systems: A Study of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Long, Lt. Col. David Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Enterprise Architecture Shapes Stakeholder Salience Influence on Enterprise Value-creation

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Architecture Shapes Stakeholder Salience Influence on Enterprise Value-creation Matty, Douglas M. Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting, Dana Point, CA

Gaining Control and Predictability MIT ESD of Complex Health Care Systems Through Patient Classification

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Gaining Control and Predictability MIT ESD of Complex Health Care Systems Through Patient Classification Peck, Jordan Student research poster, LAI Annual Meeting Dana Point, CA

Next Generation Travel System

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Next Generation Travel System Silva, Hector Student research poster, Leaders for Global Operations (LGO)

Simulation Modeling to Predict Drug Pipeline Throughput

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Simulation Modeling to Predict Drug Pipeline Throughput Heyman, Jeff Student research poster, Leaders for Global Operations (LGO)

Lean Implementation in a Globally Dispersed Organization

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Implementation in a Globally Dispersed Organization Katyal, Abhishek Student research poster, Leaders for Global Operations (LGO)

Integrating Lean with CMMI using VBS

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating Lean with CMMI using VBS Bakare, Oladapo Student research poster

Facilitating Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Facilitating Patient Flow in a Health Care Delivery Chain Peck, Jordan Student research poster, Engineering Systems Student Society 8th Annual Poster Session

An Improved Long-Term Production Planning Process

Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

An Improved Long-Term Production Planning Process McIntosh, Tim Student research poster, Leaders for Global Operations (LGO)

Needs Elicitation for Complex Systems Engineering

Needs Elicitation for Complex Systems Engineering Sheard, Sarah; Rhodes, Donna This practice builds on the sound systems engineering practice for needs elicitation. It extends the practice to emphasize important considerations, strategies, and key questions to consider. The practice ensures needs elicitation is conducted throughout the evolving system’s lifecycle, involving a large set of stakeholders, who may have changing needs as the system evolves.

Good Practices Series Template

Good Practices Series Template Lean Advancement Initiative Good practices series template

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide - Beta Release

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide - Beta Release Roedler, Garry; Rhodes, Donna This document is the beta release of the Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide. This project was initiated by the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Consortium in cooperation with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). Leading measurement and systems engineering experts from government, industry, and academia volunteered their time to work on this initiative. Government and industry organizations are encouraged to tailor the information in this document for their purposes, and may incorporate this material into internal guidance documents. Please cite the original source and release level (currently beta) for traceability and baseline control purposes.

Best Life Cycle Value, the F/A-18E/F, and the Lean Enterprise Model

Fri, 22 Sep 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Best Life Cycle Value, the F/A-18E/F, and the Lean Enterprise Model Stanke, Alexis Lean Aerospace Initiative Implementing Lean PD Workshop presentation

Enabling Factors in Successful Product Development

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Factors in Successful Product Development Tang, Victor; Liu, Bing; Kellam, Benjamin A.; Otto, Kevin N.; Seeing, Warren P. The research literature and industry best-practices report a vast number of enabling factors that contribute to successful product development (PD). Collectively this body of work also establishes the causal linkages between these enabling factors and overall success in PD. But what specific factors will produce what specific outcomes are vague and ambiguous. To address this apparent void, we find distinct sets of PD enabling factors that are statistically accurate predictors of the specific project outcomes of profit, market share, customer satisfaction, organizational effectiveness, and product quality. We are also motivated to help organizations improve their PD. To that end, we develop a diagnostic tool using the factors that predict our five PD outcomes. This tool is used to pinpoint weaknesses and focus on improvements to achieve specific desired outcomes. Results of in situ testing of the tool are reported in this article. The guiding principles of this work are specificity and actionability: specific enabling factors that can produce specific results, and an actionable diagnostic-tool that practitioners can use to improve the practice and results of their PD projects.

LAI Research Studies Applicable to Acquisition

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Research Studies Applicable to Acquisition Nightingale, Debbie; Srinivasan, Jayakanth This publication contains abstracts for past research projects related to acquisition completed within the LAI research group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Strategies for Lean Product Development

Sun, 01 Aug 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Strategies for Lean Product Development Walton, Myles There are six modules into which the LAI product development research has been organized. Module I is used to provide a fundamental framework of lean and its application to product development. Module II identifies the impacts of organizational change on product development. Module III creates a more clear connection between lean and specific process steps in product development. Module IV introduces the research results that have been uncovered in the field of program planning and execution. Module V discusses the external environment relationships to the successful product development execution. Finally Module VI presents the tools and applications that have either been developed significantly researched through LAI In each of these modules overviews of the research results can be found. By no means is this an exhaustive text on the research results. The text is used to highlight and direct interest toward certain references. Instead, an exhaustive reference section (with annotation where possible) is included in each of the modules which contains not only research produced though LAI, but also contains research that has been conducted through the Center for Innovation in Product Development which directly pertains to similar topics.

Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) MIT Research Studies Applicable to Systems Engineering

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) MIT Research Studies Applicable to Systems Engineering Rebentisch, Dr. Eric; Rhodes, Dr. Donna This publication contains abstracts for past research thesis projects related to systems engineering completed within the LAI research group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A Boundary Object Model to Analyze Communication Interfaces

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A Boundary Object Model to Analyze Communication Interfaces Fong, Allan Outline: • Problem Statement • Approach • Boundary Object Example • Previous Research Applications • FCS Case Study • Development of Boundary Object Framework • TMOS Case Study • Results • Implications • Recommendations • Conclusions

PDSAT – A New Product Development Self-Assessment Tool

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

PDSAT – A New Product Development Self-Assessment Tool Knoblinger, Christoph The successful execution of complex PD projects still poses major challenges for companies. One approach companies can use to improve their performance is self-assessment to optimize their organization and processes. This thesis summarizes the current literature on PD-related self-assessment tools and derives tool requirements from an industry focus group (US aerospace and defense industry) as well as from interviews at a major American defense contractor. A gap analysis comparing these requirements to the previously identified tools is performed. The thesis concludes with the presentation of a new holistic self-assessment framework to be used in PD organizations. The framework includes a self-assessment questionnaire with 91 metrics, a formalized 9-step implementation process, tool customization guidelines, and mappings between the structure of the questionnaire and relevant process improvement approaches such as CMMI, Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award, Lean Management, and Six Sigma.

Enterprise Transformation Research Summit

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Transformation Research Summit Carroll, Prof. John; Nightingale, Prof. Debbie; Forthofer, Mr. Bill LAI 2009 Enterprise Transformation Research Summit overview

Predictors of Adoption of Measurement Tools

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Predictors of Adoption of Measurement Tools Valerdi, Dr. Ricardo Billions of dollars are inefficiently spent on process improvement initiatives every year; even less is spent on addressing the organizational factors that can facilitate or hinder their adoption by organizations. This is partially due to the engineering approach to problem solving which is technology centric, the lack of understanding of the factors that drive successful adoption of new ideas, and the top-down approach to dissemination in organizations. What is needed is an organization centric approach that seeks to understand the context in which the methods and tools are to be used and how this context should influence the dissemination process. At the center of this is the compatibility between the organizational culture and the “culture” embedded in the methods and tools being adopted; two elements which were not necessarily architected with each other in mind. Much of their incompatibility results from the misaligned objectives between researchers that develop methods/tools and the practitioners that aim to adopt them. In order to identify the enablers and barriers to adoption, we provide examples of both successful and unsuccessful examples of process improvement initiatives. From the successful adoptions – particularly at BAE Systems and Raytheon – we identify the best attributes of an organization that increase their propensity to adopt as well as the particular attributes of methods and tools that make them more adoptable. From the unsuccessful cases we identify what attributes were unique about an organization and potential pitfalls of the methods and tools being considered. Ultimately, this research is aimed at improving the adoption rate of methods and tools to ensure a higher return on investment on process improvement initiatives.

Modeling and Understanding Complex Enterprise Behavior using a Hybrid Simulation Approach

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Modeling and Understanding Complex Enterprise Behavior using a Hybrid Simulation Approach Glazner, Christopher Today, the design of enterprises is much more art than science. The complex structure and behavior of enterprises makes it difficult to untangle cause and effect amidst the enterprise’s components and their relationships. In order for managers to understand how an enterprise’s architecture affects its behavior, they need tools and techniques to help them reduce the apparent complexity of the enterprise. The practice of enterprise architecting continues to make advances in this area with frameworks that can be used to guide the decomposition and communication of enterprise architectures, but it does not provide tools to analyze the potential behavior of a proposed enterprise architecture. This research seeks to extend the practice of enterprise architecting by developing an approach for creating simulation models of enterprise architectures that can be used for analyzing the architectural factors affecting enterprise behavior and performance. This approach matches the content of each of the “views” of an enterprise architecture framework with a suitable simulation methodology such as discrete event modeling, agent based modeling, or system dynamics, and then integrates these individual simulations into a single hybrid simulation model. The resulting model is a powerful analysis tool that can be used for “what-if” behavioral analysis of enterprise architectures. This approach was applied to create a hybrid simulation model of the enterprise architecture of a real-world aerospace enterprise. Model analysis revealed potential misalignments between the current enterprise architecture and its established strategy, and suggested relatively minor changes to the architecture that could be made to realize significant gains to enterprise performance.

Enterprise Partnerships

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Partnerships Nightingale, Debbie Overview of partnership model

Applying Enterprise Architecting within Army Transformation

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Applying Enterprise Architecting within Army Transformation Nightingale, Prof. Debbie; Matty, LTC Doug Agenda: • Enterprise Architecting Overview • Applications • Aviation Center Logistic Command • OH-58 Kiowa Program • Aviation Enterprise • Future Work

Architecting the Healthcare System for Stakeholder Value

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting the Healthcare System for Stakeholder Value Fradinho Oliveira, Jorge The healthcare industry is a complex socio technical system comprised of multiple stakeholders driven by incentives, which often times are not aligned with one another, and with compromised ability to deliver to the patient the appropriate care, at the appropriate time, at the appropriate location, and at an adequate cost. In 2005, US healthcare expenses were more than 16% of the GDP, and hospital care alone accounted for the largest portion of expenditure 30.8%. As such, the strategies and operations developed and implemented by hospitals have a significant effect on access, quality, and cost of care, and thus the overarching focus of this research is hospitals. This talk will describe one of the ongoing innovative partnerships that the Lean Advancement Initiative has successful pursued with a leading multi disciplinary hospital in Boston, as we begin to explore how the emerging theoretical concept of Enterprise Architecture can help hospitals, and enterprises in general, in architecting themselves most adequately to fulfill their value proposition.

Establishing Systems Competency in Enterprises: Recent Studies

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Establishing Systems Competency in Enterprises: Recent Studies Rhodes, Dr. Donna H.; Lamb, Caroline T. The practice of systems engineering has evolved significantly over the past decade in response to new challenges, yet at the same time the engineering workforce has declined. Several studies also cite an erosion of engineering competency, particularly in government and aerospace/defense industry. The development of systems competency is critical; yet, we lack the empirical basis for developing a truly informed strategy for addressing this need. This talk will describe past and ongoing research on systems thinking and practice that is focused on informing the development of competency models and collaboration models. Competency models define the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by individual systems professionals in an enterprise. Collaboration models specify success factors for groups and teams within and across enterprises who collectively work on a common objective. Establishing systems competency in enterprises involves empirical studies and case based research for the purpose of understanding how to achieve more effective systems engineering practice through understanding of the context in which systems engineering is performed and understanding the factors underlying the competency of the systems workforce. The talk will discuss three recent and ongoing research studies with highlights of interim research outcomes. The first research effort is focused on building empirical knowledge of the enablers, barriers and precursors of the development of systems thinking in individual engineers, and thus far included a study within the aerospace industry (Davidz 2006), and extended in an exploratory study within an aerospace government agency. A second line of research is looking at effective socio-technical practices of collaborative distributed systems engineering, that is, where teams are non-geographically collocated (Utter 2007). A third research project (Lamb 2008/ongoing) seeks to develop an empirical basis for collaborative systems thinking, defined as “an emergent behavior of teams resulting from the interactions of team members and utilizing a variety of thinking styles, design processes, tools, and languages to consider system attributes, interrelationships, context and dynamics towards executing systems design”. These recent and ongoing LAI studies seek to impact the effectiveness of individuals and groups to strengthen performance of modern enterprises involved in acquiring and developing complex systems.

Learning From Case Studies: A Case Study of Lean Transformation at Rockwell Collins

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Learning From Case Studies: A Case Study of Lean Transformation at Rockwell Collins Roth, George; Srinivasan, Jayakanth Case studies are one of LAI's methods for engaging with sponsors in conducting research. Case studies involve interacting with people in examining, describing, analyzing, and documenting significant events, their pre-conditions, and the outcomes of their lean efforts so that others can understand and learn from them. The session describes LAI's use of interviews, firm data, and other sources in its case study methods. This case involved interacting with Rockwell Collins' leaders, managers, and workers to study their lean changes, providing feedback, and documenting their experiences in the case study. The case study in used in teaching students, and along with other case studies for developing general theories, practices and methods on lean enterprise change and transformation. The original LAI Rockwell Collins case study, completed by LAI researchers in 2006, describes changes from 1996, when lean efforts were just beginning. The Lean Electronics (TM) program was defined and began in 1998, and was complemented by numerous other initiatives. These other efforts complemented and leveraged lean changes and each other, and, as the case study describes, lead to steady, cumulative, and significant improvement. Based on its continued efforts, Rockwell Collins were involved in lean changes and identified new opportunities for improvement. The many cumulative and emergent change was the basis of Rockwell Collins' lean transformation. The case study, written by LAI researchers, was reviewed, discussed, and validated by Rockwell Collins' managers. The reflection that came from interviews and the case write up contributed to Rockwell Collins' managers understanding of their past efforts. Building on the work on understanding Lean Transformation at Rockwell Collins, the second presentation focuses on understanding how the enterprise has evolved at two levels: the Strategic Enterprise Level, and the Tactical Innovation Level. Drawing primarily on publicly available data such as annual reports, SEC filings, investor calls, and other literature, we see strong evidence to support the view that Rockwell Collins is strategically architected to meet the long-term vision of the enterprise, while sufficiently retaining sufficient flexibility to meet near-term challenges. We frame this strategic view using the principles of enterprise thinking. From an innovation perspective, they have created a system of innovation that enables employee engagement, is driven by an effective governance model, and at the same time leverages improvements in the external environment. Using the examples of their 10X program, and case examples of synthetic vision and cognitive radio, we highlight both the importance and the effectiveness of the extant innovation system.

Making the Transition to Lean Product Development

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Making the Transition to Lean Product Development Rebentisch, Eric Our understanding of the application of lean principles in product development (PD) is relatively new—similar perhaps to industry understanding of lean principles shortly after The Machine That Changed the World was published nearly 20 years ago. A few descriptions of Toyota and Toyota-like practices in PD have emerged recently, but there has been no systematic examination of whether simply adopting these practices are sufficient to result in higher performance, and no effort has been made to date to link these practices to the vast existing knowledge base on best practices in PD. Finally, while PD practices associated with lean have been described, there is no discussion of how those practices might be implemented in an organizational setting different from Toyota, as well as the implications for PD interfaces to the greater enterprise, or how that transition would unfold over time. This presentation will describe an evolving research framework to understand the practices that would be part of a lean product development enterprise and how the leaders of that enterprise would select transition paths and milestones on the lean implementation journey. It will discuss research efforts underway to validate and refine the framework and principles. Two of the studies are based on surveys of PD enterprises around the world. One of the studies investigates the relationship between a wide range of PD practices (including those associated with Toyota) and organizational performance outcomes to identify which practices provide the greatest performance impact. The second study is examining the order in which lean principles are implemented in PD systems, and what interdependencies might exist between practices as they are implemented. A case study-based research effort will be discussed that is currently following one PD enterprise through its multi-year transition to more lean, high-performance PD, and understanding the steps along the way, as well as the organizational, management, and workforce issues that enable or inhibit that transition. These and other studies currently underway at LAI seek to expand our understanding of how PD system leaders might implement and benefit from lean principles and practices in their PD systems.

Identifying Enterprise Leverage Points in Defense Acquisition Program Performance

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying Enterprise Leverage Points in Defense Acquisition Program Performance Wirthlin, Major Robb *The views expressed in this talk are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense (DoD), or the U.S. Government. Acquisition Program performance has been subjected to scrutiny over the years due to accusations of poor budget execution and schedule adherence. Several studies indicate many acquisition programs suffer from at least 30% schedule slip and cost growth. This figure has remained virtually static (or trends worse) despite several decades of reform actions of varying scope and complexity. Reflecting upon the program growth, a Lean Enterprise perspective helps to reframe the problem of these acquisition program outcomes as one of being emergent behaviors of a larger Defense Acquisition Enterprise “System.” This talk will describe recent research results and ongoing efforts towards identifying leverage points in the so-called “Big-A” (versus “little-a”) of the Acquisition system. The research uses a grounded theory approach to model overall acquisition system behavior using abstractions of key processes and decisions of the US Air Force’s implementation of defense acquisition directives. The development of a model of the overall US Air Force Product Development process, including those portions of responsibility and authority that do not reside in the acquisition system, is an outcome of several research thrusts aimed at understanding enterprise system behaviors and identification and application of unique enterprise constructs. The talk will discuss the results of research identifying the actual state of practice within the US Air Force. Initially, acquisition personnel at all levels were interviewed regarding the way the system operates. The emergent themes were not especially surprising. They reveal resource constraints and requirements changes contribute to poor outcomes. The consequences of these issues manifest themselves through schedule and cost growth. However, they are not necessarily the root causes. The themes reflect a system that is constantly in a fire-fighting mode, trying to keep every project going despite little understanding of the system capacity required to proceed. These results underscored the need to look beyond the traditional boundaries of acquisition and helped define the objectives for the next round of interviews. This set of interviews included user representatives, individuals working within the requirements definition system and the financial system, and finally, contractors responsible for delivery of a program. Distilling all of this information, an enterprise model of system processes and decision points was created, leading to another set of interviews and research to validate the form, substance and scope of the model. This research approach not only suggests a methodology on how to examine large, complex enterprise systems, but has the potential to become a powerful tool suggesting possible enterprise leverage points that otherwise may be overlooked by more traditional, narrower approaches. It represents another addition to the growing toolkit of LAI Enterprise Products enabling a richer understanding and analyses of enterprise processes.

Facilitating Communities of Practice and Benchmarking

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Facilitating Communities of Practice and Benchmarking Shields, Tom A robust way that LAI stays connected with the consortium is its interactions with groups of people around certain topical areas of interest. These communities of practice have developed products such as the Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset as well as being the nexus for thinking about lean in different settings such as the Product Development Community of Practice. More recently there has been energy around enterprise metrics which is motivating the initiation of its own community of practice. Each of these communities shares a common desire to share information, knowledge, and application experiences within its informal membership. LAI as a neutral broker can pull together these communities for beneficial results for industry and government members. Benchmarking is often used to gather information and motivate action. From the beginnings of LAI benchmarking has been important with Factory Operations and Supplier major benchmarking efforts. Essentially all LAI research efforts are a kind of fact gathering that contributes to knowledge in a benchmarking sense. Some research projects of course are more focused but in aggregate the research process is very supportive of benchmarking objectives. LAI also offers benchmarking opportunities and participation that is either requested by members or fortuitous by association. An example in the latter case is the collaboration between LAI researchers and McKinsey to collect data on product development practices and correlate that information to performance outcomes.

LAI EdNet Strategic Direction

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI EdNet Strategic Direction EdNet EdNet strategic direction presentation, Chicago

LAI Lean Academy ® Lean Engineering Seminar V1.0

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Lean Academy ® Lean Engineering Seminar V1.0 Murman, Earll Lean Engineering Seminar presentation

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis (EVSMA) and Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Training: A role for EdNet?

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis (EVSMA) and Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Training: A role for EdNet? McManus, Hugh Presentation on EVSMA and LEV training

Lean Enterprise Product Development (LEPD) Simulation

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Product Development (LEPD) Simulation McManus, Hugh; Rebentisch, Eric LEPD Simulation slide

LAI Educational Network

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Educational Network Murman, Earll LAI EdNet presentation

Curriculum Development Guide

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Curriculum Development Guide EdNet Version 1.0

EdNet Overview

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

EdNet Overview Murman, Prof. Emeritus Earll Lean Educator Conference presentation

Panel Framing Strategies for Integrating Lean Into The Curriculum

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Panel Framing Strategies for Integrating Lean Into The Curriculum Murman, Prof. Emeritus Earll Lean Educator Conference presentation

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy as a Special Elective

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy as a Special Elective Weigel, Annalisa Lean Educator Conference presentation

LAI Lean Academy Series Overview

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Lean Academy Series Overview EdNet LAI Lean Academy series overview

Virtual Assessment of Lean User Experience (VALUE)

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Virtual Assessment of Lean User Experience (VALUE) Murman, Prof. Earll; Stanke, Alexis A guide to assessing your level of lean enterprise knowledge

Planning an LAI Lean Academy Course

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Planning an LAI Lean Academy Course EdNet The intended audience for this document is a Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) member organization considering hosting a LAI Lean Academy course. The intent of this document is to assure that stakeholder expectations are identified and understood early in the LAI Lean Academy cycle to ensure a successful outcome, and that the process for hosting a LAI Lean Academy course is clear. To aid this objective, this guide provides the following information: • Executive Summary • Introduction • Two page Overview of a LAI Lean Academy course • Time line for planning a LAI Lean Academy course • LAI Lean Academy Proposal • Frequently Asked Questions • A list of additional available information.

EdNet and Microsoft Talk Lean!

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

EdNet and Microsoft Talk Lean! EdNet Event flyer

EdNet Strategic Plan Feedback Sheet

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

EdNet Strategic Plan Feedback Sheet EdNet EdNet strategic plan feedback document

2005-2010 Strategic Plan

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

2005-2010 Strategic Plan EdNet Working draft

Enhancing Faculty Competency in Lean Thinking Bodies of Knowledge

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Enhancing Faculty Competency in Lean Thinking Bodies of Knowledge Murman, Earll M.; McManus, Hugh; Candido, Jacqueline P. The Lean Aerospace Initiative’s (LAI) Educational Network (EdNet) established in 2002 is comprised of 32 universities who share a common interest to collaborate on developing and deploying curriculum for teaching lean six sigma fundamentals. Supported by a small staff centered at MIT, collaborating faculty have developed a week-long LAI Lean Academy® course, and delivered it to multiple audiences on-campus and in industry and government. The topics of the course map to many CDIO syllabus topics, and the pedagogy and assessment methods have borrowed on the CDIO knowledge base. This paper reports on this undertaking and on the extent to which it has contributed to developing faculty competency for teaching Lean Thinking in engineering and management. Results from this study reveal that instructors have significantly improved their competency to teach Lean Thinking during their affiliation with the LAI EdNet. On average, the instructors’ proficiency in twelve Lean Enterprise knowledge areas has increased a full level, from 3.2 to 4.2, on the CDIO Syllabus MIT Activity Based Proficiency Scale. The instructors report that collaboration on conceiving, developing and implementing the curriculum has been the most valuable EdNet activity for increasing their competency.

Active Learning Strategies for Teaching Lean Thinking

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching Lean Thinking Principles Through Hands-on Simulations

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching Lean Thinking Principles Through Hands-on Simulations McManus, Hugh L.; Rebentisch, Eric; Murman, Earll M.; Stanke, Alexis The teaching of Lean Enterprise Thinking in the aerospace context requires that students understand a complex subject—aerospace enterprises and their transformation—in a deep and intuitive way. Without this context, the lessons of the LAI Lean Academy Course® will make little sense. A rich simulation of an enterprise with a structure and problems typical of the US aerospace industry is used as a teaching tool. The simulation allows students to understand Lean Thinking at an intuitive level, and practice lean tools in a realistic setting. The simulation enables a CDIO approach (in this case, Comprehend, Design, Implement and Operate), by having the students take two iterations through a CDIO process to transform the simulated enterprise from an inefficient legacy state to a high performance future state (x3 to x6 production using the same resources). The simulation and its teaching goals are described, with reference to the limited literature on simulations in education. The process used in the simulation is then described in a CDIO context. Finally, the success of the simulation is evaluated using limited quantitative and more extensive qualitative data. It is found that the simulation is a powerful learning tool and a key component of the LAI Lean Academy.

LAI Educational Network: Are We Making a Difference?

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Educational Network: Are We Making a Difference? EdNet LAI Executive Board Dinner presentation

LAI Lean Academy Series

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Lean Academy Series EdNet Brochure on lean education for the next generation

Lean Aerospace Engineering

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace Engineering Murman, Earll M. William Littlewood Memorial lecture at the 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences meeting

International Impact on Lean Education

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

International Impact on Lean Education Stanke, Alexis; Candido, Jackie International impact on lean education info sheet

EdNet Member Map

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

EdNet Member Map EdNet EdNet member map

EdNet Working Groups Description

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

EdNet Working Groups Description Candido, Jackie Overview of EdNet working groups

Lean Enterprise Thinking and Implementation

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Thinking and Implementation Murman, Prof. Earll MICI China Lean Summit presentation

Lean Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Transformation Lewis, Richard B. Presentation on lean enterprise transformation

Lean Thinking and Healthcare

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Thinking and Healthcare Murman, Earll M. Simpósio Lean Enterprise & Lean Healthcare presentation

LAI’s Lean Enterprise Value Business Simulation Aids in Mapping Enterprise Value Stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapons Program

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI’s Lean Enterprise Value Business Simulation Aids in Mapping Enterprise Value Stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapons Program Groesbeck, Geoffrey A. P.; Bentley, Geoffrey K. From August 24 through September 10, members of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Program (Mass MEP), Rockwell Collins and Metis Design met with host company Textron Systems in an historic collaborative effort to map the enterprise value stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapons (SFW) program. The workshop also included participation from the US Air Force, Alliant Techsystems, Cessna Aircraft, Herley Industries, and Pioneer Aerospace.

The Follow-Up: Added Value from Textron Systems SFW Value Stream Mapping Event

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The Follow-Up: Added Value from Textron Systems SFW Value Stream Mapping Event Bentley, Geoff; Bednar, Tom; Groesbeck, Geoff Over a six-day period in the final quarter of 2004, members of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Rockwell Collins, and Metis Design met with host company Textron Systems in a collaborative effort to map the enterprise value stream of Textron’s Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) program. The workshop also included participation from the US Air Force (USAF), Alliant Techsystems, Cessna Aircraft, Herley Industries, and Pioneer Aerospace. This commentary describes the results and follow-up in the six months since the workshop was held. Some of this information is contained also in a presentation of Geoff Bentley and Hugh McManus, entitled “Textron Systems Sensor Fuzed Weapon VSM Event: Using LAI Tools to Transform a Program Enterpise”, delivered at the LAI Plenary Conference on 23 March 2005.

Systems Engineering Cost Estimation Across BAE Systems: Trans-Atlantic Collaboration and Identification of Future Opportunities

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Cost Estimation Across BAE Systems: Trans-Atlantic Collaboration and Identification of Future Opportunities Valerdi, Ricardo As organizations develop more complex systems, increased emphasis is being placed on Systems Engineering (SE) to ensure that cost, schedule, and performance targets are met. Correspondingly, the failure to adequately plan and fund the systems engineering effort appears to have contributed to a number of cost overruns and schedule slips, especially in the development of complex aerospace systems. This has resulted in a recent increased emphasis on revitalizing systems engineering in government and commercial organizations. COSYSMO, the Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model, is an “open” model that can help people reason about their decisions related to systems engineering through a structured approach for estimating systems engineering effort. BAE Systems, in close collaboration with University of Southern California (USC) Center for Systems and Software Engineering (CSSE) and the MIT/Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), has been intimately involved in the development and validation of the model since its inception and continues to collaborate on the refinement of the model.

Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative Systems Thinking: The Role of Culture and Process in Promoting Higher-level Systems Thinking within Aerospace Teams Twomey Lamb, Caroline Agenda: • Researcher Introduction • Motivation • Research Questions • Expected Contributions to Industry • How You Can Help • Timeline for Completion

Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities: Toward a More Inclusive View of Engineering Competencies for High Performance in Sociotechnical Enterprises

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities: Toward a More Inclusive View of Engineering Competencies for High Performance in Sociotechnical Enterprises Glover, Dr. Wiljeana; Rhodes, Dr. Donna; Davidz, Dr. Heidi LAI Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

From Teams to Organizations and Inter-organizations

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

From Teams to Organizations and Inter-organizations Glover, Dr. Wiljeana Measures of systems thinking and social competencies from production and healthcare

Socially-related Lean Enablers for Managing Engineering Programs

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Socially-related Lean Enablers for Managing Engineering Programs Oehmen, Dr. Josef MIT LAI Knowledge Exchange Event presentation

The Big Picture: Historical View of Systems Thinking and Social Competencies in Research and Practice

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Big Picture: Historical View of Systems Thinking and Social Competencies in Research and Practice Rhodes, Dr. Donna H. MIT LAI and SEAri Research presentation

Systems Thinking Development and Capability Building in Established and Emerging Space Programs

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Thinking Development and Capability Building in Established and Emerging Space Programs Wood, Danielle MIT Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) Knowledge Exchange Event, Systems Thinking and Social Capabilities: Toward a More Inclusive View of Engineering Competencies for High Performance in Sociotechnical Enterprises

Turbine Engine Test & Evaluation for Development, Qualification & Sustainment Prototype

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Turbine Engine Test & Evaluation for Development, Qualification & Sustainment Prototype Lean Advancement Initiative Presentation on turbine engine development and sustainment process

Turbine Engine Test & Evaluation for Development, Qualification & Sustainment: Enhancing Ground Test Throughput

Wed, 08 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Turbine Engine Test & Evaluation for Development, Qualification & Sustainment: Enhancing Ground Test Throughput Lean Aerospace Initiative Glads and Sads of this project SME January 28th Update

Lean Now Workshop

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Now Workshop LAI Lean Experts LAI Lean Now Workshop presentation

LAI Concept of Operations

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Concept of Operations Lean Aerospace Initiative LAI Concept of Operations vis-a-vis Lean Now! presentation

Lean Now Workshop

Wed, 05 Nov 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Now Workshop LAI Lean Experts LAI Lean Now Workshop presentation

Enterprise Transformation...The Ogden Air Logistics Center

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Transformation...The Ogden Air Logistics Center LAI SMEs Summary of enterprise transformation at Ogden Air Logistics Center

Transformation…. LAI and The Air Force “Lean Now” Initiative

Tue, 09 Sep 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Transformation…. LAI and The Air Force “Lean Now” Initiative Bryan, Mr. Terry Presentation on enterprise transformation and summary of Lean Now initiative

Transformation… LAI and the Air Force Lean Now Initiative

Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Transformation… LAI and the Air Force Lean Now Initiative Bryan, Mr. Terry Summary of LAI history and Lean Now initiative

LAI Product Highlights

Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Product Highlights Stanke, Alexis Lean Now SME Conference

Acquisition Reform

Tue, 24 May 1994 00:00:00 GMT

Acquisition Reform McKinney, Ethan; Gholz, Eugene; Sapolsky, Harvey M. Report on acquisition reform proposals

Toward Lean Hardware/Software System Development: Evaluation of Selected Complex Electronic System Development Methodologies

Wed, 01 Feb 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Toward Lean Hardware/Software System Development: Evaluation of Selected Complex Electronic System Development Methodologies Hou, Alexander C. As part of the Lean Aircraft Initiative, a research program studying the applicability of lean production principles to the defense aircraft industry sponsored by the Air Force and over 20 aerospace companies, this report evaluates a set of five complex electronic system development methodologies for applicability as a lean electronic hardware/software system development methodology and analyzes the implications of the evaluation results.

Lean Aircraft Initiative Product Development Team Effectiveness

Sun, 01 Oct 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aircraft Initiative Product Development Team Effectiveness Susman, Gerald; Petrick, Irene The current study explores the relative influence of function managers and team leaders in managing integrated product development teams (IPTs). This study was prompted by the results of an earlier study, completed in Spring 1995, which suggested that the most successful high risk projects had a 50/50 balance of influence in decision-malting between function managers and team leaders. This study also suggested that in the most successful low risk projects, the balance of influence shifted heavily toward team leaders.

The Software Factory: Integrating CASE Technologies to Improve Productivity

Mon, 01 Jul 1996 00:00:00 GMT

The Software Factory: Integrating CASE Technologies to Improve Productivity Menendez, José This report addresses the use of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology for the development of aircraft software. Real-time embedded software is becoming the key to implementing avionic systems functionality in all types of aircraft. As the magnitude of software to be developed increases, software development continues to be plagued by problems that result in schedule overruns, cost overruns, poor quality software and software that fails to meet operational needs. These problems include incomplete requirements definition, changing requirements, lack of a clearly defined development method, improper design, inadequate testing and inadequate tools. The major challenge is to develop quality software in a reliable and repeatable manner while improving productivity. People, process, and technology are three leverage points to meet this major challenge. Together these three leverage points are the major determinants of software quality and productivity. The focus of this report is technology, specifically integrating CASE technologies to create a software factory and automate software development.

Labor Support Survey Summary Report

Tue, 01 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Labor Support Survey Summary Report Klein, Dr. Janice One of the main cost drivers in the defense aerospace industry is overhead personnel. Traditionally, labor support ratios have been used as an efficiency measure and to control overhead levels. More recently, several organizations have used labor support ratios as a basis for outsourcing and/or downsizing decisions. As a result, the Factory Operations Focus Group attempted to benchmark how member companies stand relative to one another on labor support ratio. This report outlines the survey responses and analysis and summarizes the potential factors influencing labor support ratios. It concludes with a cautionary note in how labor support ratios are used. There are multiple factors which influence labor support ratios, including a particular operation’s product-process mix and its manufacturing and workforce. Furthermore, advances in information technology and the redesign of work have obscured the distinction between touch and support jobs.

Understanding Lean Manufacturing According to Axiomatic Design Principles

Fri, 01 Nov 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Lean Manufacturing According to Axiomatic Design Principles Reynal, Vicente A.; Cochran, David S. The design and evaluation of manufacturing system design is the subject of this paper. Though much attention has been given to the design of manufacturing systems, in practice most efforts still remain empirically-based. Numerous idioms have been used in the attempt to describe the operation of manufacturing systems. When a company tries to become "lean" or wants to increase the production and become more efficient, the company will start to introduce numerous concepts developed by Toyota and others. The problem is that a company does not know the order in which to implement the lean changes or why they should implement what they are implementing. This approach greatly slows manufacturing improvements when complementary or contradictive concepts are introduced on an ad-hoc basis. In this paper, a sequence of implementation steps will be developed through the application of axiomatic design. This sequence will provide a design methodology for lean production which connects manufacturing system design objectives to operation design parameters. This paper will use the methodology developed to improve manufacturing processes in two different companies.

Axiomatic Design of Manufacturing Systems

Fri, 01 Nov 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Axiomatic Design of Manufacturing Systems Cochran, David S.; Reynal, Vicente A. This paper introduces the use of axiomatic design in the design of manufacturing systems. The two primary functional requirements of any manufacturing system are developed. These functional requirements are used to analyze the design of four manufacturing systems in terms of system performance. The purpose of this work is to provide a new foundation for describing, determining and rationalizing the design of any new manufacturing system.

Factory Flow Benchmarking Report

Sun, 01 Dec 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Factory Flow Benchmarking Report Kilpatrick, Auston; Quint, Mitch; Ramirez-de-Arellano, Luis G.; Schoonmaker, James The Lean Aircraft Initiative benchmarked representative part fabrications and some assembly operations within its member companies of the defense aircraft industry. This paper reports the results of this benchmarking effort. Comparisons are made using an efficiency metric called flow efficiency. Flow efficiency is defined as the ratio of the fabrication time to the cycle time. In addition, this report explores the major components of the cycle time: fabrication time, lot process delay, storage delay, and transportation delay. The report concludes that the major portion of the cycle time in this industry is storage delay and points out the opportunity to improve cycle time drastically by reducing the amount of storage delay being experienced in the fabrication of products.

Summary Report: Systematic IPT Integration in Lean Development Programs

Sat, 01 Feb 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Summary Report: Systematic IPT Integration in Lean Development Programs Browning, Tyson Rodgers Integrated product development (IPD) has been established as a salient aspect of the lean enterprise paradigm. The drive towards IPD includes an impetus to organize around integrated product teams (IPTs), cross-functional groups responsible for developing a particular element of a system product. The use of IPTs has brought with it many issues, including those at the IPT interfaces. The goal of this research is to provide insight into the integration of multiple IPTs in programs.

Implementation Workshop: High Performance Work Organizations

Tue, 01 Apr 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation Workshop: High Performance Work Organizations Klein, Jan; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; Barrett, Betty Since the rise of the industrial revolution, there are few challenges that compare in scale and scope with the challenge of implementing lean principles in order to achieve high performance work systems. This report summarize key insights and learning by representatives from a cross section of organizations who are on this journey. Specifically, we report on findings from the first Lean Aircraft Initiative (LAI) Implementation Workshop, which was held on February 5-6, 1997. The report is not a “cookbook” or a “how to” manual. Rather, it is a summary of the first phase in a learning process. It is designed to codify lessons learning, facilitate diffusion among people not at the session, and set the stage for further learning about implementation.

Lean Implementation Considerations in Factory Operations of Low Volume/High Complexity Production Systems

Sat, 01 Nov 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Implementation Considerations in Factory Operations of Low Volume/High Complexity Production Systems Shields, J. Thomas; Kilpatrick, Auston; Pozsar, Michael; Ramirez-de-Arellano, Luis G.; Reynal, Vicente; Quint, Mitch; Schoonmaker, James The researchers of the Lean Aircraft Initiative developed a hypothesized lean implementation model seeking to provide its members guidance on implementing lean transitions in factory operations of low volume/high complexity production systems. The model features four phases: (1) building a lean infrastructure to support lean behavior, (2) redesigning the flow of products in the factory, (3) revamping the operations management and (4) fostering process improvement. An order of implementation is discussed and each phase has implementation steps as well. Following the development of the hypothesized lean implementation model, twelve case studies were used to test the model. This report details the model and analyzes the case studies using the model as a framework.

Implementing Cross-Functional Teams in an IPPD Environment

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Implementing Cross-Functional Teams in an IPPD Environment Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; Klein, Jan; Pomponi, Renata Lean Aircraft Initiative Implementation Workshop report

The Lean Value Principle in Military Aerospace Product Development

Thu, 01 Jul 1999 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Value Principle in Military Aerospace Product Development Slack, Robert A. This document takes a critical look at the first lean principle, Value. The meaning of value is investigated first in a general context, in the context of Lean Thinking, and finally in the context of other product development and business literature. This investigation found the value principle to be pertinent in the product development context and a specific definition of value was developed which facilitates an understanding of customer value in the product development arena, and assists in creating a customer focus in the lean transition process. Although Lean Thinking is customer value focused, the existence of other value perspectives is investigated. The linkage between these value perspectives is also discussed and the need to understand these linkages during the lean transition is established. Finally, specific high level attributes of customer value in the product development setting are established.

Customer and Supplier Integration Across the Supply Chain

Mon, 01 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Customer and Supplier Integration Across the Supply Chain Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Lean Aircraft Initiative Implementation Workshop report

LAI Learning Assessment: Putting the "R" in Lean

Tue, 18 Jul 2000 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Learning Assessment: Putting the "R" in Lean Digenti, Dori An assessment of learning processes in the LAI Consortium

Challenges in the Better, Faster, Cheaper Era of Aeronautical Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing

Fri, 01 Sep 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Challenges in the Better, Faster, Cheaper Era of Aeronautical Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing Murman, Earll M.; Walton, Myles; Rebentisch, Eric “Better, Faster, Cheaper” (BFC) emerged in the 1990s as a new paradigm for aerospace products. In this paper, we examine some of the underlying reasons for BFC and offer some thoughts to help frame the thinking and action of aerospace industry professionals in this new era.

Learning in the Lean Aerospace Initiative

Wed, 27 Sep 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Learning in the Lean Aerospace Initiative Digenti, Dori; Schein, Ed Presentation on LAI learning study

Understanding the Enterprise Value of Test: Characterizing System Test Discrepancies in the Spacecraft Industry

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding the Enterprise Value of Test: Characterizing System Test Discrepancies in the Spacecraft Industry Weigel, Annalisa L.; Warmkessel, Joyce M. The goal of this research is to characterize the distribution and time impacts of spacecraft discrepancies found at the system level of integration and test, as well as understand the implications of those distributions and time impacts for the spacecraft enterprise as a whole. If discrepancies can be better understood, they can potentially be reduced or even eliminated. Reducing discrepancies will result in cycle time reduction and cost savings, as well as increased product quality and reliability. All of these potential outcomes are indications of successful progress toward becoming a lean organization.

Improving the Software Upgrade Value Stream

Sat, 01 Sep 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Improving the Software Upgrade Value Stream Ippolito, Mr. Brian; Murman, Prof. Earll This paper reports findings from a two-year study to identify Lean practices for deriving software requirements from aerospace system level requirements, with a goal towards improving the software upgrade value stream. The study was undertaken as part of the MIT Lean Aerospace Initiative.

Lean Aerospace Initiative Research Projects Phase III

Mon, 15 Oct 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace Initiative Research Projects Phase III Lean Aerospace Initiative Summary of Lean Enterprise Team Projects, Product Development Team Projects, Manufacturing Systems Team Projects, Supplier Networks Team Projects, Organizations and People Team Projects, Acquisition Team Projects

The Pursuit of Acquisition Intrapreneurs

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

The Pursuit of Acquisition Intrapreneurs Forseth, Christopher E. This report represents research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) program. The research focused on identifying Acquisition Intrapreneurs, viewed and defined for the purpose of this research as, individuals within the acquisition profession who take direct responsibility for turning ideas into products through assertive risk taking. The basis for this research stems from the agile acquisition push for “breeding innovators” to achieve a leaner and more responsive approach to the design, build, test and fielding of warfighting systems.

Applying the Lessons of “Lean Now” To Transform the US Aerospace Enterprise

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Applying the Lessons of “Lean Now” To Transform the US Aerospace Enterprise Jobo, Ronald S. A study guide for government lean transformation

As Assessment of the Degree of Implementation of the Lean Aerospace Initiative Principles and Practices within the US Aerospace and Defense Industry

Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:00:00 GMT

As Assessment of the Degree of Implementation of the Lean Aerospace Initiative Principles and Practices within the US Aerospace and Defense Industry Shaw, Thomas E.; Lengyel, Alexander This report is a formal documentation of the results of an assessment of the degree to which Lean Principles and Practices have been implemented in the US Aerospace and Defense Industry. An Industry Association team prepared it for the DCMA-DCAAIndustry Association “Crosstalk” Coalition in response to a “Crosstalk” meeting action request to the industry associations. The motivation of this request was provided by the many potential benefits to system/ product quality, affordability and industry responsiveness, which a high degree of industry Lean implementation can produce.

Summary of Research Conducted by the Manufacturing Systems Team

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Summary of Research Conducted by the Manufacturing Systems Team Gutowski, Prof. Timothy; Shields, J. Thomas; Vaughn, Mandy The Manufacturing Systems team was one of the research teams within the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) whose goal was to document, analyze and communicate the design attributes and relationships that lead to significant performance improvements in manufacturing systems in the defense aerospace industry. This report will provide an integrated record of this research using the Production Operations Transition to Lean Roadmap as its organizing framework.

Space System Architecture

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Space System Architecture McManus, Dr. Hugh Final Report of SSPARC: the Space Systems, Policy, and Architecture Research Consortium (Thrust II and III)

In Pursuit of Understanding Lean Transformation -- Capturing Local Change Journeys in a DoD Field Environment

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

In Pursuit of Understanding Lean Transformation -- Capturing Local Change Journeys in a DoD Field Environment Shoepe, Ted V. The global security landscape has drastically changed since the Cold War. The attacks of September 11 and subsequent coalition operations demonstrate that the global war on terror is against a new breed of enemy - continuously changing and adapting to US military strategies and tactics. Future Department of Defense (DoD) weapon system acquisition organizations and processes must adapt with this new threat - transforming to an enterprise that is capable of quickly delivering value to the war-fighter in a resource constrained environment with high operational tempos and aging fleets. Guided by the Secretary of Defense, both the USAF and USN have adopted "lean" principles as a compass to help guide their transformational journeys.

System Perspective and Lean Coordination

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

System Perspective and Lean Coordination Castro, Joao The case of Open Source Software

Enabling Lean Through Customer-Focused Metrics

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Lean Through Customer-Focused Metrics Sen, Avijit LFM 2009 internship project

LAI Healthcare Research

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Healthcare Research Nightingale, Prof. Debbie; Oliveira, Jorge; Peck, Jordan Agenda: • Research Motivation and LAI Alignment • LAI Healthcare Research Pipeline • Overview of Research Projects • Final Comments

Implementing Enterprise Lean A Look at Ogden Air Logistics Center

Fri, 30 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Implementing Enterprise Lean A Look at Ogden Air Logistics Center Rebentisch, Dr. Eric E. This paper documents the enterprise-wide lean implementation effort at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and provides lessons learned for future application. Under the banner of transformation, Ogden started their enterprise lean journey in November 2003 with the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) and their industry consortium members facilitating as a strategic coach. The framework for their strategy finished in June 2004. As background, the first part of the paper is dedicated to understanding the influences (geo-political, legislative, private industry/academia) affecting transformation within the Department of Defense and specific change initiatives at Air Force Materiel Command. The latter sections describe the change process itself at Ogden.

Compilation of Lean Now! Project Reports

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Compilation of Lean Now! Project Reports Oehmen, Dr. Josef; Rebentisch, Dr. Eric LAI report

Integrating Knowledge: An MIT Story

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating Knowledge: An MIT Story Cropsey, Luke This is the first in a series of articles addressing how SDM alumnus Luke Cropsey is integrating knowledge from various MIT resources and transferring it to his employer, the US Air Force (USAF). Cropsey represented the USAF as MIT's Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) Fellow for the '07-'08 academic year, while completing his SDM degree. In this article, Cropsey outlines how he synthesized resources from four communities—LAI, the Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative, SDM, and the USAF—to come up with an overarching methodology for examining and addressing the complexities of integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System

SDM Tools Serve US Air Force Integration Project

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SDM Tools Serve US Air Force Integration Project Cropsey, Luke This is the second in a series of articles by SDM alumnus Luke Cropsey, who is integrating knowledge from various MIT resources and transferring it to his employer, the US Air Force. This article expands on the use of several tools introduced in Cropsey’s first article, which appeared in the fall 2008 edition of the SDM Pulse, available online at sdm.mit.edu.

SDM Helps US Air Force Integration Project Take Off

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

SDM Helps US Air Force Integration Project Take Off Cropsey, Luke This is the third in a series of articles by SDM alumnus Luke Cropsey, who is integrating knowledge from various MIT resources and transferring it to his employer, the US Air Force. The first two articles examined tools taught in the SDM program for the purpose of breaking down and analyzing complex problems. In this article, Cropsey begins to formulate solutions.

Integration Project Puts SDM Lessons to Work

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Integration Project Puts SDM Lessons to Work Cropsey, Luke This is the fourth in a series of articles by SDM alumnus Luke Cropsey, who synthesized resources from four communities—the Lean Advancement Initiative, the Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative, SDM, and the US Air Force—to develop an overarching systems-based methodology for addressing the complexities of integrating unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace System. In this article, he offers his final observations on this process.

COSYSMO: A Systems Engineering Cost Model

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

COSYSMO: A Systems Engineering Cost Model Valerdi, Ricardo; Boehm, Barry W. Building on the synergy between systems engineering and software engineering, we have developed a parametric model to estimate systems engineering costs. The goal of this model called COSYSMO (Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model), is to more accurately estimate the time and effort associated with performing the system engineering tasks in complex systems. This article describes how COSYSMO was developed and summarizes its size drivers and effort multipliers. We conclude with an example estimate to illustrate the usage of the model to estimate systems engineering cost.

The F119 Engine: A Success Story of Human Systems Integration in Acquisition

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The F119 Engine: A Success Story of Human Systems Integration in Acquisition Liu, 2ndLt Kevin K.; Valerdi, Ricardo; Rhodes, Donna H.; Kimm, Col Larry; Headen, Lt Col Alvis The Department of Defense recently mandated the incorporation of Human Systems Integration (HSI) early in the acquisition cycle to improve system performance and reduce ownership cost. However, little documentation of successful examples of HSI within the context of systems engineering exists, making it difficult for the acquisition community to disseminate and apply best practices. This article presents a case study of a large Air Force project that represents a successful application of HSI. The authors explore the influence of both the Air Force and the project contractor. Additionally, they identify top-level leadership support for integrating HSI into systems engineering processes as key to HSI success, reinforcing the importance of treating HSI as an integral part of pre-Milestone A activities

Lean Advancement Initiative Overview

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Advancement Initiative Overview Lean Advancement Initiative LAI overview

Progress Report: Implementation Toolset For Building Lean Supplier Networks

Tue, 30 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Progress Report: Implementation Toolset For Building Lean Supplier Networks Bozdogan, Kirk Presentation on LAI Supplier Networks Research Team progress on implementation toolset

eClockspeed-based Principles for Supply Chain Design

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

eClockspeed-based Principles for Supply Chain Design Fine, Prof. Charles Presentation on eClockspeed-based principles

Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (“LESAT”)

Tue, 30 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (“LESAT”) Nightingale, Debbie Lean Aerospace Initiative Supplier Networks Research Team Workshop

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Implementation Workshop

Wed, 21 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Implementation Workshop Bozdogan, Kirk; Akhbari, Hamid; Reynolds, George Supplier Networks Research Team Implementation Workshop

Create Lean Implementation Plan

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Create Lean Implementation Plan Lean Advancement Initiative Instructions for creating a lean implementation plan

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Expectation and Guidelines

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Expectation and Guidelines Lean Advancement Initiative The objective of the teamwork effort initiated at the January 13-14 workshop of the LAI Supplier Networks Research Team is to develop a common industry reference guide that can be used by aerospace enterprises to build lean supplier networks. The guide is expected to define the strategic and implementation roadmap for designing, developing and managing lean supplier networks, as well as the methods and tools for executing that roadmap. Ultimately, the guide is expected to be a user-friendly web-based tool that can be readily accessed and used.

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Results

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Results Lean Advancement Initiative Results

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Feedback

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Feedback Lean Advancement Initiative This paper summarizes the comments offered by the Transition-to-Lean Team on the preliminary high-level roadmap for building lean supplier networks, in a meeting at MIT on February 4. The Transition-to-Lean Team includes Prof. Debbie Nightingale (MIT, Dr. Kirk Bozdogan (MIT), Mr. Ron Milauskas (Retired, Textron Systems), and Dr. Joe Mize (Retired, Univ of Oklahoma). These comments are advisory in nature and are presented for the consideration of the LAI Supplier Networks Research Team.

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Team Summary

Thu, 13 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Team Summary Bozdogan, Kirk; Akhbari, Hamid; Reynolds, George Supplier Networks Research Team Workshop

Building Lean Supplier Networks: International Benchmarking

Thu, 13 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: International Benchmarking Bozdogan, Kirk; Akhbari, Hamid; Reynolds, George Supplier Networks Research Team Workshop

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Workshop Goals & Process

Thu, 13 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Building Lean Supplier Networks: Workshop Goals & Process Bozdogan, Kirk; Akhbari, Hamid; Reynolds, George Supplier Networks Research Team Workshop

Workshop Report Air Force/LAI Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustness

Thu, 01 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Workshop Report Air Force/LAI Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustness Rhodes, Dr. Donna H. Workshop report

Technical Report Value of Systems Engineering

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Technical Report Value of Systems Engineering Honour, Eric C.; Axelband, Dr. Elliot; Rhodes, Dr. Donna H. This report is a follow-on from the June 2004 Air Force/Lean Aerospace Initiative Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustness.

LAI Initiative on Systems Engineering Leading Indicators

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Initiative on Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Roedler, Garry; Rhodes, Donna Follow-on initiative from the Air Force/LAI Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustness

LAI Initiatives and Research on Systems Engineering

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Initiatives and Research on Systems Engineering Rhodes, Donna AF/LAI Workshop progress report for 3rd quarter 2004 in the systems engineering knowledge area

Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustnessfor Robustness

Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustnessfor Robustness Lean Advancement Initiative Presentation on SE workshop

Using the LESAT Calculator

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Using the LESAT Calculator Hallam, Cory R. A. LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

Interpreting Maturity Results and Setting Action Agendas

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Interpreting Maturity Results and Setting Action Agendas Hallam, Cory R. A. LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

LESAT Facilitation

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Facilitation Mize, Dr. Joe LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

Introduction

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction Mize, Joe LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

LESAT Facilitator Workshop

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Facilitator Workshop Lean Advancement Initiative Workshop agenda, objectives, and desired outcomes

LESAT Overview

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Overview Mize, Dr. Joe LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

TTL Roadmap Overview

Thu, 28 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

TTL Roadmap Overview Mize, Joe LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

Introduction

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction Shields, Tom LESAT Facilitator's Workshop presentation

LESAT Maturity Calculator: Consolidating and Manipulating your LESAT Data

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Maturity Calculator: Consolidating and Manipulating your LESAT Data Hallam, Cory R. A. Presentation Overview: • What is the LESAT Maturity Calculator? • Why is it needed? • Electronic workbook and data formats • Ability to re-order and analyze data • Walk-through example • Questions

Sample Assessment Cases

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Sample Assessment Cases Shields, Tom Overview: • Case Study Instructions - 5 min • Breakout Case Session - 55 min • Interpreting and action on LESAT results • Breakout Case prep time - 30 min • Team report out - 15 min per team with Q&A

LESAT Facilitation: The Steps to Organizing and Running a Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Facilitation: The Steps to Organizing and Running a Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Hallam, Cory R. A. Presentation on LESAT facilitation

LESAT in Use

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT in Use Shields, Tom Presentation on LESAT

Interpreting and Acting on LESAT Results

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Interpreting and Acting on LESAT Results Hallam, Cory R. A. Presentation Overview: • Introduction to study • Enterprise using LESAT - Successful - Unsuccessful • Observations of LESAT-driven actions • Analyzing the assessment results • 3 Categories of lean transformation management • Linking enterprise strategies to Lean improvement

LESAT Overview

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Overview Shields, Tom LESAT Facilitator’s Workshop presentation

LESAT Facilitator Workshop

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Facilitator Workshop Lean Advancement Initiative Workshop agenda, objectives, and desired outcomes

Lean Enterprise Approach for Programs

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Approach for Programs Martinson, Jan M.

Vicarious Team Learning

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Vicarious Team Learning Bresman, Henrik Presentation on vicarious team learning

What's in Your PDM?

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

What's in Your PDM? Hines, Eriska K. Presentation on PDM

SPACETUG: Roles of MATE-CON and Traditional Design Methods

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

SPACETUG: Roles of MATE-CON and Traditional Design Methods McManus, Dr. Hugh LAI PD Meeting presentation

Product Development Value Stream Mapping Manual (PDVSM)

Wed, 08 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Value Stream Mapping Manual (PDVSM) McManus, Hugh Presentation on PDVSM

How to Use Tools to Enable Lean Product Development

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

How to Use Tools to Enable Lean Product Development Otto, Kevin Presentation on tools for lean PD

Enterprise Design for Dynamic Complexity: Enterprise Product Strategy

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Design for Dynamic Complexity: Enterprise Product Strategy Piepenbrock, Ted Presentation on enterprise product strategy

Spiral Development

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Spiral Development Rebentisch, Eric Product Development Meeting presentation

LAI Products

Wed, 08 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Products Lean Advancement Initiative Presentation on LAI products and tools

Targeting Project Outcomes with Selected PD Enabling Factors

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Targeting Project Outcomes with Selected PD Enabling Factors Tang, Victor; Liu, Bing Presentation on using PD enabling factors to target project outcomes

Product Development Capability Assessment

Fri, 18 Apr 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Capability Assessment Liu, Bing Agenda: - Research Objective - Research Framework - Findings - Next Steps

Lean Enterprise Value Simulation Game

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Value Simulation Game McManus, Hugh; Rebentisch, Eric LEV simulation game

Product Development Value Stream Mapping Manual (PDVSM)

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Value Stream Mapping Manual (PDVSM) McManus, Hugh Presentation on PDVSM

Introduction to MATE-CON

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction to MATE-CON McManus, Hugh Presentation on MATE-CON

LAI PD Research Progress Report

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

LAI PD Research Progress Report Rebentisch, Eric PD Research progress presentation

Vicarious Team Learning

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Vicarious Team Learning Rebentisch, Eric Presentation on vicarious team learning

Engineering Methods for Decision-Making

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Engineering Methods for Decision-Making Seering, Warren P. Presentation on engineering methods for decision-making

Organizational Implications of “Real-Time Concurrent Engineering”

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Implications of “Real-Time Concurrent Engineering” Stagney, David B. Agenda: • Introduction: ICE and RTCE • Implementation of RTCE Team • Organizational Challenges - Structural - Cultural - Leadership - Financial • Lessons for Practitioners

Welcome

Wed, 16 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome Lean Advancement Initiative; Boeing Co. Enterprise Value Stream Mapping (EVSM) Workshop presentation

Value Stream Mapping: Multiple Stakeholder Perspective

Wed, 16 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Stream Mapping: Multiple Stakeholder Perspective Mize, Joe H. Enterprise Value Stream Mapping Workshop presentation

Summary Slides

Wed, 16 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Summary Slides Lean Advancement Initiative; Boeing Co. Enterprise Value Stream Mapping (EVSM) Workshop presentation

Stake Holders' Interests in and Contributions to an Enterprise

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Stake Holders' Interests in and Contributions to an Enterprise Lean Advancement Initiative EVSM stake holder interest workshop exercise

Lean Enterprise Vision – A Stakeholder Perspective

Wed, 16 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Vision – A Stakeholder Perspective Nightingale, Prof. Deborah Presentation on lean enterprise

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping at MIT

Wed, 16 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping at MIT Nightingale, Dr. Deborah Enterprise Value Stream Mapping (EVSM) Workshop presentation

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis

Mon, 25 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis Hallam, C.; Mize, J. Enterprise Value Stream Mapping and Analysis

Agile Manufacturing and Customer- Supplier Relations in the Auto and Aircraft Industries

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Agile Manufacturing and Customer- Supplier Relations in the Auto and Aircraft Industries Whitney, Daniel E.; Fine, Charles H. Presentation on agile manufacturing and customer-supplier relations in auto and aircraft industries

Communications IPT

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Communications IPT Silviano, Deneen Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Factory Operations Team

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Factory Operations Team Shields, Tom Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Factory Operations Ford Electronics Benchmark

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Factory Operations Ford Electronics Benchmark Everett, Jim Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Implementation IPT

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation IPT Packner, Mike; Klein, Jan; Cantrell, John Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop conference

The Lean Enterprise Model “A Lean Enterprise Reference Tool”

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Enterprise Model “A Lean Enterprise Reference Tool” Lean Aircraft Initiative Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Organizational Change

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Change Driscoll, Dave Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Policy and External Environment Program Instability

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Policy and External Environment Program Instability Rebentisch, Eric S. Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Supplier Integration Into Design and Development

Wed, 16 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Integration Into Design and Development Bozdogan, Kirk; Deyst, John; Hoult, Dave Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Welcome and Introduction of New Members

Tue, 15 Oct 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome and Introduction of New Members Harris, Wesley L. Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Communications IPT

Thu, 09 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Communications IPT Silviano, Deneen Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Program Director Welcome

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Program Director Welcome Murman, Earll Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Program Future Directions

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Program Future Directions Murman, Earll Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

The Role of the Schedule Development Process

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

The Role of the Schedule Development Process McNutt, Capt Ross Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

LEM IPT

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

LEM IPT Shields, Tom; Harmon, Ed; Meadows, Don Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Product Development Focus Group

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Focus Group Grose, David L. Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Implementation IPT

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation IPT Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

System Producibility Analysis: Chains in Early Design Phases

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

System Producibility Analysis: Chains in Early Design Phases Cunningham, Tim Presentation on system producibility

Cycle Time Reduction Using Design Structure Matrices

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Cycle Time Reduction Using Design Structure Matrices Browning, Tyson R. Overview: - Some cycle time reduction challenges - Task-based design structure matrices (DSMs) - How DSM method meets challenges - Part 2: David Grose on applications at Boeing

Product Development Team

Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Team Deyst, John Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Supplier Relations Focus Team Report

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Relations Focus Team Report Bozdogan, Kirk Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Program Instability

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Program Instability Rebentisch, Eric Outline: - Background - Executive Board actions - Data sources - Policy recommendation topics - Supporting data - Summary

Policy and External Environment Focus Team Report

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Policy and External Environment Focus Team Report Bodine, James F. Agenda: - Introduction - Program Instability Research - Policy Team Program Instability - Change Recommendations - Economic Incentives Research - Policy Team Economic Incentives - Change Recommendations - Path Forward

Product Development Focus Team

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Focus Team Deyst, John Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Factory Operations Focus Team

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Factory Operations Focus Team Shields, Tom Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Economic Incentives Research

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Economic Incentives Research Harris, Wes Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Communications IPT

Wed, 05 Mar 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Communications IPT Silviano, Deneen Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Introduction

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction Harris, Wesley L. Lean Aircraft Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Lean Implementation

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Implementation Nightingale, Debbie Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Three-Dimensional Concurrent Engineering: Clockspeed-based Principles for Product, Process, and Supply Chain Development

Sun, 01 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Three-Dimensional Concurrent Engineering: Clockspeed-based Principles for Product, Process, and Supply Chain Development Fine, Prof. Charles I. Introduction & Motivation II. Fruit Flies & Clockspeed III. Supply Chain Design/Development matters IV. 3-D Concurrency--an architectural approach V. 3-D Concurrency--two at a time VI. Conclusions

Communications IPT

Wed, 01 Apr 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Communications IPT Silviano, Deneen Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Cycle Time Reduction through Integrated Supplier Networks: Overview and Introduction

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Cycle Time Reduction through Integrated Supplier Networks: Overview and Introduction Bozdogan, Kirk Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Cycle Time Reduction with Part Synchronization

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Cycle Time Reduction with Part Synchronization Shields, Tom Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Policy Economic Incentives: C-17 Case Study

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Policy Economic Incentives: C-17 Case Study Harris, Wes Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Implementation Workshop Highlights: Customer and Supplier Integration Across the Supply Chain

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation Workshop Highlights: Customer and Supplier Integration Across the Supply Chain Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Key Characteristic Maturity Model

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Key Characteristic Maturity Model Ertan, Basak Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Lean Sustainment Initiative Overview

Wed, 01 Apr 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Sustainment Initiative Overview Harris, Wes; Brewer, Dan Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

LEM IPT

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

LEM IPT Nightingale, Debbie; Bentley, Geoffrey Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Workshop Wrap-up

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Workshop Wrap-up Murman, Earll M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Program Director’s Welcome

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Program Director’s Welcome Murman, Earll M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Reaching Out to Commercial Suppliers

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Reaching Out to Commercial Suppliers Rebentisch, Eric Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Integration of Space into LAI

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Integration of Space into LAI Warmkessel, Joyce M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Wrap-Up

Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Wrap-Up Bozdogan, Kirk Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Design Methods in the Aerospace Industry: Looking for Evidence of Set-Based Methods

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Design Methods in the Aerospace Industry: Looking for Evidence of Set-Based Methods Bernstein, Joshua Overview: - Introduction - What is set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE)? - Investigating aerospace industry design practices - Lessons and recommendations

Models for Analyzing Complex System Development Cost, Schedule, and Performance Risks

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Models for Analyzing Complex System Development Cost, Schedule, and Performance Risks Browning, Tyson R. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Implementation IPT

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation IPT Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Communicating Lean

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Communicating Lean Everett, Jim; Such, Robert Presentation on communicating lean

Economic Incentives within Acquisition Reform: A Summary of Six Case Studies

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Economic Incentives within Acquisition Reform: A Summary of Six Case Studies Harris, Wes Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

R,D&E and Product Development Metrics

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

R,D&E and Product Development Metrics Hauser, John Presentation on R,D&E and Product Development

Value Stream Mapping: An External Perspective

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Value Stream Mapping: An External Perspective Henderson, Prof. Rebecca Presentation on value stream mapping

S70A Derivative Helicopters

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

S70A Derivative Helicopters Holmes, Chris Overview: – Define system architecture – Relation to helicopters – Hypothesis

Causes and Impacts of Engineering Changes

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Causes and Impacts of Engineering Changes Hsu, Ted Lean Aerospace Initiative Product Development & Supplier Relations Focus Teams

Product and Technology Development Through Strategic Alliances With Suppliers

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Product and Technology Development Through Strategic Alliances With Suppliers Fealing, Prof. Kaye Husbands Presentation on the role of strategic alliances in product and technology development

Identifying the Product Development Value Stream

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying the Product Development Value Stream McManus, Hugh Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Welcome and Theme Introduction

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome and Theme Introduction Murman, Earll M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Transition to Lean Module

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Transition to Lean Module Nightingale, Debbie Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Production System Implementation

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Production System Implementation Reynal, Vicente Presentation on production system implementation in low volume/medium mix non-aerospace company

Communicating Lean

Thu, 15 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Communicating Lean Silviano, Deneen Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop conference

Introduction to Product Value Stream

Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction to Product Value Stream Warmkessel, Joyce M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop conference

Bringing Down Barriers: Communicating a Vision

Wed, 24 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Bringing Down Barriers: Communicating a Vision Silviano, Deneen Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop conference

Transition-To-Lean Pilot Project

Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Transition-To-Lean Pilot Project Nightingale, Debbie Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Welcome and Theme Introduction

Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Welcome and Theme Introduction Murman, Earll M. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Making Lean Work for People

Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Making Lean Work for People Kochan, Thomas A. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Looking Forward to Phase III

Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Looking Forward to Phase III Harris, Cliff Lean Aerospace Initiative Workshop

Coordination Strategies for the Lean Enterprise

Wed, 24 Mar 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Coordination Strategies for the Lean Enterprise Bozdogan, Kirk Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Workshop presentation

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Welcome and LAI Overview

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Welcome and LAI Overview Murman, Earll An LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Value to Investors

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Value to Investors Myers, Stewart C. An LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Creating Value Across The Enterprise

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Enhancing Enterprise Value: Creating Value Across The Enterprise Pitts, James F. An LAI Plenary Conference

Lean Enterprise Model

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Model Bentley, Goeff; Nightingale, Debbie; Taneja, Abhinav Presentation on LEM

Knowledgemediaries

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledgemediaries Taneja, Abhi Agenda: - Overview of IT Industry - Knowledge Management v/s - Knowledgemediaries - Concept of Knowledgemediaries - 4 C’s of Knowledgemediaries - Case Studies - Technologies

Enhancing Enterprise Value: A Multidimensional Value Framework

Wed, 29 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Enhancing Enterprise Value: A Multidimensional Value Framework Warmkessel, Joyce M. An LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Lifecycle Value Framework for Tactical Aircraft Product Development

Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lifecycle Value Framework for Tactical Aircraft Product Development Hallander, Ingrid; Stanke, Alexis This paper is a draft version of the forthcoming publication in the Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Symposium of INCOSE (July 2001).

Growing the Lean Community

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Stanke, Alexis A Framework for Achieving Best Lifecycle Value

Growing the Lean Community

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Shields, Tom Production Operations Transition-to-Lean

Growing the Lean Community

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Scott, Rob Aerospace Employment and Skills: Past Performance and Future Projections

Summary of Research Conducted by the Manufacturing Systems Team

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Summary of Research Conducted by the Manufacturing Systems Team Gutowski, Prof. Timothy; Shields, J. Thomas; Vaughn, Mandy The Manufacturing Systems team is one of the focus groups within the Lean Aerospace Initiative whose goal is to document, analyze and communicate the design attributes and relationships that lead to significant performance improvements in manufacturing systems in the defense aerospace industry. This paper will provide a usable record of what work has been done by the Manufacturing Systems team and it is aimed at releasing research conducted by the LAI in the field of manufacturing systems. The purpose of this paper is to present the research conducted by the Manufacturing Systems team in the framework provided by the Transition-To-Lean Roadmap. The research results are presented briefly within this framework and each phase of the paper ends with and extensive list of resources for further reference.

Growing the Lean Community

Thu, 12 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Nightingale, Deborah Enterprise Transition to Lean Roadmap

Growing the Lean Community

Wed, 11 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Nightingale, Deborah LESAT - Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Shields, Tom Manufacturing System Design: An Overview

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Rebentisch, Eric Organizing for Subsystem Commonality

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Rebentisch, Eric Managing Subsystem Commonality

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Millard, Rich PD VS Analysis and Mapping Tools

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community McManus, Hugh Breakout Session: Understanding the Product Development Value Stream

Inventing the Organizations of the New Economy

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Inventing the Organizations of the New Economy Malone, Thomas W. Presentation on inventing the organizations of the new economy

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community McManus, Hugh; Harmon, Ed Lean Product Development Definitions and Concepts

Manufacturing System Design / Manufacturing Strategy

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Manufacturing System Design / Manufacturing Strategy Lean Advancement Initiative Presentation on manufacturing system design

Three Views of Product Development Complexity

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Three Views of Product Development Complexity Eppinger, Steven D. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Conference presentation

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Deyst, John Understanding Risk and Uncertainty

Growing the Lean Community

Tue, 10 Apr 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Growing the Lean Community Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Creativity and Adult Learning Principles

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Shah, Nirav; Davidz, Heidi LEAP - Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Tue, 26 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Nightingale, Debbie Presentation on the lean aerospace journey

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Vaughn, Mandy Product Realization in the Defense Aerospace Industry

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Stanke, Alexis Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs, F-16 Case Study

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Rebentisch, Eric Managing Intellectual Capital for the Long Haul

LESAT Implementation Breakout Session

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT Implementation Breakout Session Mize, Joe; Hallam, Cory LAI Plenary Conference presentation

New Methods for Architecture Selection and Conceptual Design: Space Systems, Policy, and Architecture Research Consortium (SSPARC) Program Overview

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

New Methods for Architecture Selection and Conceptual Design: Space Systems, Policy, and Architecture Research Consortium (SSPARC) Program Overview McManus, Hugh; Warmkessel, Joyce Presentation on SSPARC program

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Hitchings, Sean Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs, Atlas Case Study

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Blake, Don A. Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs, Boeing 737 Fuselage, Comments and Insights

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Hallam, Cory R. A. LESAT Actions in Industry

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Ferdowsi, Bobak Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs, Boeing 737 Fuselage

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Davidz, Heidi Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs, Raytheon AMRAAM Case Study

Organizing for Product Development and Transfer to Manufacturing

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Organizing for Product Development and Transfer to Manufacturing Allen Presentation on product development and manufacturing

Value Creation in Product Development

Wed, 30 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Creation in Product Development Warmkessel, Joyce "Value Creation Through Integration," LAI Workshop

A Framework for Integration from the Manufacturing Perspective

Wed, 30 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A Framework for Integration from the Manufacturing Perspective Shields, Tom "Value Creation Through Integration," LAI Workshop

Integration - Framing

Wed, 30 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Integration - Framing Shields, Tom "Value Creation Through Integration," LAI Workshop

Supplier Networks Perspective

Wed, 30 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Networks Perspective Bozdogan, Kirk "Value Creation Through Integration," LAI Workshop

Creating Value Through Integration: Valuation Techniques for Complex Space Systems

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Creating Value Through Integration: Valuation Techniques for Complex Space Systems McVey, Michelle Presentation on valuation techniques for complex space systems

Creating Value Through Integration: Valuation Techniques for Commercial Aircraft Program Design

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Creating Value Through Integration: Valuation Techniques for Commercial Aircraft Program Design Markish, Jacob Presentation on valuation techniques for commercial aircraft program design

Fostering Innovation Across Aerospace Supplier Networks

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Fostering Innovation Across Aerospace Supplier Networks Kirtley, Aaron “Value Creation Through Integration," LAI Workshop, Fort Worth, TX

Value Creation in the Product Development Process

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Creation in the Product Development Process Chase, Jim LAI Product Development Workshop

Opportunities for Lean Thinking in Aircraft Flight Testing & Evaluation

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Opportunities for Lean Thinking in Aircraft Flight Testing & Evaluation Carreras, Carmen LAI Joint Workshop “Value Creation Through Integration”

Value Creation Though Integration: A Holistic Approach to the Design of Assembly Operations for Defense Aerospace Products

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Creation Though Integration: A Holistic Approach to the Design of Assembly Operations for Defense Aerospace Products Vaughn, Mandy Presentation on value creation in assembly operations for defense aerospace products

Value Creation Through Integration Workshop

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value Creation Through Integration Workshop McManus, Hugh; Millard, Rich Value Stream Analysis and Mapping for PD

Organizing for Product Development

Sat, 01 Dec 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Organizing for Product Development Allen, Thomas J. In this paper, we propose four parameters that determine appropriate organizational structure for a research, development or engineering organization. Examining the positions that an organization occupies on the four parameters will determine relative need for interaction with the market and with supporting technologies as well as the need for coordination among project team members. This, along with the time needed to bring the product to market, can then be translated into an organizational structure, giving proper emphases to each of the three needs.

Cross Functional Teaming and Collaboration

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Cross Functional Teaming and Collaboration Allen, Tom Presentation on cross functional teaming and collaboration

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Value: The New Lean Horizon Nightingale, Debbie; Gaskins, Kathern; Cool, Chris Future Vision: The Lean Enterprise Value Phase

Educational Network Panel

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Educational Network Panel Lewis, Dick Presentation on education network panel

Evolutionary Strategies in Product Development

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Evolutionary Strategies in Product Development Ferdowsi, Bobak Presentation on product development evolutionary strategies

Pioneering the Future of Aerospace: Focusing On the Total Enterprise

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Pioneering the Future of Aerospace: Focusing On the Total Enterprise Nightingale, Debbie Presentation on the total enterprise

Lean Aerospace Initiative Annual Symposium

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Aerospace Initiative Annual Symposium Tondreault, Jeremy Overview: • Thesis perspective, problem statement, objectives and premise • Source data • Key Variables – Cost as a design requirement – Role of integrating downstream knowledge – Development methodology – Role of requirements • Summary

Budgeting for Evolutionary Acquisition and Spiral Development

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Budgeting for Evolutionary Acquisition and Spiral Development Spaulding, Tim Presentation on evolutionary acquisition and spiral development

Implementation of IT Tools and Their Processes

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation of IT Tools and Their Processes Hines, Eriska K. Presentation on IT tools implementation

Graduate Education: Integrating Research, Curriculum and Practice

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Graduate Education: Integrating Research, Curriculum and Practice Murman, Earll Presentation on graduate education

Lean Enterprise Value Simulation Game

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Value Simulation Game McManus, Hugh; Rebentisch, Eric The Game: • A simulation of a complex aerospace enterprise • Philosophy draws heavily on LAI research and the recent book Lean Enterprise Value • Content and cases based on LAI member experience • Integrated with lecture material to provide intellectual basis, tools, and experiential learning

The Role of System Representation and Collaboration in Design: Why Are Some Programs More Adaptable than Others?

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

The Role of System Representation and Collaboration in Design: Why Are Some Programs More Adaptable than Others? Dare, Lt. Col. Rob Agenda: • Why are Some Programs More Adaptable than Others? • Research Method and Definitions • System Representations • Collaborative Stakeholder Roles • Recommendations for practitioners

Willingness to Change: Transformation through Innovation and Risk-taking Part II

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Willingness to Change: Transformation through Innovation and Risk-taking Part II Roth, George Presentation on achieving transformation through innovation and risk-taking

Willingness to Change: Transformation through Innovation and Risk-taking Part I

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Willingness to Change: Transformation through Innovation and Risk-taking Part I Roth, George Presentation on achieving transformation through innovation and risk-taking

Multi-Platform Thinking: Integrating the Lean Enterprise

Thu, 27 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-Platform Thinking: Integrating the Lean Enterprise Haddad, Marc Presentation on integrating the lean enterprise

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Measuring and Accelerating the Transition to Lean

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Measuring and Accelerating the Transition to Lean Hallam, Cory R. A. Presentation Outline: • Research Objectives • Strategic Value of the Lean Enterprise • Multi-Stakeholder Value Optimization • Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) • Leading and Lagging Indicators of Lean Enterprise Transformation • Empirical Results in the Aerospace Industry • Accelerating the Lean Transformation - Linking LESAT to Strategic Objectives • Summary and Questions

The Pursuit of Acquisition Intrapreneurs

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 00:00:00 GMT

The Pursuit of Acquisition Intrapreneurs Forseth, Major Chris Presentation on acquisition intrapreneur traits

C-130 Production at Warner Robins ALC: Lean Change at a Crossroads

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

C-130 Production at Warner Robins ALC: Lean Change at a Crossroads Dickmann, John Outline: • What is a C-130? • Lean timeline in C-130 PDM • Lean results in C-130 • Successes and Challenges

Team Learning Strategies for Enterprise Transformation: The Case of Vicarious Learning

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Team Learning Strategies for Enterprise Transformation: The Case of Vicarious Learning Bresman, Henrik Presentation on vicarious team learning for enterprise transformation

Lean Transformation at Warner Robins ALC: The Buy Purchase Request Process

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Transformation at Warner Robins ALC: The Buy Purchase Request Process Cohen, Jessica L.; Walker, Tina Presentation on the buy purchase request process at Warner Robins ALC

How Can You Train Lean Enterprise Leaders?

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

How Can You Train Lean Enterprise Leaders? Lean Advancement Initiative Lean Enterprise Value Simulation game

Sustaining Learning and Change

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Sustaining Learning and Change Lean Advancement Initiative Capability-based model of reinforcing and balancing forces

Lean Success Breakout Sessions

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Success Breakout Sessions Lean Advancement Initiative Overview of sessions, dialogue for learning

Session on Revitalizing Systems Engineering

Tue, 23 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Session on Revitalizing Systems Engineering Rhodes, Dr. Donna H. LAI 2004 Plenary Conference presentation agenda

The Road Forward – Making Lean Enterprise Transformation Happen!

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

The Road Forward – Making Lean Enterprise Transformation Happen! Nightingale, Prof. Deborah Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Conference presentation

LAI Consortium’s Role in Enterprise Transformation: Making It Happen

Tue, 23 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Consortium’s Role in Enterprise Transformation: Making It Happen Nightingale, Prof. Deborah LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Lean Success Breakout Session A: Industry-Government Infrastructure

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Success Breakout Session A: Industry-Government Infrastructure Jobo, Ron; Kraft, Ed; Roth, George Breakout session on industry-government infrastructure

C-5 Journey into Lean Workforce Aspects

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

C-5 Journey into Lean Workforce Aspects Fraile, Lydia Presentation on C-5 journey into lean

What Progress Have We Made So Far With Evolutionary Development?

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

What Progress Have We Made So Far With Evolutionary Development? Rebentisch, Eric Evolutionary development progress poster

Enterprise Transition-To-Lean Roadmap

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Transition-To-Lean Roadmap Lean Advancement Initiative Enterprise TTL Roadmap

Making Lean Stick

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Making Lean Stick Klein, Jan Presentation on achieving true change

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Building the Infrastructure

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Building the Infrastructure Carroll, Dr. John Plenary Wrap-Up Lessons Learned

Improving Complex Enterprises with System Models

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Improving Complex Enterprises with System Models Hemann, Justin Thumbnail sketch of defense sustainment

United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers: Lean Enterprise Transformation and Associated Capabilities Cohen, Jessica Lauren Presentation on lean enterprise transformation in the United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers

An Emerging Theory for Lean Enterprise Chain

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

An Emerging Theory for Lean Enterprise Chain Roth, George Presentation on lean enterprise change

Sustaining Lean Change Working Group

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Sustaining Lean Change Working Group Roth, George Presentation on sustaining lean change

The Lean Supply Chain Now Pilot Demonstration Project

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Supply Chain Now Pilot Demonstration Project Bozdogan, Kirk; Akhbari, Hamid; Darden, Chris Supplier Networks Working Group

Building the Lean Extended Enterprise through Adaptive Supply Chain Networks

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Building the Lean Extended Enterprise through Adaptive Supply Chain Networks Shaw, Thomas E.; Burton, Terence T. Agenda: • A&D Lean transformation issues • Supplier issues • Supply chain network management issues • An IT architecture for supply network integration and management---illustrative example • SAP Netweaver application platform • A&D Netweaver application example- Bombardier • Summary

Breakout Session: Topics in Supply Chain Management

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Breakout Session: Topics in Supply Chain Management Bozdogan, Kirk Session Overview: • Session: Topics in Supply Chain Management • Session Lead: Kirk Bozdogan (MIT) • Date: March 24, 2005 • Time: 8:00 - 12:00 PM • Room: Dana VI

The Role of IT in Enterprise Transformation

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The Role of IT in Enterprise Transformation Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" • A brief history of Computing • Deciphering the Alphabet Soup • Strategic Frontiers - Information Systems - Enterprise Architecture - Software Development

Enabling Lean Enterprise Transformation Through IT The PDM Example

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling Lean Enterprise Transformation Through IT The PDM Example Hines, Eriska K.; Shields, Tom; Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" Overview: • Context • Research Design • Results • Implications for Lean • Lessons Learned • Conclusions

Textron Systems Sensor Fuzed Weapon VSM Event: Using LAI Tools to Transform a Program Enterprise

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Textron Systems Sensor Fuzed Weapon VSM Event: Using LAI Tools to Transform a Program Enterprise McManus, Hugh; Bentley, Geoffrey LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Breakout Session: Change Methodology, Planning and Standardization (Session II)

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Breakout Session: Change Methodology, Planning and Standardization (Session II) Bozdogan, Kirk Session Overview: • Session: Change Methodology, Planning & Standardization (Session II) • Session Lead: Kirk Bozdogan (MIT) • Date: March 23, 2005 • Time: 1:15 - 5:15 PM • Room: Dana VI

Impact of Knowledge Management Tools as Integrating Mechanisms

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Impact of Knowledge Management Tools as Integrating Mechanisms Taylor, LT Aaron A DD(X) Case Study

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing the Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System Mahidhar, Vikram Agenda: •Metrics Team Challenge from LAI Executive Board •Metrics and Lean Transformation •Research Objective •Theory and current practices •Gaps in current practices •Conceptual Lean Enterprise Performance Measurement System •Data Collection and Analysis

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Ogden ALC Case Study

Thu, 03 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Transformation: Ogden ALC Case Study Christopherson, Timothy; Stanke, Alexis Overview: • Developing a strategy for enterprise transformation • Building capability for managing change • Learning and results

Organizational Design Choices in Lean Transformation

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational Design Choices in Lean Transformation Roth, George Panel session, presentation on organizational design

LAI Today and Tomorrow

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Today and Tomorrow Nightingale, Prof. Debbie Agenda: •Highlights Since Last Plenary •Future Direction for Phase V •Conference Highlights

Enterprise Transformation: Closing the Gap Between Knowledge and Implementation: Lessons Learned on Enterprise Transformation

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Transformation: Closing the Gap Between Knowledge and Implementation: Lessons Learned on Enterprise Transformation Carroll, Prof. John S. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Conference presentation

The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage Sheffi, Yossi Presentation on overcoming vulnerability in the enterprise

Partnering for Enterprise Excellence

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Partnering for Enterprise Excellence Nightingale, Prof. Debbie 2007 LAI Conference opening presentation

Design and Exercise of Flexibility in a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Type Aircraft

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Design and Exercise of Flexibility in a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Type Aircraft McConnell, Joshua LAI Plenary Conference presentation

Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Symbiotic Models for Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Symbiotic Models for Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises Sgouridis, Sgouris; Sussman, Prof. Joseph Agenda: • Hypotheses • Background – Commercial Aviation Cycles – Enterprises and business cycles • A framework: Enterprise of Enterprises • Modeling Enterprise of Enterprises • Countercyclical strategies and symbiosis

Understanding and Modeling Interaction Effects in Complex Engineering Enterprises

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding and Modeling Interaction Effects in Complex Engineering Enterprises Glazner, Christopher Agenda: • Overview of the problem • Hypotheses • Enterprise-level interactions • Useful modeling approaches • Next Steps

Enterprise Architecture Modeling, Design and Transformation: Defining the Missing Links

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Architecture Modeling, Design and Transformation: Defining the Missing Links Bozdogan, Kirk Outline - • Propose a unifying conceptual framework guiding the “front-end” of planned enterprise change (transformation) management process • Enterprise architecture design process (enterprise architecting) • Choice of enterprise architecture for emphasis • Enterprise architecture modeling strategies • Transition moves available for enterprise transformation • Show how the framework links together a number of the key design decisions that need to be considered simultaneously, under alternative combinations of major contingency conditions

Challenges in Aerospace IT: The CIO Perspective

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Challenges in Aerospace IT: The CIO Perspective Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK" Agenda - • Motivation • Research Methodology • Key Findings • Going Forward

Comparative Analysis of Supply Chain Management Practices by Boeing and Airbus: Long-Term Strategic Implications

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Comparative Analysis of Supply Chain Management Practices by Boeing and Airbus: Long-Term Strategic Implications Horng, Tzu-Ching; Bozdogan, Kirk Research Goals and Approach: Goals - • Develop an improved understanding of emerging supply chain management strategies and practices in the commercial aerospace industry • Explore the longer-term implications of the findings for supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry in the future/ Approach - • Conduct a comparative analysis of supply chain management practices by Boeing and Airbus • Focus on two large development programs -- the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 Navigator • Concentrate on the common set of suppliers supporting both programs to develop a sharp “compare-and contrast” perspective, looking at Boeing & Airbus from the vantage point of these common suppliers • Capture bottom-up “supplier’s voice” to complement “top-down” perspective, while controlling for any “embellished” top-down view from the two companies

Exploring the Architecture of Combat Air Operations: Insights into Flexibility in Enterprise Architectures and Implications for System Architecture and Acquisition

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring the Architecture of Combat Air Operations: Insights into Flexibility in Enterprise Architectures and Implications for System Architecture and Acquisition Dickmann, John • Question: – How do we design enterprises and large-scale systems for flexibility? • Hypothesis: – Enterprise and technical system architectures with more lateral vs. vertical connections will perform better in dynamic and uncertain environments, both operational and acquisition • Goals: – Architectural analysis at enterprise level to see whether a shift from an architecture dominated by vertical connections to one dominated by lateral connections enables an enterprise to achieve greater flexibility. – Associate this shift to performance – “First Order” modeling and analysis

From Good To Lean: The Bottom Line Impact of Enterprise Lean Transformation

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

From Good To Lean: The Bottom Line Impact of Enterprise Lean Transformation Valerdi, Ricardo; Srinivasan, Jayakanth "JK"; Nightingale, Noel LAI Conference presentation

Measuring the Efficiency of Commonality Implementation: Application to Commercial Aircraft Cockpits

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: The Lean Link

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Promoting Collaborative Systems Thinking Through the Alignment of Culture and Process: The Lean Link Twomey Lamb, Caroline Agenda • Motivation • Research Framework • Key Constructs • Objectives • Research Methods • Current Progress • Next Steps

Performing Collaborative, Distributed Systems Engineering (CDSE) Lessons Learned from CDSE Enterprises

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Performing Collaborative, Distributed Systems Engineering (CDSE) Lessons Learned from CDSE Enterprises Utter, Darlene A. LAI Research Seminar presentation

Lean Enterprise Product Development Simulation and Short Course - A Summary

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Product Development Simulation and Short Course - A Summary McManus, Hugh; Rebentisch, Eric Presentation on lean enterprise product development

LAI EdNet and Lean Systems Engineering

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI EdNet and Lean Systems Engineering Murman, Earll Presentation on LAI EdNet

LAI Lean Product Development Research

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Lean Product Development Research Rebentisch, Eric Presentation on LAI lean product development research

Lean Product Development

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Product Development Rebentisch, Eric Overview • Lean PD—is it making a difference? • How Toyota does product development • Current evidence of Lean in PD in aerospace • Extending lean to the PD system level

Leading the Lean Enterprise: The Dynamics of Distributed Leadership

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Leading the Lean Enterprise: The Dynamics of Distributed Leadership Carroll, Prof. John S. Lean Aerospace Initiative Plenary Conference presentation, Lessons Learned on Distributed Leadership

Understanding Industrial Ecology Dynamics and Competitive Enterprise Strategies in the Large Commercial Aircraft Industry: Hybrid Agent-Based Systems Dynamics Simulation as a Tool for Architecting the Extended Enterprise

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding Industrial Ecology Dynamics and Competitive Enterprise Strategies in the Large Commercial Aircraft Industry: Hybrid Agent-Based Systems Dynamics Simulation as a Tool for Architecting the Extended Enterprise Sgouridis, Sgouris Agenda • The Aviation Industry Ecosystem • Why model the aviation industry? • Methods: existing models and frameworks • The hybrid agent-based System Dynamics modeling approach • Expected Value

Dynamics of Enterprise and Technical System Architectures: Early insights from Combat Air Operations

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Dynamics of Enterprise and Technical System Architectures: Early insights from Combat Air Operations Dickmann, John Presentation on dynamics of enterprise and technical system architectures

Design and Exercise of Flexibility in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Design and Exercise of Flexibility in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner McConnell, Joshua LAI Plenary Conference presentation, Enterprise Architectures: Emerging Ideas

Integration Strategies Across Enterprise Networks: Applications to Enterprise Architecting with Examples Drawn from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Enterprise Network

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Integration Strategies Across Enterprise Networks: Applications to Enterprise Architecting with Examples Drawn from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Enterprise Network Glazner, Chris Presentation on integration strategies across enterprise networks

LAI Integrated Product Suite

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Integrated Product Suite McManus, Hugh Presentation on the LAI integrated product suite

Integrating the Lean Enterprise: Incorporating LAI Research, Products, and Practice into MIT Curriculum

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating the Lean Enterprise: Incorporating LAI Research, Products, and Practice into MIT Curriculum Nightingale, Prof. Deborah Presentation on course 16.852J/ESD.61J, Integrating the Lean Enterprise

Leadership for Lean Culture Transformation: Introduction to Breakout Session & Five Precepts for Lean Enterprise Change

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Leadership for Lean Culture Transformation: Introduction to Breakout Session & Five Precepts for Lean Enterprise Change Roth, George Presentation on lean culture transformation and agenda/presentations

Creating High Performance Extended Enterprises

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Creating High Performance Extended Enterprises Stanke, Alexis Presentation on creating high performance extended enterprises

Alignment for Large Engineering Projects: Architecting Distributed Leadership

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Alignment for Large Engineering Projects: Architecting Distributed Leadership McKenna, Nick Presentation on ALIGN process for large engineering projects

GLPDS Toolset Development

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

GLPDS Toolset Development Rebentisch, Eric Presentation on GLPDS toolset development

Platform Issues in Commercial Aircraft Companies

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Platform Issues in Commercial Aircraft Companies Bador, Damien Presentation on platform issues in commercial aircraft companies Boeing and Airbus

Platforms, Development and Architecture in the Lean Enterprise

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Platforms, Development and Architecture in the Lean Enterprise Long, Dave Presentation on platforms in the Lean Enterprise

Managing Risk and Uncertainty: Traditional Methods and the Lean Enterprise

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Managing Risk and Uncertainty: Traditional Methods and the Lean Enterprise Wirthlin, Major Robb Agenda/Overview Review of Recent LAI research • Josef Oehmen • Steve Bresnahan • McManus/Hastings • Research Conclusions/ My Proposed Research • Motivation for study • Areas of Interest

Integrated Concurrent Engineering (ICE): Building Lean Conceptual Design Factories

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Integrated Concurrent Engineering (ICE): Building Lean Conceptual Design Factories Coffee, Thomas Presentation on the ICE approach

Modeling the Product Development Enterprise Methods, Decisions and Metrics

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Modeling the Product Development Enterprise Methods, Decisions and Metrics Rupani, Sid; Castro, Joao Presentation on modeling the product development enterprise

Corporate Decision Analysis: An Engineering Approach

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Corporate Decision Analysis: An Engineering Approach Tang, Victor Presentation on using an engineering approach in corporate decision analysis

Recent LAI PD VSM Research

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Recent LAI PD VSM Research Rebentisch, Eric Overview • LAI PDVSM 1.0 released • Predecessors in widespread (?) distribution and use (??) in the LAI consortium • Several recent research projects completed using value stream mapping in PD • Kato—Waste in PD • Whitaker—VSM and EVMS • MacKenzie—VSM in USAF SPOs • Evidence of significant PDVSM activities among LAI consortium members • Where do we stand as a learning community? • What are the next steps?

Quantifying the Effects of Waste in a Product Development Process

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Quantifying the Effects of Waste in a Product Development Process Livengood, Dan Overview •Setting the stage: Sources of waste in Product Development •The Main Act: Identifying and measuring waste in typical development processes •Finale: Solutions and a real-time metric •Encore: Related research paths could spawn from here within our Product Lifecycle research team

Research Enables Enterprise Transformation

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Research Enables Enterprise Transformation Widnall, Dr. Sheila Presentation on the transformation imperative

Industry Future State and LAI Executive Panel

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Industry Future State and LAI Executive Panel Cool, Christopher Presentation on industry future state and LAI

Developing Capabilities for Lean Enterprise Change

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Developing Capabilities for Lean Enterprise Change Roth, George Presentation on achieving successful lean enterprise change

Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering Handout

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering Handout Rhodes, Donna LAI Conference handout, Boston Hyatt Harborside Hotel

Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering: Panel on Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering: Panel on Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering Rhodes, Donna Lean systems engineering panel

INCOSE Lean SE Working Group

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

INCOSE Lean SE Working Group Murman, Prof. Earll LAI Conference presentation, Boston Hyatt Harborside Hotel

Making Difficult Conversations Productive: Individual and Organizational Learning Approaches

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Making Difficult Conversations Productive: Individual and Organizational Learning Approaches Roth, George Presentation with exercises to help make organizational change go well

Computational Enterprise Modeling and Simulation: Enabling Enterprise Performance Improvement, Modernization and Transformation

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Computational Enterprise Modeling and Simulation: Enabling Enterprise Performance Improvement, Modernization and Transformation Bozdogan, Dr. Kirk; Glazner, Christopher; Hoffman, Dr. Kenneth; Sussman, Prof. Joseph Lean Advancement Initiative Annual Conference presentation

Symbiotic Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Modeling Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Symbiotic Strategies in Enterprise Ecology: Modeling Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises Sgouridis, Prof. Sgouris Agenda: Overview, Motivation, and Methodology, Research Questions Modeling Commercial Aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprise, Results and Conclusions, Contributions, Future Work

Increasing Value of a Family of Products through Flexibility: Hedging Against Uncertainty

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Increasing Value of a Family of Products through Flexibility: Hedging Against Uncertainty McConnell, Dr. Joshua; Sussman, Prof. Joseph LAI Annual Meeting presentation from the session, Pushing the Enterprise Modeling Envelope

Highlights of Enterprise Transformation Research

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Highlights of Enterprise Transformation Research Nightingale, Debbie Highlights of the latest in LAI research supporting enterprise transformation

Portfolio Risk Management

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Portfolio Risk Management Vixama, Maj Chez LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Baltimore, Maryland

The Culture of Innovation Styles: Are Our Corporate Cultures Tuned for Innovation?

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Culture of Innovation Styles: Are Our Corporate Cultures Tuned for Innovation? Czaika, Ellen; Valerdi, Ricardo Agenda •Overview of Hofstede Cross Cultural Dimensions •Interactions among the dimensions •Miller & Friesen Models of Innovation •Brown Systems Model of Innovation •Application to Industry •Models for Innovation •Matching Types to Innovation •Next Steps •Closing Thoughts

Merging Lean and Six Sigma Programs to Realize Enterprise Excellence

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Merging Lean and Six Sigma Programs to Realize Enterprise Excellence Roth, Dr. George LAI Annual Conference presentation, Baltimore, Maryland

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy at Northeastern University

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Deploying the LAI Lean Academy at Northeastern University McManus, Hugh LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Baltimore, Maryland

The LAI EdNet's Journey into Lean Healthcare

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The LAI EdNet's Journey into Lean Healthcare Murman, Prof. Emeritus Earll Agenda: Education Network Overview, LAI Lean Academy Course, LAI Lean Healthcare Academy Course

An Enterprise Systems Approach to Healthcare

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

An Enterprise Systems Approach to Healthcare Nightingale, Prof. Deborah Agenda • Research Motivation • Cross-Industry Enterprise Challenges • Boston Provider Case Examples • LAI Enterprise Healthcare Vision

Annual Meeting Opening: Achieving Enterprise Excellence

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Annual Meeting Opening: Achieving Enterprise Excellence Nightingale, Prof. Deborah LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Baltimore, Maryland

Enterprise Assessment Diagnostics: Lessons Learned from LAI Members

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Assessment Diagnostics: Lessons Learned from LAI Members Shields, Tom; Valerdi, Ricardo Discussion facilitated by Tom Shields and Ricardo Valerdi

The Paradox of Leading from the Middle

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Paradox of Leading from the Middle Roth, Dr. George LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Break Out Sessions 1 & 2, Dana Point, California

Simulating the Patient Value Stream

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Simulating the Patient Value Stream McManus, Hugh LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Dana Point, California

Lean Implementation at Jefferson Healthcare

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Implementation at Jefferson Healthcare Murman, Earll LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Dana Point, California

Applying ESAT to a Multi-campus Mental Health Hospital

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Applying ESAT to a Multi-campus Mental Health Hospital Peck, Jordan Agenda: Project Overview, Enterprise Description, X-Matrix, Process Waste

Standardization of Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Standardization of Product Development Processes in Multi-Project Organizations Rupani, Sid LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Dana Point, California

Key Enablers to a Lean Enterprise Journey

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Key Enablers to a Lean Enterprise Journey Carroll, Prof. John Presentation on conference highlights, consortium views, and upcoming events

Leading Enterprise Transformation

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Leading Enterprise Transformation Nightingale, Prof. Deborah LAI Annual Meeting presentation, Dana Point, California

LAI Working With the US Army for Enterprise Transformation

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Working With the US Army for Enterprise Transformation Rebentisch, Dr. Eric Overview • Eric Rebentisch: LAI/Army ESAT overview (Army Materiel Enterprise, System of Systems Engineering), reflections on the ESAT process • Nancy Moulton: Army Materiel Enterprise (ME) reflections on the experience, on-going efforts and progress • Jerry Coover: Implementation efforts and change dynamics, other enterprise perspectives • Panel discussion and Q&A

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation Primer

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation Primer Srinivasan, Dr. Jayakanth Outline • Understanding the ESAT Context • From Lean Now! → EVSMA → ESAT • Key elements of ESAT • Executing an ESAT • Discussion Panel

A simulation-based concurrent engineering approach for assembly system design

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A simulation-based concurrent engineering approach for assembly system design Sweitzer, Timothy J. (Timothy James), 1972- Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82).

Institutionalizing change in aerospace process and product settings

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Institutionalizing change in aerospace process and product settings Kassin Deardorff, Sandra Jo, 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-139).

The integrated concurrent enterprise

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

The integrated concurrent enterprise Stagney, David B. (David Broderick), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-180).

Product development strategies in evolutionary acquisition

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Product development strategies in evolutionary acquisition Ferdowsi, Bobak, 1979- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-196).

Tools for evolutionary acquisition : a study of Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) applied to the Space Based Radar (SBR)

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Tools for evolutionary acquisition : a study of Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) applied to the Space Based Radar (SBR) Spaulding, Timothy J. (Timothy James), 1979- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Statement of responsibility on t.p. reads: 2nd Lieutenant Timothy J. Spaulding, USAF.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-142).

Multi-attribute tradespace exploration and its application to evolutionary acquisition

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Multi-attribute tradespace exploration and its application to evolutionary acquisition Derleth, Jason Edward, 1970- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 144).

A lean transformation in low volume space manufacturing

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

A lean transformation in low volume space manufacturing Sise, Lincoln J. (Lincoln James), 1974- Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, Thesis (S.M. in Ocean Systems Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Dept. of Ocean Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "June 2003."; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60).

Lean enterprise integration : a new framework for small businesses

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean enterprise integration : a new framework for small businesses Seitz, Thomas A. (Thomas Anthony), 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-199).

High-mix, low-volume lean manufacturing implementation and lot size optimization at an aerospace OEM

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

High-mix, low-volume lean manufacturing implementation and lot size optimization at an aerospace OEM Rheaume, Jonathan M. (Jonathan Michael), 1972- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-103).

Improving the management of system development to produce more affordable military avionics systems

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Improving the management of system development to produce more affordable military avionics systems Tondreault, Jeremy P. (Jeremy Peter), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "February 2003."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-127).

Fostering innovation across aerospace supplier networks

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Fostering innovation across aerospace supplier networks Kirtley, Aaron L. (Aaron Lloyd), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "June 2002." Page 187 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-184).

System dynamics modeling for the exploration of manpower project staffing decisions in the context of a multi-project enterprise

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

System dynamics modeling for the exploration of manpower project staffing decisions in the context of a multi-project enterprise Herweg, Gregory M. (Gregory Michael), 1965-; Pilon, Karl E. 1962- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-298).

Do modern tools utilized in the design and development of modern aircraft counteract the impact of lost intellectual capital within the aerospace industry

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Do modern tools utilized in the design and development of modern aircraft counteract the impact of lost intellectual capital within the aerospace industry Andrew, W. Geoffery (William Geoffrey), 1957- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82).

Utilization of dependency structure matrix analysis to assess implementation of NASA's complex technical projects

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Utilization of dependency structure matrix analysis to assess implementation of NASA's complex technical projects Brady, Timothy Kevin, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96).

Multiple commodities optimization of lean technology infusion for automobile manufacturer

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Multiple commodities optimization of lean technology infusion for automobile manufacturer Chou, Shui-Fang, 1956- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references.

A system engineering approach for implementation of a corporate growth strategy

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A system engineering approach for implementation of a corporate growth strategy Mullooly, John F. (John Francis), 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95).

A partitioning methodology for helicopter avionics system with a focus on life cycle cost

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A partitioning methodology for helicopter avionics system with a focus on life cycle cost Silva, Leon M. (Leon Manuel), 1968- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 111).

Lean principles implementation in the program preparation phase

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Lean principles implementation in the program preparation phase Douglas, Freddie, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91).

Analysis and design of closed loop manufacturing systems

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Analysis and design of closed loop manufacturing systems Werner, Loren M. (Loren Michael), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90).

The e-World as an enabler to learn

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

The e-World as an enabler to learn Mahoué, Frédéric, 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-132).

Design and analysis of an enterprise metrics system

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Design and analysis of an enterprise metrics system Nicol, Robert A. (Robert Arthur), 1969- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82).

Manufacturing initiatives in a decentralised company

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Manufacturing initiatives in a decentralised company Kennedy, Laura (Laura Lynn), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53).

Space launch operations and capacity modeling : a system dynamics methodology for advanced analysis of the U.S. eastern range

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Space launch operations and capacity modeling : a system dynamics methodology for advanced analysis of the U.S. eastern range Steare, David H. W., 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-128).

Helicopter configuration optimization

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Helicopter configuration optimization Sadownick, Ronald, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 102).

The application of system engineering methodologies in support of the lean enterprise transformation

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

The application of system engineering methodologies in support of the lean enterprise transformation Cocuzzo, David L. (David Lenard), 1959-; Millard, Brian W. 1962- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-111).

Organizational characteristics for successful product line engineering

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational characteristics for successful product line engineering Beckert, Michelle T., 1969- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116).

Lean aerospace initiative electronic sector study

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Lean aerospace initiative electronic sector study Roman, Marco Antonio, 1971- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 75).

The impact of leadership on systematic organizational change

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

The impact of leadership on systematic organizational change Tonaszuck, David M. (David Michael), 1966- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82).

A scheduling policy experiment for lean implementation

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

A scheduling policy experiment for lean implementation Deshpande, Sawan P. (Sawan Prashant), 1975- Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-184).

Strategic technology investment decisions in research & development

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Strategic technology investment decisions in research & development Lackner, David I. (David Isaac), 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105).

Building information systems to integrate the manufacturing supply chain

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Building information systems to integrate the manufacturing supply chain Antonelli, Michelle M. (Michelle Marie), 1972- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-122).

Design methods in the aerospace industry : looking for evidence of set-based practices

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Design methods in the aerospace industry : looking for evidence of set-based practices Bernstein, Joshua I. (Joshua Ian), 1974- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-211).

Open book management goes beyond the bottom line

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Open book management goes beyond the bottom line Charles Colleen K. (Colleen Kay); Negron, Angela Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).

Cultural analysis case study : implementaiton of acquisition reform within the Department of Defense

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Cultural analysis case study : implementaiton of acquisition reform within the Department of Defense Doane, Donna R. (Donna Reed); Spencer, Susan D Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-103).

Implementing a team-based organization in a unionized manufacturing company to improve operating efficiency

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Implementing a team-based organization in a unionized manufacturing company to improve operating efficiency Thomson, Paul Michael Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-117).

Self-directed work teams at an aerospace company

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Self-directed work teams at an aerospace company Sorenson, Eric C. (Eric Christopher) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79).

Self-directed work teams at Texas Instruments Defense Systems & Electronics Group

Sat, 01 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT

Self-directed work teams at Texas Instruments Defense Systems & Electronics Group Rosson, Richard D. (Richard Douglas) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 83).

Valuation techniques for complex space systems : an analysis of a potential satellite servicing market

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Valuation techniques for complex space systems : an analysis of a potential satellite servicing market McVey, Michelle E. (Michelle Elizabeth), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-161).

Value creation in the product development process

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Value creation in the product development process Chase, James P. (James Patrick), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, February 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-110).

An analysis method for conceptual design of complexity and autonomy in complex space system architectures

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

An analysis method for conceptual design of complexity and autonomy in complex space system architectures Wood, Brandon C. (Brandon Charles), 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Analyzing the Boeing 777 link the flow process for value stream flow reduction against the Lean Aerospace Initiative's enterprise level roadmap

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Analyzing the Boeing 777 link the flow process for value stream flow reduction against the Lean Aerospace Initiative's enterprise level roadmap Wilhelmi, Julie Lynn, 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 67).

Managing subsystem commonality

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Managing subsystem commonality Nuffort, Matthew R. (Matthew Richard), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, February, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-209).

LAI Whitepaper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Program Management for Large Scale Engineering Programs

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Whitepaper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Program Management for Large Scale Engineering Programs Oehmen, Josef; Rebentisch, Eric; Kinscher, Kristian The whitepaper begins by introducing the challenges of programs in section 4, proceeds to define program management in section 5 and then gives an overview of existing program management frameworks in section 6. In section 7, we introduce a new program management framework that is tailored towards describing the early program management phases – up to the start of production. This framework is used in section 8 to summarize the relevant LAI research.

Towards an Integration of the Lean Enterprise System, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma and Related Enterprise Process Improvement Methods

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Towards an Integration of the Lean Enterprise System, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma and Related Enterprise Process Improvement Methods Bozdogan, Kirkor The lean enterprise system, total quality management, six sigma, theory of constraints, agile manufacturing, and business process reengineering have been introduced as universally applicable best methods to improve the performance of enterprise operations through continuous process improvement and systemic planned enterprise change. Generally speaking, they represent practice-based, rather than theory-grounded, methods with common roots in manufacturing. Most of the literature on them is descriptive and prescriptive, aimed largely at a practitioner audience. Despite certain differences among them, they potentially complement each other in important ways. The lean enterprise system, total quality management and six sigma, in particular, are tightly interconnected as highly complementary approaches and can be brought together to define a first-approximation “core” integrated management system, with the lean enterprise system serving as the central organizing framework. Specific elements of the other approaches can be selectively incorporated into the “core” enterprise system to enrich its effectiveness. Concrete theoretical and computational developments in the future through an interdisciplinary research agenda centered on the design and development of networked enterprises as complex adaptive socio-technical systems, as well as the creation of a readily accessible observatory of evidence-based management practices, would represent important steps forward.

Evolution of the Lean Enterprise System: A Critical Synthesis and Agenda for the Future

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Evolution of the Lean Enterprise System: A Critical Synthesis and Agenda for the Future Bozdogan, Kirkor Many aerospace enterprises and other organizations have adopted a variety of management approaches to achieve continuous process improvement, enterprise change and transformation, such as the lean enterprise system, total quality management (TQM), theory of constraints (TOC), agile manufacturing, and business process reengineering (BPR). Among them, the lean enterprise system, with its origins in the Toyota Production System (TPS), comes closest to providing a holistic view of enterprises as complex socio-technical systems embodying a mutually supportive set of precepts and practices driving enterprise operations at all levels (i.e., strategic, tactical, operational) and throughout the enterprise value stream encompassing both upstream supplier networks and downstream customerfocused activities. Lean enterprise principles and practices have evolved over many decades through a process of experimentation, learning and adaptation. A distinction is made between the basic lean enterprise system (BLES), capturing salient developments over the period between the late 1940s and mid-1990s, and the contemporary lean enterprise system (CLES), capturing major conceptual and implementation-related extensions of the basic model since the mid-1990s. The lean enterprise system, as a viable framework for explaining the structure and dynamics of modern networked enterprises, for managing them, and for improving their performance through either continuous process improvement or planned systemic change and transformation, remains a work-in-progress.

LAI Paper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Waste in Lean Product Development

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Paper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Waste in Lean Product Development Oehmen, Josef; Rebentisch, Eric Reading this whitepaper provides a concise overview of the most important waste drivers in product development, that is, the most common project deficiencies that lead to cost and schedule overrun, as well as to performance issues. It will enable those involved in process improvement initiatives to include specific lean-related factors into their process analysis. It provides both managers and engineers with a common language and concepts to enhance the efficiency of their product development projects.

LAI Paper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Risk Management in Lean PD

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

LAI Paper Series: “Lean Product Development for Practitioners”: Risk Management in Lean PD Oehmen, Josef; Rebentisch, Eric The two core challenges of risk management are finding the optimum balance a) between the cost of carrying risks vs. the cost of mitigating risks and b) between a risk that is taken with a certain development project and the return that is expected from the project. A complete absence of risk management will minimize the cost of risk mitigation measures – no backup development capacity, no review meetings, no quality control incur no direct cost. However, the project becomes very vulnerable towards uncertainties: If a development task turns out to be more complex than previously anticipated and no backup capacity can be brought to bear, the entire project might be delayed and cost incurred through idle capacities, penalty payments towards the customer for delays or opportunity cost for lost customers and market share. The same may happen for less-than-perfect coordination between different engineers and departments, or erroneous designs that would otherwise have been uncovered in review meetings or quality checks. On the other hand, excess backup capacity, reviews and quality controls bind more resources and cost more money than they save. Good risk management helps to strike the right balance between minimizing risk and the cost of doing so. After minimizing the overall risk as much as is sensible, the question remains what the right level of risk is that is still acceptable for a project to be attractive. While the goal for every single project is to minimize its overall risk, projects are in general exposed to different levels of uncertainty: Some might involve more innovative technologies or technologies that the company is not familiar with; some might address new markets where the exact customer requirements are unclear; and others might just be a lot bigger than usual and therefore have a much more significant impact if they fail. The goal is to find projects that have the right balance of risk and return, as would be the case with any other investments (e.g. a portfolio of stocks and bonds).

Knowledge Ingtegration in Large-Scale Organizations and Networks - Conceptual Overview and Operational Definition

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge Ingtegration in Large-Scale Organizations and Networks - Conceptual Overview and Operational Definition Haddad, Marc; Bozdogan, Kirkor Knowledge integration is an emerging discipline in organizational science where the central proposition is that the increasing complexity of products and services being developed and delivered, means that the knowledge required for production is increasingly specialized, varied (multi-disciplinary) and distributed across the organization’s internal boundaries, and as a result there is a need for organizations to continuously gather their knowledge resources in order to maintain their ability to innovate, and to sustain their competitive position in the market. In addition, the increasing scale and scope of organizational arrangements, such as multinational partnerships or multi-tiered prime-supplier arrangements commonly encountered in the aerospace, automotive and other complex product development industries, also give rise to environments of dispersed knowledge resources, thus necessitating the subsequent integration of this knowledge across external boundaries spanning large-scale organizational networks. Knowledge integration in this context is done through a process of transferring knowledge from multiple sources in the organizational network to where it is needed, combining it with existing knowledge, before it can be applied to accomplish complex tasks and to solve major problems. The primary purpose of this paper is to define the powerful concept of knowledge integration in large-scale organizational networks using an extensive review of the pertinent literature on knowledge in organizations. An operational definition for knowledge integration is also proposed, followed by a systematic identification and classification of the different strategies, practices, channels and mechanisms for integrating different types of knowledge across a multitude of organizational boundaries and environments.

Warner Robins and the Buy Purchase Request Process

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Warner Robins and the Buy Purchase Request Process Cohen, Jessica Lauren Throughout the United States Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (ALC) has a reputation of being ahead of the game when it comes to lean implementation. Efforts on the shop floor have contributed vastly to that reputation. In addition, administrative accomplishments need to be recognized as a significant contribution to the lean effort at Warner Robins. At the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (ALC), the ultimate goal of every employee is to serve the warfighter effectively and efficiently through the maintenance and repair of aircraft. The ALC’s main work is in Program Depot Maintenance (PDM) which supports aircraft sustainment operations for seven Product Directorates. Within Product Directorates are the System Program Offices (SPOs), such as C-5 or C-130, of Air Force weapon systems. Sustainment is a dauntingly complex process for the Air Force involving the Depot and PDM efforts, movement and storage of parts, and the base repair process. In 2002, Warner Robins embarked upon a lean journey to improve the reliability, timeliness and costs associated with its repair operations. Within the context of that improvement attempt, this case study examines the efforts to maximize purchase request efficiency, (i.e., shorten the time needed to acquire parts).

CASE STUDY: From Three to One: Integrating a High Performance Work Organization Process, Lean Production, and Activity Based Costing Change Initiatives

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: From Three to One: Integrating a High Performance Work Organization Process, Lean Production, and Activity Based Costing Change Initiatives Kochan, Thomas A. In 1997 Boeing’s Wichita Division and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed to launch a “High Performance Work Organization” (HPWO) process. This followed the introduction of a Lean Production Initiative in 1994-95 and an Activity Based Costing (ABC) initiative in 1996. Managers and union leaders in Wichita sought to sustain and grow each of these change and improvement efforts in ways that empower the workforce and enhance the competitiveness of the operations. Although these initiatives share some similar objectives and could potentially serve to complement and reinforce each other, to date they have been led and managed separately. Each is experiencing a slow and difficult path of diffusion. The key challenge facing management and union leaders is to decide how to best integrate these separate improvement programs into a single, focused initiative that builds broader awareness, support, and demand for its features across all levels of the workforce and the management and union organizations in the Wichita operation. Given the combination of the engineering culture of Boeing and the pragmatic orientation of the workforce in Wichita, the parties may want to shift to a more targeted task or problem specific approach that engages a broad cross section of hourly workers, engineers, and managers in specific improvement initiatives. Doing so might shift from a top-down supplier push to a distributed, demand-pull process of innovation and adaptation.

CASE STUDY: Textron Systems

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: Textron Systems Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel For over five decades, Textron Systems has been an important contributor to the U.S. defense aerospace business. Its breakthroughs in thermal protection materials enabled NASA Apollo command modules and Air Force intercontinental missiles to successfully re-enter the earth’s atmosphere. High strength, lightweight boron composites from Textron Systems help carry the primary structural load in the Space Shuttle orbiter and today’s aircraft carriers rely on Textron’s automated landing systems. Textron highlights smart systems, including smart air and ground munitions, as its unique value add in the 21st Century global marketplace -- products that can rapidly acquire, analyze and act on real-time data inputs. The constant adaptation of its product line and business strategy is a defining feature of Textron Systems as a business. This is a significant accomplishment for the business, but a constant challenge when it comes to work organization and skill development. Textron Systems is based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, with additional facilities in three other locations. This case study is focused on the Wilmington operations.

CASE STUDY: Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power Inaba, Takashi; Barret, Betty Jo Rocketdyne is a leading producer of rocket engines and related space products facing an increasingly competitive global environment. For Rocketdyne the challenges include a shift from a heavily military focus to a more commercial focus, acquisition by Boeing, environmental and pollution concerns, and developing a lean production work organization system. A vigorous employee involvement program is a defining feature of the Rocketdyne story. However there are ongoing challenges integrating front-line innovation with line leadership and business strategy.

CASE STUDY: International Association of Machinists Boeing Joint Programs

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: International Association of Machinists Boeing Joint Programs Kochan, Thomas A.; Barrett, Betty The paragraph on the title page summarizes the goals of language first inserted in the 1989 collective bargaining agreement between the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Boeing Corporation. While the language in the old article called for the company and union to work together to introduce new technology and involve the workforce, in reality not much of this was being done. Nor were there resources available to support such efforts. Moreover, the union leadership was wary of entering into joint programs with the company because its international union had a general distrust of management initiated “quality circles” or other processes that it feared would erode worker rights or drive a wedge between members and their union. Both management and labor leaders, however, recognized the need to introduce and adapt to technological change to keep the company competitive and generate new opportunities. Both agreed that this was a practical and focused area of shared interest where a collaborative effort made sense. The purpose of this brief note is to describe how this joint program has evolved over its first decade of experience. It is not an evaluation or assessment of the program. Instead, we present it here only to illustrate the potential of this type of joint effort for bringing life long learning to hourly workers in a world of continuous technological and organizational change. We end by speculating about how the program might step up to the next level of development and impact.

CASE STUDY: Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Wichita Division (Boeing Co.)

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Wichita Division (Boeing Co.) Paduano, Rocco; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel Activity Based Costing and Management (ABCM) is one of many new financial and accounting tools aimed at providing more complete, better-aligned data on economic performance. It is important to explore early experiences with this concept since it represents a new set of “rules” that can have implications for all stakeholders in an aerospace enterprise. ABCM is of particular interest with respect to lean practices and principles since it links the cost of production or services to the relevant support activities, which is helpful in targeting continuous improvement efforts. Companies who are focusing resources on organizational learning initiatives will also find that ABCM processes add value to these efforts. This case study hopes to deepen understanding of ABCM principles by looking beyond the survey data and tracing early experience in an aerospace setting. Note that these are just pilot demonstration initiatives and do not represent full-scale implementation. In presenting this study, we are not advocating for or against this particular approach to financial accounting – just seeking to better understand its implications.

CASE STUDY: Rockwell Collins and IBEW Locals 1362 and 1634

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: Rockwell Collins and IBEW Locals 1362 and 1634 Barrett, Betty; Long, Kevin The post-September 11th economy has confronted Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with hard choices. Faced with the need to cut costs, including laying off significant portions of the work force, the company and its unions still maintain a commitment to knowledge retention and knowledge building. This case study chronicles the efforts of this leading producer of advanced communication and aviation electronics for the commercial market and the defense industry to balance the costs of maintaining productive effectiveness while responding to market pressures. The company is faced with increased technical requirements and depressed demand for its products, which include: in-flight entertainment systems, aircraft communication systems, global positioning systems (GPS), flight deck displays (including collision alert systems and virtual landing aids), communications systems, and automatic flight controls. Survival depends on walking a strategic knife edge to sustain the bottom line and still maintain the innovation and flexibility needed to build products to market demand.

CASE STUDY: International Association of Machinists and Boeing Joint Quality Through Training Programs

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY: International Association of Machinists and Boeing Joint Quality Through Training Programs Long, Kevin; Barrett, Betty The International Association of Machinists (IAM) and Boeing Company Quality Through Training Program (QTTP) is playing a vital role within the Boeing Company to cope with a complicated situation: reducing the workforce, implementing lean manufacturing, and the upcoming training of a new workforce as thousands of workers prepare for retirement in the coming years. QTTP Joint Training Programs were not created with these specific uses in mind, but because the programs are already established, they provide a foundation on which to build these new roles. Internal union and management groups are now relying on the credibility and connections of the QTTP leadership to facilitate organizational problem-solving. This case study describes how the joint program has responded to new organizational needs heightened by sudden changes in the aerospace industry. The events of September 11, 2001 were devastating for the aerospace industry. One year after the tragic events, (you say below that airlines postponed or cancelled orders) business air travel had declined approximately 30% while air travel overall was off approximately 11%. The airline industry was projected to lose more than $5 billion in 2002, on top of losing $7.7 billion in 2001. United Airlines filed for bankruptcy, while most other airlines continue to post stunning losses. In response to the drop in air travel demand, the airlines reduced the number of flights – requiring less aircraft. As a result, airlines postponed or cancelled orders for new planes. Boeing’s commercial business was hit hard and the company has announced the layoff of 30,000 workers. Despite this rather bleak picture, the QTTP leaders and representatives continue to skillfully promote joint, innovative activities that are mutually beneficial to those they represent. The activities described in this case are examples of the initiatives that QTTP is promoting. Of note is the consideration and respect that form the basis upon which decisions are made within the group.

Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs (LEAP) Project: 737 Fuselage Case Study Report

Fri, 01 Mar 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs (LEAP) Project: 737 Fuselage Case Study Report Ferdowsi, Bobak; Haggerty, Al The Boeing 737 “Next Generation” (NG) is the follow-on to the longest continuous production line in commercial aircraft history. The original 737 (-100) was launched in February of 1965, followed by the –200, -300, -400, and –500 models, and by completion of the “Classic” Program, in 1993, 3132 737s had been delivered. The Next Generation 737 represented a radical redesign of the aircraft, including the –600, -700, -800, -900, “Combi” (-700C), and Business Jet (BBJ) models, to be superior to competitorssuch as the Airbus A320 series and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90. The airplane falls under Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, which is a subdivision of the Boeing Company. Customers for the aircraft include major airlines around the globe in addition to customers who use the plane for cargo, such as the United States Navy. This report will describe the program and product and an overview of the whole picture—the extended enterprise. The study will continue to look at the implementation of lean, including highlights and achievements, enablers and practices, as well as external factors and developments. That is followed by a look at remaining challenges and future opportunities, and the paper is concluded with a section on “lessons learned” and final observations.

Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs (LEAP) Project: F-16 Case Study Report

Fri, 05 Apr 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Effects on Aerospace Programs (LEAP) Project: F-16 Case Study Report Ferdowsi, Bobak; Stanke, Alexis This report follows the F-16 journey of improvement over the last decade or so. Since an increase in focus on cost and quality in the early 1990s, there has been gradual but continuous progress along this journey. Most remarkable are some of the more recent changes, following the implementation of lean principles and practices across the program.

Case Study Report: The Paveway Program Transformation

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Case Study Report: The Paveway Program Transformation Hemann, Justin On a Monday in June of 1999 the Paveway production line restarted in a hastily erected tent at Raytheon's Tucson, Arizona facility. It did not look or perform like the Paveway program that had won Texas Instruments the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award just seven years earlier. The move has been quick - four days - and executed on a shoestring budget. Photographs and sketches were used to piece the production line together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Only 25% of the Texas Instruments personnel made the move to Arizona, so Paveway was in the hands of a new team and a new culture. Over the next four years the program would see weak morale and performance, a huge surge in demand following 9/11, and intense pressure from a competitor. Challenges like these have ended programs and entire companies, yet Paveway met these challenges and emerged as a best-in-class program and winner of the 2004 Shingo Prize. How did this transformation take place? What kind of capabilities does an organization need to survive and flourish under such challenges? This case seeks to tell the story of the Paveway program from 1999 to the present. Specifically, the purpose is to create better understanding and guidance for managers, facilitators, and participants at all organizational levels for the types of changes and change processes that enable transformation.

Lean at the C-5 Galaxy Depot: Essential Elements of Success

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean at the C-5 Galaxy Depot: Essential Elements of Success Barrett, Betty; Fraile, Lydia Robins Air Force Base is the largest industrial complex in Georgia, employing some 25,000 civilian, contractor, and military workers on its premises. The Air Logistics Center has over 13,000 employees: about 2,000 of these are military and 11,000 civil servants. The ALC maintains and repairs the C-5 Galaxy, F-15 Eagle, C-130 Hercules, and C-17 Globemaster, as well as special operations aircraft, avionics, and electronic warfare. It is also responsible for program management and supply chain management for these and other weapon systems. The main union at the facility is the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 987. The local represents some 9,000 workers at Warner Robins and has 2,600 members. This case study centers on lean change in the C-5 program.

Letterkenny Army Depot: The Army Teaches Business a Lesson in Lean Six Sigma

Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Letterkenny Army Depot: The Army Teaches Business a Lesson in Lean Six Sigma Harvey, Roger K.; Labedz, Chester S., Jr. Letterkenny Army Depot: The Army Teaches Business a Lesson in Lean Six Sigma is a case study of Letterkenny Army Depot, one of five Army maintenance depots. Letterkenny recapitalizes missiles, HMMWV's, generators, and other equipment for the United States Army. Recapitalizing equipment means completely disassembling the system, cleaning and/or replacing every component, subcomponent and part, and reassembling and testing the equipment. Col. William Guinn was assigned as depot commander in July 2002 only to find the depot was in deep financial and operational trouble. Letterkenny had experienced an operating loss of $31 million on revenues of $120 million, work flows that were dysfunctional and inefficient, the highest hourly wage rates among all the depots, and an infrastructure that was badly in need of repair. Additionally, the depot faced possible closing by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission in 2005. This case documents Col. Guinn’s Lean Six Sigma deployment at Letterkenny Army Depot from 2002 to 2005. Using the principles and tools of Lean, Letterkenny’s commander, senior leaders, managers, and employees successfully transformed the depot from the Army’s worst to its best performing depot in terms of productivity and cost efficiency. Three years after the depot’s Lean journey began, the 2005 BRAC Commission not only recommended keeping Letterkenny open, but also assigned it additional programs. In the same year, Letterkenny won the public sector Shingo Prize for applying Lean to its Patriot Missile recapitalization program.

Letterkenny Army Depot: Finance Innovations Support Lean Six Sigma Success

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Letterkenny Army Depot: Finance Innovations Support Lean Six Sigma Success Harvey, Roger K.; Labedz, Chester S., Jr. As a result of significant dollar savings to the Army and U.S. taxpayers, Letterkenny Army Depot received widespread public recognition in 2005. The depot received a public sector Shingo Prize for applying Lean principles and tools to its PATRIOT missile system recapitalization program. While Letterkenny was Leaning its production systems, the depot implemented two innovative and effective financial incentive systems: one to reward employees, the other to reward customers. The reward systems were innovative because they occurred in a not-for-profit organization and effective because they motivated customers, employees, and unions to embrace Lean. First, the commander of Letterkenny Army Depot introduced a mechanism for immediately recognizing surplus Net Operating Results (“NOR”) funds generated by Lean savings. Rather than following prescribed budgeting procedures, Letterkenny made sixty percent of auditable surplus NOR available to customers within the current fiscal year. With Lean savings immediately put “back in customers’ hands”, the customers usually chose to repurchase Letterkenny services with their Lean savings checks. The additional services performed by the depot at essentially no cost to the customer provided combat-ready weapon systems to the Warfighter, over and above the quantities planned for the current fiscal year. The depot reinvested the balance of its NOR surpluses in improvements to its facilities and equipment, helping to promote Lean buy-in among civilian employees and their unions. Second, Letterkenny negotiated a revised process for awarding NOR-related bonus checks to its employees. To further promote Lean buy-in, the depot established a “threshold” approach to determine the size of the employee payments. Letterkenny awarded payouts of $200/employee for each $1 million increase in NOR, up to a maximum of $5 million. By reaching annual Lean-enabled NOR of at least $5 million each year, Letterkenny employees could and did receive annual bonus checks of $1,000 in three successive years. The case describes the organizational conditions leading to these innovations and the responses to them among its customers, unions and headquarters.

United Technologies Corporation: Internal Audit Department (IAD) Case Study: A Case Study of the UTC ACE Operating System

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

United Technologies Corporation: Internal Audit Department (IAD) Case Study: A Case Study of the UTC ACE Operating System Roth, George This study of United Technologies Corporation's Internal Audit Department (IAD) examines how stability and change are important factors in how this department functions and improves. IAD is a leader in the adoption of United Technologies Corporation's (UTC's) continuous improvement methods in non-production settings. IAD has achieved and maintained significant improvements in quality, on-time delivery, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and productivity from 2001-2007.

Pratt & Whtiney: Homogenous Metals,Inc. (HMI) Case Study: A Case STudy of the UTC Ace Operating System

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Pratt & Whtiney: Homogenous Metals,Inc. (HMI) Case Study: A Case STudy of the UTC Ace Operating System Roth, George; Colatat, Phech Homogenous Metals Incorporated (HMI) is a pioneer in adopting and demonstrating value from United Technology Corporation's (UTC's) ACE operating system. ACE stands for Achieving Competitive Excellence. The first story is what we studied and report on this case: HMI's efforts and their results through 2006. Up through 2006, the graph confirms HMI's steady and consistent improvement progress. The second story is what the figures show beyond the time of our study when economic conditions dropped dramatically. It is less one of continuous improvement, but an adjustment and restructuring based on different market settings.

Process Improvements in Pratt & Whitney's Deficiency Report Investigation Process: A Case Study of the UTC ACE Operating System

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Process Improvements in Pratt & Whitney's Deficiency Report Investigation Process: A Case Study of the UTC ACE Operating System Colatat, Phech This case study describes Pratt & Whitney's process improvement activities on its deficiency report (DR) investigation process for the F100 engine program between 2004 and 2006. The DR investigation process is a customer service function that addresses anomalous, "non-conforming" technical problems discovered in fielded military engines. Investigation of these problems is critical because it produces important operational information for users of the engine. In 2004 at the behest of the United States Air Force (USAF), it's largest customer, Pratt & Whitney began process improvement activity to address the growing number of overdue investigations - investigations taking longer than 120 days. Military Customer Support, an organization within Pratt & Whitney's Military Engines division, began an effort to drive down the number of overdue investigations and put in place a more robust process for managing DR investigations. In addition to providing description of and insights on DR investigation improvements, one question this case will attempt to address is: what were the mechanisms that led to improvement in the DR investigation process metrics and customer satisfaction with USAF.

United Technologies Corporation: Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE): Operating System Case Study

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

United Technologies Corporation: Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE): Operating System Case Study Roth, George United Technologies Corporation (abbreviated UTC, NYSE ticker symbol UTX) is a large, industrial conglomerate that designs, manufactures, and services a broad range of products, ranging from air conditioners and elevators to jet engines and helicopters. At the end of 2008, UTC's sales were $58.7 billion, its market capitalization over $50 billion, making it the 39th company on the Fortune 500 list. What is ACE, how did it develop, and how is it evolving? What lessons might other corporations, leaders, and managers draw from ACE for improving their businesses? These questions are investigated and reported in this case study.

CASE STUDY -- LEAN 94-01: Integrators, not Generalists Needed: A Case Study of IPD Teams at Textron Defense Systems

Mon, 17 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY -- LEAN 94-01: Integrators, not Generalists Needed: A Case Study of IPD Teams at Textron Defense Systems Klein, Janice; Maurer, Patrick The following case study examines an organization that essentially eliminated traditional functional groups and assigned all employees to cross-functional product or process teams. Although the organizational and cultural change occurred throughout the enterprise, this case will focus primarily on the structure of teams and the management of skills and capabilities within the integrated product development (IPD) core process. In the IPD area, multi-disciplinary teams were established with the expectation that individuals would both retain their own area of expertise and broaden their understanding of the functional expertise of their fellow team members. In essence, team members were expected to become “integrators,” as opposed to “generalists.” Although a major cultural change has occurred over a two-year time period, the change to date is considered as only the first step in an evolutionary process. The transition of this organization from a traditional matrix with strong functional hierarchies to a team-based structure highlights a number of human resource implications, including team selection, performance evaluation and rewards, and career paths. The study will conclude with a summary of lessons learned and the applicability of such an organization to the defense aircraft industry.

CASE STUDY -- LEAN 94-02: A Case Study of Self-Directed Work Teams at Boeing Defense and Space Group - Corinth

Thu, 24 Feb 1994 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY -- LEAN 94-02: A Case Study of Self-Directed Work Teams at Boeing Defense and Space Group - Corinth Klein, Janice Boeing Defense & Space Group - Corinth (BD&SG-C) is a self-directed team based unionized facility in the defense and commercial aircraft industry. The plant was a greenfield start-up in 1987. Due to the nature of the defense business environment, the facility has weathered a changing product mix and surges and plateaus in its employment. The case illustrates the applicability of self-directed work systems in the defense aircraft industry and will identify lessons learned in the start-up and maintenance of such systems, including how experience in developing a labor-management partnership can be carried over to developing a partnership between DoD contractors and their defense contract administrators.

CASE STUDY 95-04: Operator Certification: A Case Study in Operator Self-Inspection

Thu, 22 Feb 1996 00:00:00 GMT

CASE STUDY 95-04: Operator Certification: A Case Study in Operator Self-Inspection Cowap, Stacey; Schoonmaker, James Operator certification is the process where production workers are trained, authorized, and given the necessary resources to inspect their own work. This case study evaluated operator certification systems in the manufacturing process at three major aerospace companies during the Spring of 1995. Within the manufacturing area, operator certification was observed in such operations as high volume machining operations, certain processing operations-such as leak testing, balancing, and painting-and production of high volume detail parts. This case study was initiated as a result of the data from the human resources focus group’s survey in 1994. Prof. Jan Klein found that the airframe sector had a significantly lower percentage of plants where production workers perform inspection tasks as compared to the engine and electronics sectors. While operator certification is not a new concept, it appeared to be a best practice within two of the three sectors of the aerospace industry. This case study was performed to investigate these high potential payoffs.

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation (ESAT) Overview

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Strategic Analysis for Transformation (ESAT) Overview Lean Advancement Initiative The ESAT methodology is an integrated, analytical framework for diagnosing and improving overall enterprise performance.

Government Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Analysis

Government Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Analysis Lean Advancement Initiative GLESAT spreadsheet analysis that aids in the analysis of the completed GLESAT results.

Government Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool

Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Government Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Shields, Tom A general brief for those individuals who actually will perform the self-assessment.

Government LESAT as a Transformation Tool

Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Government LESAT as a Transformation Tool Shields, Tom This tool is designed for use by the leadership team to obtain an understanding of what the Government LESAT is and how it can help their organization.

Government Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (Government LESAT) 1.0

Sun, 15 May 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Government Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (Government LESAT) 1.0 Lean Advancement Initiative This Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) product utilizes elements of the Enterprise Transition To Lean (TTL) Roadmap and the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT Version 1.0) to provide a structure and implementation reference for the self-assessment process.

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, Version 1.0

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, Version 1.0 Lean Advancement Initiative; Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative; International Council on Systems Engineering; Practical Software and Systems Measurement The Systems Engineering Leading Indicators guide set reflects the initial subset of possible indicators that were considered to be the highest priority for evaluating effectiveness before the fact. A leading indicator is a measure for evaluating the effectiveness of a how a specific activity is applied on a program in a manner that provides information about impacts that are likely to affect the system performance objectives. A leading indicator may be an individual measure, or collection of measures, that are predictive of future system performance before the performance is realized. Leading indicators aid leadership in delivering value to customers and end users, while assisting in taking interventions and actions to avoid rework and wasted effort. The Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide was initiated as a result of the June 2004 Air Force/LAI Workshop on Systems Engineering for Robustness, this guide supports systems engineering revitalization. Over several years, a group of industry, government, and academic stakeholders worked to define and validate a set of thirteen indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of systems engineering on a program. Released as version 1.0 in June 2007 the leading indicators provide predictive information to make informed decisions and where necessary, take preventative or corrective action during the program in a proactive manner. While the leading indicators appear similar to existing measures and often use the same base information, the difference lies in how the information is gathered, evaluated, interpreted and used to provide a forward looking perspective.

LESAT Calculator

LESAT Calculator Lean Advancement Initiative Tool for lean practice calculations.

LESAT: The Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

LESAT: The Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Nightingale, Deborah The Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool overview.

Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Simulation

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) Simulation Lean Advancement Initiative The Lean Enterprise Value (LEV) simulation is a unique tool for demonstrating the value, and challenges, of implementing lean principles and practices at the enterprise level. It currently comprises four modular simulations developed on a foundation of insights gained through more than 11 years of intensive research and Lean Aerospace Initiative consortium real-world experience. It is a complete, flexible simulation of a complex enterprise, which allows hands-on lessons in lean improvement.

Product Development Value Stream Mapping (PDVSM) Manual Release 1.0

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Product Development Value Stream Mapping (PDVSM) Manual Release 1.0 McManus, Hugh L. This manual is intended for product development (PD) personnel working on improving their own processes, and the lean change agents working with them. Its aim is to provide practical guidance for applying lean concepts to PD process improvement—specifically, PD Value Stream Mapping (PDVSM). Although sources will be cited, and further reading suggested, this manual and some basic background in lean should be all that is required to start improving product development processes.

Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation ESAT

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation ESAT Nightingale, Deborah; Stanke, Alexis; Bryan, F. Terry Organizations operate today in a heightened competitive environment in which change is the only certainty. The adage of when in doubt restructure brought about by reengineering, and the turbulence of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, has resulted in organizations with often impenetrable functional silos. The challenges bought forth by globalization, schedule compression, cost constraints, time to market pressures, capability differentials in the supplier base, growing shortages of human capital and pressures from stockholders, requires organizations to take a more holistic approach to transformation. The Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation (ESAT) methodology provides a means for the senior leadership team to understand their enterprise, create an actionable vision for the future, plan the transformation and govern the execution.

Conversion Guide for LESAT to Government LESAT

Conversion Guide for LESAT to Government LESAT Lean Advancement Initiative This tool illustrates how LESAT practices relate to Government LESAT practices. This is invaluable if the self-assessment team is assessing both industry and government organizations and wishes to combine the results.

The Lean Enterprise Model (LEM)

Thu, 01 Apr 2004 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) Lean Advancement Initiative The Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) is a systematic framework for organizing and disseminating MIT research and external data source results of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). It encompasses lean enterprise principles and practices and is populated by MIT and external data derived from surveys, case studies, and other research activities.

Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Version 1.0, Facilitator's Guide

Wed, 01 Aug 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool Version 1.0, Facilitator's Guide Lean Advancement Initiative This guide is designed to be used by the team that will conduct a Lean Enterprise Self Assessment. It provides an introduction to the self assessment tool itself, explains the architecture of the self assessment tool, provides generic level definitions and defines the assessment methodology recommended. The Facilitator Guide also provides ways to summarize results and suggestions on how to present results to the leadership team.

Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) Version 1.0

Wed, 01 Aug 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) Version 1.0 Lean Advancement Initiative The LESAT Development Team solicited input from a wide variety of LAI consortium members to determine the set of factors considered most important in transitioning to a lean enterprise. The team determined an overarching organizing structure for the LESAT matrices consisting of three major sections. Section I contains those lean practices pertinent to the lean transformation process, with emphasis on enterprise leadership and change management. Section II contains those lean practices pertinent to the “life cycle processes” of an enterprise, i.e., those processes involved in product realization. Section III contains those lean practices pertinent to the infrastructure support units. It is important to remember that all practices in these three sections are expressed at the enterprise level.

Manufacturing System Design Framework Manual

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Manufacturing System Design Framework Manual Vaughn, Amanda; Fernandes, Pradeep; Shields, J. Tom Previous Lean Aerospace Initiative research in factory operations had indicated that the greatest performance gains are realized when the manufacturing system is designed from the top down and from supplier to the customer. Manufacturing system designs were most effective when the entire product value stream was designed or redesigned (not just a shop, division or segment of the factory). This led to a focus on manufacturing system design. The objective in this study was to develop a method or process that would assist manufacturing system designers as they developed (or modified) the manufacturing system for their needs. This effort was developed to be applicable to a single product manufacturing system design or a multiple product manufacturing system design. A systems approach was used with an enterprise perspective. Several important products were produced as the problem was addressed: a list of the manufacturing system design inputs and a definition of manufacturing system types (each included in the appendices).

Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset (Version 1.0) General Description

Mon, 22 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset (Version 1.0) General Description Bozd, Kirk The Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset was developed by LAI's Supplier Networks Working Group and released as version 1.0 in March 2004. This toolset represents the 1.0 version of the LAI Supplier Networks Transformation Toolset (Supplier Toolset), which provides an integrated implementation framework for developing lean supplier networks. The Supplier Toolset was developed in response to an important need expressed by LAI consortium member companies, and is designed to address the following types of key questions: What are lean supply chain management concepts, practices and metrics?; How do we develop lean supplier networks?; How do we assess where we are in evolving lean supply chain management capabilities?; How can we define our own enterprise's lean expectations in the area of supply chain management that we can directly communicate to our suppliers?; How can we anticipate and define the emerging expectations of our customer companies in the area of supply chain management, so that we can accelerate our own internal efforts (e.g., as a supplier) to meet those customer expectations effectively?

Enterprise Transformation Roadmap

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Transformation Roadmap Nightingale, Deborah; Srinivasan, Jayakanth; Mize, Joe After gaining experience with a large number of enterprise transformation efforts in industry, government, academia and service industries, the Version 1 of the Enterprise Transformation Roadmap needed to be modified to reflect our learning. This roadmap reflects this learning and adds details and refinements in the strategy, planning and execution cycles of enterprise transformation. We added more specific guidance on linkages to enterprise strategy and leadership roles. Also included was our latest research in enterprise architecting and design. More emphasis was place on alignment of metrics, strategic objectives, stakeholder values and processes. In the implementation phase we added the identification and detailed planning of key enterprise focus areas identified in the planning cycle. Lastly, we made the terminology more generic, since many enterprises employ lean principles but choose to call their programs something other than that.

Production Operations Level: Transition-To-Lean Roadmap

Mon, 05 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Production Operations Level: Transition-To-Lean Roadmap Lean Advancement Initiative This paper provides a roadmap for transitioning an existing production operation to one that fully implements a lean manufacturing philosophy. Integration of engineering, human resources, and business viewpoints are incorporated into the roadmap to provide a systematic implementation process. Specific actions, in order of precedence, are organized into major phases with points of interface defined with other systems that are both internal and external to the business enterprise. Definitions of those terms used on the roadmap, which are unique in describing lean activities and practices, are also presented in this paper. The roadmap is based upon experience gained to date by members of the Lean Aerospace Initiative in implementing lean philosophy into production operations at various aerospace facilities and validated by research conducted by this consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Enterprise Level Roadmap

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

The Enterprise Level Roadmap Lean Advancement Initiative The Enterprise Level Roadmap is part of a Transition-To-Lean Guide, a three volume set of materials designed to help a user navigate through the Roadmap at increasingly deeper levels of detail.

Production Operations Transition-To-Lean Roadmap

Mon, 05 Jun 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Production Operations Transition-To-Lean Roadmap Lean Advancement Initiative Tool to help production operations improve competitive position.

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume I, Executive Overview

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume I, Executive Overview Mize, Joe; Nightingale, Deborah; Taneja, Abhinav; Tonaszuck, David This Transition-To-Lean Guide is intended to help your enterprise leadership navigate your enterprise’s challenging journey into the promising world of “lean.” You have opened this guide because, in some fashion, you have come to realize that your enterprise must undertake a fundamental transformation in how it sees the world, what it values, and the principles that will become its guiding lights if it is to prosper — or even survive — in this new era of “clock-speed” competition. However you may have been introduced to “lean,” you have undertaken to benefit from its implementation.

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume II, Transition-to-Lean Roadmap

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume II, Transition-to-Lean Roadmap Lean Advancement Initiative Volume II of this guide is a standalone reference model for assisting lean change agents and lean implementation teams in transforming the enterprise to a lean state. It is also of value to enterprise leaders and senior managers who wish to gain a better understanding of the overall transformation process. We assume that the reader of Volume II is familiar with the history and general principles of the lean paradigm. We refer those who are not, or who would like to refamiliarize themselves with lean, to Volume I, Executive Overview. Volume III, Roadmap Explorations is available for those readers who wish to acquire a deeper understanding of the several elements of the lean transformation process.

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume III, Roadmap Explorations

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume III, Roadmap Explorations Bozdogan, Kirk; Milauskas, Ronald; Mize, Joe; Nightingale, Deborah; Taneja, Abhinav; Tonaszuck, David Volume III of this guide may be used as an in-depth reference source for acquiring deep knowledge about many of the aspects of transitioning to lean. Lean change agents and lean implementation leaders should find this volume especially valuable in preparing their organizations for the lean transformation and in developing and implementing an enterprise level lean implementation plan. The richness and depth of the discussions in this volume should be helpful in charting a course, avoiding pitfalls, and making in-course corrections during implementation. We assume that the reader of Volume III is familiar with the history and general principles of the lean paradigm that are presented in Volume I, Executive Overview. A review of Volume II, Transition to Lean Roadmap may be helpful prior to launching into Volume III. For those readers most heavily involved in the lean transformation, all three volumes should be understood and referenced frequently.

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, Version 2.0

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide, Version 2.0 Lean Advancement Initiative; Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative; International Council on Systems Engineering; Practical Software and Systems Measurement The Systems Engineering Leading Indicators Guide editorial team is pleased to announce the release of Version 2.0. Version 2.0 supersedes Version 1.0, which was released in July 2007 and was the result of a project initiated by the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) at MIT in cooperation with: the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), Practical Software and Systems Measurement (PSM), and the Systems Engineering Advancement Research Initiative (SEAri) at MIT. A leading indicator is a measure for evaluating the effectiveness of how a specific project activity is likely to affect system performance objectives. A leading indicator may be an individual measure or a collection of measures and associated analysis that is predictive of future systems engineering performance. Systems engineering performance itself could be an indicator of future project execution and system performance. Leading indicators aid leadership in delivering value to customers and end users and help identify interventions and actions to avoid rework and wasted effort. Conventional measures provide status and historical information. Leading indicators use an approach that draws on trend information to allow for predictive analysis. By analyzing trends, predictions can be forecast on the outcomes of certain activities. Trends are analyzed for insight into both the entity being measured and potential impacts to other entities. This provides leaders with the data they need to make informed decisions and where necessary, take preventative or corrective action during the program in a proactive manner. Version 2.0 guide adds five new leading indicators to the previous 13 for a new total of 18 indicators. The guide addresses feedback from users of the previous version of the guide, as well as lessons learned from implementation and industry workshops. The document format has been improved for usability, and several new appendices provide application information and techniques for determining correlations of indicators. Tailoring of the guide for effective use is encouraged. Additional collaborating organizations involved in Version 2.0 include the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), US Department of Defense Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), and National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Systems Engineering Division (SED). Many leading measurement and systems engineering experts from government, industry, and academia volunteered their time to work on this initiative.

Supplier Management Self-Assessment Tool

Roadmap for Building Lean Supplier Networks (Roadmap Tool)

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Roadmap for Building Lean Supplier Networks (Roadmap Tool) Bozdogan, Kirk This tool represents a "how-to" implementation guide that lays out a structured process for evolving lean supply chain management capabilities in order to build lean supplier networks. The Roadmap Tool is linked to the Transition-to-Lean Roadmap (TTL) at the enterprise level and follows a process architecture similar to that used in the TTL. It defines major building blocks and specific implementation steps. It also identifies key interactions and major feedback loops. In addition, the tool provides implementation aids ("Roadmap Explorations"). For example, for each major building block, it defines inputs, outputs, barriers, enablers, potential metrics, and tools and methods. At the same time, it discusses a number of issues and questions that are commonly faced in such an implementation effort (e.g., why, what, who, how, where, when) and identifies potential tensions or conflicts that can be anticipated and proactively addressed. Finally, the Supplier Networks Transformation Toolkit Roadmap Tool can be used to accelerate on-going lean supply chain transformation efforts. It can also be used by companies just starting their journey to develop lean supplier networks.

The Lean Innovation Roadmap - A Systematic Approach to Introducing Lean in Product Development Processes and Establishing a Learning Organization

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Lean Innovation Roadmap - A Systematic Approach to Introducing Lean in Product Development Processes and Establishing a Learning Organization Hoppmann, Joern The application of Lean principles in the field of product development is the subject of a growing number of publications. In the past, significant efforts have been undertaken to identify and describe the practices of a Lean Product Development (Lean PD) system. The important question of how these elements of Lean PD can be implemented in a company, however, remains underinvestigated. The thesis at hand examines the process of implementing Lean PD and gives recommendations for a successful introduction of Lean principles in product development. Following a systematic approach, at the beginning of this work the basics of Lean Thinking and product development systems are reviewed. Existing approaches to Lean PD in literature are discussed. Building upon this, a novel and coherent definition of a Lean PD system, consisting of eleven distinct Lean PD components, is derived. The components of Lean PD are described in detail and investigated with regard to their interdependencies. The findings of this analysis serve as a basis to derive five major hypotheses on the efficient introduction of Lean PD.

Specification Risk Analysis: Avoiding Product Performance Deviations through an FMEA-Based Method

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Specification Risk Analysis: Avoiding Product Performance Deviations through an FMEA-Based Method Wagner, Claudia This thesis investigates the potential application of the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) as a method that facilitates risk management for product architectures. The process described by Pahl & Beitz and the Munich Procedural Model form the guiding frameworks to describe the process of product development in this thesis. Additionally, the perspective of Lean Product Development is taken into account.

Approaches To Crisis Prevention In Lean Product Development By High Performance Teams And Through Risk Management

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Approaches To Crisis Prevention In Lean Product Development By High Performance Teams And Through Risk Management Oehmen, Josef This thesis investigates crisis prevention in lean product development, focusing on high performance teams and risk management methods. Lean product development and the Munich Procedural Model (MPM) are the guiding frameworks for this thesis. From the MPM, team work and risk management are derived as important elements in crisis prevention, from lean product development, especially the notion of value is used to define basic types of crisis in product development and the failure modes of risks in product development.

A framework for a strategy driven manufacturing system design in an aerospace environment : design beyond factory floor

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A framework for a strategy driven manufacturing system design in an aerospace environment : design beyond factory floor Fernandes, Pradeep, 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-135).

Characterization of operator-reported discrepancies in unmanned on-orbit space systems

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Characterization of operator-reported discrepancies in unmanned on-orbit space systems Ferris, David L. (David Lee), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80).

Lean Product Development: Making Waste Transparent

Thu, 15 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Product Development: Making Waste Transparent Bauch, Christoph Lean manufacturing developed by Toyota is a production philosophy that focuses on streamlining of value added activities and eliminating waste within the process with the goal to better meet customer demand. It constitutes a production system that enables highest quality at minimal costs and reduced lead times. The reason for the high performance of the Toyota Production System (TPS) can primarily be seen in the underlying principles, rules and tools established, and how those work together. It is supposed that lean principles like focusing on value, eliminating waste, making processes flow, and continuous improvement facilitated by high levels of transparency, also apply to product development in anticipation of the same positive impacts known from manufacturing. This may not be that easy since product development is different from manufacturing.

Information and Communication in Lean Product Development

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Information and Communication in Lean Product Development Graebsch, Martin In this thesis, the implications and influences that information and communication impose on lean product development in general, as well as the development of a lean Product Development Value Stream Display (lean PDVSD) in specific, are discussed theoretically, studied and analyzed. First, the concepts of information and communication are discussed theoretically from a lean perspective. Definitions are provided and aspects of importance to lean processes are deduced. Furthermore, requirements for an envisioned lean PDVSD are gathered systematically. Existing Value Stream Mapping tools are introduced and shortly discussed, and the current development of the envisioned lean PDVSD is briefly reported. A preliminary, paper-based version is provided.

Stakeholder salience influence on bureaucratic program enterprise value creation

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Stakeholder salience influence on bureaucratic program enterprise value creation Matty, Douglas Matthew In 2009, the Government Accountability Office reported that two-thirds of major weapon systems acquisition programs were required to report budget overruns and were almost two years behind schedule for delivery of capability to the warfighters. The Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States asked the same question: "How do we fix DOD acquisition?" The Acquisition system has been studied nearly continuously for more than forty years. Applying traditional system engineering methods have not improved performance, but developed a highly-complex bureaucracy that is viewed as inflexible, unscalable, unreliable, and (recently) unsustainable. With this seemingly intractable challenge, this work uses the synergy of integrating approaches based on engineering, management, and social sciences to develop a new framework to help understand the policy resistance of many previous unsuccessful initiatives. This research seeks to develop a dynamic enterprise engineering system framework using case study methodology to integrate three widely adopted but disparate frameworks by evaluating the influence relationships. Informed by the enterprise architecture, this new framework seeks to incorporate stakeholder salience and its dynamic influence on value creation as an endogenous factor in the context of the bureaucratic program enterprise of DOD acquisition. This work not only proposes an intermediate level theory but also provides insights for policy implications. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, February 2011.; "September 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references.

The effective use of process capability databases for design

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

The effective use of process capability databases for design Tata, Melissa M., 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-166).

The cost and cycle time implications of selected contractor and Air Force system program office management policies during the development phase of a major aircraft acquisition programs

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

The cost and cycle time implications of selected contractor and Air Force system program office management policies during the development phase of a major aircraft acquisition programs Morgan, Séan (Séan Padraig), 1961- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program; and (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113).

Design and analysis of production systems in aircraft assembly

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Design and analysis of production systems in aircraft assembly Wang, Andrew, 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-128).

The informational content of new security issues.

Mon, 01 Jan 1973 00:00:00 GMT

The informational content of new security issues. Elkus, William Steven Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1973. M.S.; MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY.; Bibliography: leaves 144-146.

A network planning process and inventory strategy for high-mix low-volume markets

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A network planning process and inventory strategy for high-mix low-volume markets Smith, Sally A. (Sally Amanda) From June to December 2011, the impact of rapid international expansion on the Global Supply Chain organization at Amgen - one of the world's leading human therapeutics companies in the biotechnology industry - was investigated and a strategy was developed to mitigate the major challenges associated with globalization. Amgen is transitioning from predominantly high-volume low-mix manufacturing and a "one size fits all" Operations mentality; the company is challenged to not only now effectively and efficiently accommodate high-mix low-volume markets, but to also increase its overall market responsiveness and flexibility. To mitigate the challenges, an end-to-end depiction of a specific product's supply chain was developed and an inventory supermarket strategy supported by an Excel macro was developed. We believe the strategy mitigates the challenges, specifically by decreasing manufacturing lead time, buffering against supply chain variability, improving demand signaling and sustaining on-time deliveries. The Excel macro described in this thesis serves as a stepping-stone for the development of a future, more sustainable solution for Amgen's enterprise-wide systems. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Optimization of SKU creation process and adherence improvement through use of workflow management

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Optimization of SKU creation process and adherence improvement through use of workflow management Gimlin, Richard James Over the past several years and into the foreseeable future, Amgen has been experiencing substantial SKU/DFU proliferation. Formerly, Amgen focused primarily on the North American and other developed markets (low to medium mix, high to medium volumes). However more recently, expansion into "emerging markets" has been a focus (high mix, low volumes). Consequently, the complexity of Amgen's product portfolio has substantially increased. Most of the international expansion efforts take place at the Breda packaging facility in the Netherlands (ABR). Here the International Operations team manages SKU launches, SKU refreshes (life cycle management) and SKU rationalization for European, Australian and Emerging Markets. Currently the International Operations Leads manually manage product launches using a combination of Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Project, along with various other tools and databases. All tools and processes used are manual or semi-manual, labor intensive and prone to error. The goal of this project was to begin streamlining these processes through the implementation of a Workflow Management Tool. Specifically, a proof of concept for the planning portion of the SKU creation process was the focus. The work studied here resulted in four outputs: 1. Detailed process map for the planning phase of the SKU creation process 2. URS document for Block 1 of workflow tool and draft documents for Block 2 and Block 3 3. Draft Commit-to-Launch process and associated checklist 4. Near and longer term plan for workflow tool implementation Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 46).

Architecting the Future Enterprise : a framework for supporting decision making in the selection of future states

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Architecting the Future Enterprise : a framework for supporting decision making in the selection of future states Raby, Matias A. (Matias Andres) Enterprises that are successful over the long term are compelled to continuously transform in order to adapt to new contexts or economic environments. However, many of these transformation efforts fail to achieve their desired objectives. MIT Professors Nightingale and Rhodes have been developing an integrative approach that uses Enterprise Architecting as an instrument to support the planning of successful transformation. Although the approach has shown to be useful to guide transformations in various domains, feedback from previous users indicated the need for a more prescriptive and quantitative guidance in the process of moving an enterprise from the 'As-Is' to the desired 'To-Be' state. This thesis introduces a framework that provides a structure of reasoning about the process of architecting the future state of an enterprise in the context of a transformation. The 'Architecting the Future Enterprise' (AFE) Framework is an iterative method that incorporates a systems thinking approach to design future states and a multidimensional evaluation process that compares competing architectures in terms of effectiveness, effort and risk. It enables the generation of an output in the form of an Architecture Tradeoffs Matrix, a quantitative visual representation to assess tradeoffs among competing architectures. A case study is included to illustrate a real application of the AFE Framework. The implications of this research span across two areas. First, it aims to formalize enterprise transformation planning policies by providing practitioners a structure for reasoning that can help to minimize decision making errors. Second, by introducing quantification approaches to effectiveness, effort and risk, it improves the decision making process normally followed by enterprise leaders and architects to select the future architecture of their organizations. Finally, the framework leverages the use of simple engineering and management tools that lead to more informed decisions and to practical contributions to the practice of enterprise architecting and management decision making. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-106).

Integration and the performance of large-scale health enterprises : field studies of psychological health delivery systems in the U.S. Military

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Integration and the performance of large-scale health enterprises : field studies of psychological health delivery systems in the U.S. Military Kamin, Cody M. (Cody Meyer) Large-scale health enterprises comprise multiple organizations that provide programs and services for patients. Despite the interconnectedness of these systems there is a lack of empirical research documenting how these organizations work collectively - or integrate - and how this integration impacts enterprise performance measured through quality, efficiency, and access. In the case of psychological healthcare, patients often require a number of services that span multiple departments and programs within an enterprise, increasing the complexity of maintaining a continuum of care for these patients. This paper, which is part of a larger effort to examine psychological healthcare in the U.S. Military Health System, presents a series of qualitative observations and analyses of the integration of psychological health-related organizations at two large health enterprises within the military. These qualitative inquiries take a multilevel approach for examining integration within these enterprises and address the following areas of interest: 1) the mechanisms for integration; 2) the objects of integration; 3) the dimensions of integration; 4) the contextual factors that influence integration; and 5) the impacts of integration on enterprise performance. Using semi-structured interviews, qualitative data was collected and then examined using content analysis to identify the most frequent themes for each area of interest. This data was used to validate and refine a comprehensive framework for integration that was developed to pull together multiple, distinct strands of the integration literature. This data was also used to demonstrate the relationship between different dimensions of enterprise performance and to identify areas where, in the process of optimizing enterprise performance, there is a trade-off between these dimensions. The preliminary, qualitative results of this research are intended to provide a conceptual foundation and framework for future analytic studies. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-102).

Leveraging enterprise architecture to enable integrated test and evaluation sustainability

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Leveraging enterprise architecture to enable integrated test and evaluation sustainability Sheets, Arlan C. (Arlan Christopher) An analysis was performed to investigate how enterprise architecting methods can be applied to an integrate test and evaluation enterprise and make it a more sustainable enterprise to provide continuous value in the face of an evolving DoD landscape. Enterprise sustainability is the ability of an enterprise to maintain economic viability through optimal resource management and preservation over an extended duration. Through the application of the eight lenses of enterprise architecting, it was found that a more holistic understanding of a Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB) enterprise's current state could be achieved. This approach also supported identifying gaps that exist between the ability of the current-state MRTFB to deliver value and the value delivery that is required by its key stakeholders. The importance of expanding the information view of enterprise architecting to encompass the entire enterprise infrastructure was also studied. Through the expansion of the information view to an infrastructure view, a more complete depiction of the MRTFB enterprise was achieved. The specific importance of the energy infrastructure to a sustainable enterprise was also explored. Through the application of enterprise architecting, the interrelations between the energy infrastructure and the other views, such as processes, services, and knowledge, and the other supporting infrastructure components, such as facilities, land, physical assets, communication networks, and IT networks, can be established. It was found that the energy infrastructure is a core enabler for our technology-based society, and coupled with the current societal focus on green and sustainable energy provides a focal point for enterprises to leverage and initiate transformation efforts to align the energy infrastructure with larger enterprise strategic objectives. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-64).

The dynamics of circular migration in Southern Europe

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The dynamics of circular migration in Southern Europe Marañón-Abreu, Rafael During economic crises, governments establish policies that facilitate the creation of jobs, goods and services that make their economies more resilient. Often this requires innovative social programs that match global migratory trends to local labor demand. The implementation of such programs requires a significant degree of innovation that requires models that can capture the complexity involved. To explore this phenomenon, we provide a multi-disciplinary view of innovative social programs that shed light on the dynamic characteristics of the political, social, technological and economic aspects of circular migration. Our focus is a case study of the European Union-funded circular migration program to support the strawberry harvest in the province of Huelva in Spain. Covering the time period of 2002-2011, this thesis provides a system dynamics model to represent the key elements that led to the success of circular migration from the standpoint of economic and labor supply management. The model helps explain the essential factors that make the program robust not only under recent economic crisis conditions but also under policy constraints. Based on a qualitative analytical approach, the model demonstrates how adaptive policies can enable macroeconomic equilibrium in environments where circular migration can be implemented. We also show that circular migration is not an impediment to economic recovery; in fact, it helps stabilize the labor supply in times of high uncertainty. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-101).

How do senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises?

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

How do senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises? Zini, Francisco A. (Francisco Andrés) This research proposes enhancements to the Enterprise Architecture Method developed by Nightingale and Rhodes. By Enterprise Architecting we consider the following definition: "applying holistic thinking to design, valuate and select a preferred structure for a future state enterprise to realize its value proposition, and desired behaviors." (Nightingale & Rhodes, 2011) In this thesis we will focus on the steps needed to design the enterprise "To Be" Architecture. We try to find an answer to how senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises. We propose five prescriptive steps to follow in the pre-architecting stage of the enterprise, and four steps to follow in the design of the "To Be" alternatives. Those steps enable a systematic process that assures the architect that all the main issues of candidate generation are covered, as well as, it helps to bring new and fresh ideas in the design phase of the Enterprise. Those steps are included in a broader method called the Enterprise Architecting Method for Generating and Evaluating Potential Future States (EAMGE), a systematic technique to guide enterprise leaders to make better decisions when deciding a future architecture when employing an enterprise transformation process. The method follows a spiral model of design that leads to more refined architectures. It allows to understand alternatives as well as estimate effectiveness, effort and risk for different alternatives and analyzes tradeoffs among them, leading to a more informed decision making process. Future work (is undergoing) will provide the evaluations stages proposed by EAMGE and will complement the steps proposed in this thesis. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98).

The impact of individual-, unit-, and enterprise-level factors on psychological health outcomes : a system dynamics study of the U.S. military

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The impact of individual-, unit-, and enterprise-level factors on psychological health outcomes : a system dynamics study of the U.S. military Wang, Judy Y. H Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological health issues have emerged as a signature pathology of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the full continuum of care in the U.S. military for PTSD and related disorders is reported to be insufficient to meet the current and future needs of service members and their beneficiaries. The influence of external factors such as pre-traumatic risk factors and the availability of unit-level and enterprise-level resilience resources on eventual mental health outcomes have been previously considered individually, but not together in an enterprise-wide context. Although systems thinking has been applied to transform general health care systems in the United States and recommended for the military health system, there has been limited application of such ideas to the military health care system at large. This thesis expands on previous systems thinking work to transform health care systems in the United States by building a multi-level, dynamic model of the military psychological health enterprise from accession and deployment to future psychological health screening and treatment. The model demonstrates the relationships between stress, resilience and external unit-level and enterprise-level resources, and the influence of pre-traumatic risk factors, effectiveness of predeployment resilience resources and the availability of psychological health treatment in theater are evaluated using sensitivity analyses in order to formulate recommendations for upstream initiatives to improve downstream health outcomes. Increasing participation in pre-deployment resilience training and increasing unit support would have the largest effect on decreasing the number of service members predicted to develop symptoms of PTSD. Thus, it is recommended that the military consider fitting potential at-risk service members to resilience training, developing concurrent strategic short-term and long-term operational policymaking processes, and linking accession data to health outcomes to inform future psychological health policy creation. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-141).

An examination of the patterns of failure in defense acquisition programs

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

An examination of the patterns of failure in defense acquisition programs McNew, Gregory J The history of acquisition reform dates back to the Revolutionary War era, and recommendations and actions to reform the Department of Defense's acquisition system continue today. Common themes emerge from the recommendations of countless Acts, Studies, Panels, and Commissions over the past 30 years, pointing to areas that appear to have the most impact on the system. Despite these actions and recommendations, issues remain at the program execution level, resulting in increased cost and delays in fielding needed capabilities. This work focuses on three areas. A comprehensive Literature Review of acquisition reform activities was conducted. This generated a list of common themes and focus areas that are associated with less than successful program outcomes. Following this, a series of ten patterns of behavior (acquisition archetypes) postulated for software programs developed by Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute were examined for applicability to the larger Department of Defense acquisition system and to determine their relationship to acquisition reform actions. As part of this effort, a survey of acquisition personnel was conducted to determine the relevance of these patterns of behavior. Based on these foundational works, the final step examined the results of the survey to answer four research questions. First, the survey results were analyzed to determine if the patterns of behavior were present with general and statistical relevance. The second question attempted to determine if the patterns of behavior led to measurable cost and/or schedule growth if they were present in the respondent's program. Third, the postulated root causes for the behaviors were compared to the common themes from acquisition reform activities to determine alignment. Finally, the survey results were analyzed to see if the patterns of behavior correlated to a particular program size, lead service, or "joint" program status. The findings show that the patterns of behavior are present in Department of Defense acquisition programs, and some do lead to measurable cost and/or schedule growth when identified. Acquisition Reform activities have been targeted at the areas that are reported as root causes of the behaviors, and one of the ten patterns of behavior does correlate with "joint" program status. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-217).

Portfolio management in the Air Force : current status and opportunities

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Portfolio management in the Air Force : current status and opportunities Morgan, Dave B There are hundreds of weapons programs, under the management of the United States Air Force worth billions of dollars. These programs are being developed to fulfill a need in the U.S. defense strategy. Bringing these weapon systems to operational status is not an easy process. It takes communication and coordination of many stakeholders and development of state-of the-art technology. More often than not, weapons programs are developed with the final cost and schedule being much higher that forecasted. Inherently weapons systems are expensive, however the costs of these systems continue to rise with no apparent end in sight. The Government Accountability Office, RAND, Congressional studies and the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment have has criticized the Department of Defense for escalating costs. These studies point to poor requirement definition, errors in cost and scheduling forecasts, poor oversight, bad decisions by the government, and failure to adopt recommendations from reform policies as the main causes. One way ameliorate cost escalation is to employ portfolio management technique. The Air Force groups their weapon systems into 20 portfolios. Some form of portfolio management has been employed for the last decade. Portfolio management cannot solve the issues above but it can offer a solution that can potentially save millions and perhaps billions of dollars This thesis examines the Air Force's current use of Portfolio Management theory and what opportunities we can do to improve it in the acquisition community. The thesis poses three research questions: 1) How can the Air Force better employ portfolio management to curb cost overruns and schedule delays in their weapon acquisition programs? 2) What can the Air Force do to empower portfolio managers for success? 3) What barriers can the Air Force eliminate or streamline to help portfolio managers execute their portfolios more effectively and efficiently. Acquisition professionals were interviewed to glean their perspectives and opinions. More specifically acquisition personnel were asked how portfolio management was being executed and how can the Air Force improve this technique to better execute weapon systems programs. From these interviews and the research conducted, the following recommendations were made: 1) Program Executive Officers should be given more authority with respect to utilizing funds and hiring of specialized personnel 2) The Air Force needs to streamline the process for reallocating funds and, 3) The Air Force needs to modify number of reporting requirements and policy changes to make the process more efficient and effective. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68).

Feature performance metrics in a service as a software offering

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Feature performance metrics in a service as a software offering Latner, Avi Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model has become widespread. This deployment model changes the economics of software delivery but also has an impact on development. Releasing updates to customers is immediate and the development, product and marketing teams have access to customer usage information. These dynamics create a fast feedback loop between developments to customers. To fully leverage this feedback loop the right metrics need to be set. Typically SaaS applications are a collection of features. The product is divided between development teams according to features and customers access the service through features. Thus a framework that measure feature performance is valuable. This thesis provides a framework for measuring the performance of software as a service (SaaS) product features in order to prioritize development efforts. The case is based on empirical data from HubSpot and it is generalized to provide a framework applicable to other companies with large scale software offerings and distributed development. Firstly, relative value is measured by the impact that each feature has on customer acquisition and retention. Secondly, feature value is compared to feature cost and specifically development investment to determine feature profitability. Thirdly, feature sensitivity is measured. Feature sensitivity is defined as the effect a fixed amount of development investment has on value in a given time. Fourthly, features are segmented according to their location relative to the value to cost trend line into: most valuable features, outperforming, under-performing and fledglings. Finally, results are analyzed to determine future action. Maintenance and bug fixes are prioritized according to feature value. Product enhancements are prioritized according to sensitivity with special attention to fledglings. Under-performing features are either put on "life-support", terminated or overhauled. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-47).

Predictors of successful outcomes of U.S. Coast Guard construction contracts

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Predictors of successful outcomes of U.S. Coast Guard construction contracts Evans, Dennis C. (Dennis Christopher) The U. S. federal government contracts over five hundred billion dollars in goods and services each year. Traditionally, these contracts are awarded on the basis of a combination of a contractor's proposed cost, quality, technical capability and demonstrated past performance. While all valid and important comparators, the overall quality and customer satisfaction achieved at the completion of contracts awarded on these bases remains highly variable from contract-to-contract. This thesis examines potential reasons for the variability of these results and further proposes additional factors for contract evaluation and award that should improve the chances for successful contract outcomes. Twenty four randomly selected and recently completed U. S. Coast Guard construction contracts were used as the basis for study. The documented performance information for each contract was compared against contract demographic information in a search for correlations that are predictive of the likelihood of a high level of contract satisfaction. Contract performance ratings, contract timeliness and contract on-budget performance were compared to overall contractor annual revenue, total contractor employees, the relative contract size and a contractor's revenue per employee. The main finding is that total contractor revenue, relative contract size (higher is better) and contractor revenue per employee (higher is better) are reliable predictors of performance and should be considered as relevant source selection factors for negotiated contracts. Capable small contractors should be selected not simply as a matter of conformance to a social program, but because the expected results are higher. In addition, the following recommendations apply in order to maximize the probability of positive performance outcomes on U. S. Coast Guard construction contracts: 1) Improve the collection and utilization of past performance data. 2) Minimize sealed-low bid contracting. 3) Maximize contracts by negotiation. 4) Maximize the usage of small businesses, above the "micro-small" level. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-118).

Transforming the DoD test and evaluation enterprise to enable unmanned autonomous systems of systems

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Transforming the DoD test and evaluation enterprise to enable unmanned autonomous systems of systems Cowart, Karl K., 1975- Many US Department of Defense (DoD) systems operate within a systems of systems construct, which present many challenges and will be ever increasing for test and evaluation of unmanned autonomous systems of systems. Challenges include emergent behaviors along with resource limitations that will cause test planners to balance tradeoffs in order to effectively plan test missions. The current test and evaluation enterprise will have to change in order to address such challenges. This thesis investigates how a decision support system can be utilized by DoD test and evaluation stakeholders to adequately plan missions for unmanned autonomous systems of systems testing. Research was conducted to serve dual strategic and tactical purposes. Strategically, this research served to identify potential gaps in the test and evaluation enterprise, which create challenges for unmanned autonomous systems of systems testing. Tactically, this research investigated how a decision support system can deliver value to the stakeholders of the enterprise. This effort was guided by five research focus areas. First, focus was on differentiating testing at the system and systems of systems levels. Second, test and evaluation stakeholders were identified and their saliency was determined. Third, stakeholder values for testing of unmanned systems were gathered via stakeholder interviews. Fourth, challenges of testing unmanned autonomous systems of systems were determined. Lastly, a use case example was utilized to demonstrate how stakeholder value is generated by the use of a decision support system. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-121).

Prediction markets for cost and risk assessment

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Prediction markets for cost and risk assessment Aggarwal, Taroon Several temporal and political factors can sometimes limit the effectiveness of traditional methods of project tracking and cost estimation. A large organization is susceptible to internal and external risks that are difficult to predict by a single person. Use of collective intelligence tools can help gather inputs from a crowd of people and help provide insight into future events with their collective wisdom. A prediction market is one such tool that provides an environment for traders to buy and sell contracts, whose values are tied to uncertain future events. Efficient prediction markets have been shown to outperform available polls and other forecasting mechanisms. This thesis focuses mainly on the features of a prediction market, its use in the context of a large organization and the steps needed for its implementation. We believe that prediction markets can be a useful supplementary tool along with the existing cost estimation and project management tools in a large organization. They can help aggregate information and identify any direct or indirect factors that can impact cost, or schedule estimates, or create risk for the completion of a project. Major design principles for implementation of prediction markets have been identified by the author based on seven mini case studies from different industries. The author also conducted three pilot studies at MIT and the observations from these have been used to identify best practices related to design and implementations of markets. We found increased involvement of participants and increased awareness in the projects to be one of the major benefits of prediction markets. From the case studies, research and data collected from simulations, we found positive evidence that prediction markets can supplement the use of current estimation and risk assessment methodologies when deployed correctly, and help keep a check on the pulse of an organization by preparing it for any future events or outcomes. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-99).

A case study : creating momentum and self-sustaining change in product development through continuous improvement efforts

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A case study : creating momentum and self-sustaining change in product development through continuous improvement efforts Lee, Steven (Steven SangHeon) Traditionally, in Raytheon's Integrated Defense System Product Development Engineering Group, lean initiatives have not been fully adopted. Though the lean tools are useful, the engineering group is looking for more effective deployment methods to implement lean. The conventional push approach is to have management communicate some strategic objective which generates a project. Historically, a useful lean tool is developed and introduced, but is under-utilized months later. We focused on implementing a push-pull hybrid approach. The purpose is to merge the strategic objectives with stakeholder values to generate a project that addresses needs from both ends. Organizations (such as Toyota) that are effective with change management typically spend 80 percent of their time and resources on people engagement and organizational architecture. The remaining 20 percent is spent on lean tool utilization. Raytheon emulated this model and generated initial people engagement. We discovered that successful change management embodies three factors: 1) Engaging Stakeholders 2) Engaging Leaders 3) and Ensuring Alignment of Organizational Architecture. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-80).

Performance measurement system design for supply chain organizations

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Performance measurement system design for supply chain organizations Hwang, David Delchi, 1975- This thesis proposes a methodology to create an effective performance measurement system for an interconnected organization. The performance measurement system is composed of three components: a metrics set, a metrics review business process, and a dashboard visualization technique to display the data. If designed according to the proposed methodology, the combination of these three elements produces a performance measurement system which drives behavior, creates accountability, and fosters continuous organizational improvement. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated by its application to a supply planning organization within a major technology manufacturing company. Specifically, the performance measurement system of this supply planning organization was redesigned using the proposed methodology and pilot-tested over the course of a six-month period. First, the metrics set was redesigned based on alignment to strategic objectives and grounded in metrics design fundamentals. Second, the business process to review the organization's metrics and spur action was streamlined and redesigned for maximum impact and engagement. Finally, a visualization dashboard was created to communicate key metrics clearly to all members of the organization. The resulting performance measurement system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and has been adopted as the system-on-record for the organization. Broadly speaking, the principles of performance measurement design provided in this thesis can be applied to other interconnected organizations. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89).

A process for improving long-term production planning

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A process for improving long-term production planning McIntosh, Timothy, Jr. (Timothy P.) This project presents improvements to the business process used to generate the Sikorsky five-year production scheduling plan that is a central coordinating process for company operations. Recommendations will improve the speed and quality of the planning process. The current production planning method leaves Sikorsky at risk of reserving too little capacity to satisfy demand for its most important customers. Additionally, the current method can lead to overproduction of rotorcraft. Both scenarios are very costly to Sikorsky. In the absence of a more data-driven planning approach, shortcomings of the current planning method will only be exacerbated as Sikorsky continues to pursue new customers in emerging markets. Sikorsky may struggle to continue applying judgment-based planning methods to a customer base for which there is little historical information. To investigate the problem, we used interviews, surveys, and lean techniques to study the current state of the five-year planning process. As part of the solution, we developed and applied statistical demand forecasting methods and a more formal process definition. We documented and communicated the new planning process using standard work templates and instructions. New methods were disseminated to stakeholders through a variety of showcase exercises that featured demonstrations and hands-on exercises. In general, Sikorsky production planning stakeholders were receptive to a more formal and datadriven planning process. We expect that the new methods will enable an overall planning process time of two weeks, compared to current process time of several months. Furthermore, the new methods improve forecasting accuracy by integrating and synthesizing previously unused forward-looking sales and marketing data. Going forward, a small pilot team will continue to apply and improve new planning methods. The team will engage in a preliminary pilot exercise during an upcoming revision to the five-year plan, which will occur in early 2011. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 67).

Reducing enterprise IT fragmentation through standard metrics and decision tools : a case study in the aerospace and defense industry

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Reducing enterprise IT fragmentation through standard metrics and decision tools : a case study in the aerospace and defense industry Wheeler, Benjamin (Benjamin Ray) Over the last several decades, manufacturing companies around the world have embraced new and powerful business tools made possible with Information Technology. Major investments are frequently made in enterprise-wide systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to take advantage of cost saving opportunities. While promising in concept, system implementations can grow to be expensive and complicated during execution, commonly resulting in project de-scoping and sacrifices in functionality and integration. If not carefully managed, this can ultimately lead to an environment of costly custom workaround solutions for years to follow, subverting the central goal of the original investment. This thesis presents a case study examining Raytheon's initiative to launch an enterprise ERP system (SAP PRISM) in an effort to standardize and modernize supply chain operations. Within the SAP implementation, the repair and retrofit, or depot, business had major integration components de-scoped due to cost constraints. As a result numerous systems have been developed to manage the business, leading to difficulties in process alignment across manufacturing programs. This work introduces a pilot project with the objective of re-aligning business processes by delivering a portal of common metrics and decision tools to the manufacturing and operations community. With the common portal, the user community gains access to existing centralized data, reducing the need for isolated application development and enabling richer capability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-61).

An abridged enterprise assessment model to promote consistent reassessment : model development, assessment process and results analysis

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

An abridged enterprise assessment model to promote consistent reassessment : model development, assessment process and results analysis Perkins, L. Nathan (Lewis Nathan) Enterprise assessment is increasingly important, both as a cross-time and cross-industry measurement and as a guiding force in enterprise transformation. Assessments provide crucial information about strengths, areas for improvement and potential investment strategies for achieving performance benefits. As performance is being recognized as a complex and multifaceted construct, assessment tools seek to incorporate and reflect a holistic measurement of performance across multiple dimensions such as stakeholder value, leadership, culture and quality. The Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) is one such enterprise assessment tool that closely ties into a clearly defined enterprise transformation framework and roadmap. Ideal use of assessment involves regular reassessment of 54 practices and continual feedback, but due to the resource and time commitment required to perform assessment, this iterative process is deprioritized. In order to facilitate and promote regular reassessment, we demonstrate a methodology for creating an abridged assessment tool. By creating a predictive model based on the unidemnsionality of LESAT, a small selection of highly indicative practices is used to predict the remaining practices. Based on these predictions, respondents assess follow-up practices selected to target high-priority areas for improvement. Using this approach, we are able to create an abridged LESAT that assesses six of the original 54 practices for the predictive model and an additional twelve dynamically selected practices to target high-priority areas. Based on training data and novel testing data (271 respondents from 24 companies), we validate the accuracy of the predictive model and show that high-priority areas are correctly identified over 90% of the time. The abridged LESAT shows promise as a way to reassess, with significantly lower time and resource commitment normally required. We review the practical applications of the abridged LESAT and present a revised recommended process for assessment and for evaluation of results. The revised process seeks to articulate how the new assessment tool can be practically applied in the context of an ongoing enterprise transformation. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-140).

A cost model for testing unmanned and autonomous systems of systems

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A cost model for testing unmanned and autonomous systems of systems Deonandan, Indira D. (Indira Devi) The evolutionary nature of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems (UASoS) acquisition needs to be matched by equally evolutionary test capabilities in the future. There is currently no standard method to determine what is required to make programs safe for deployment, nor is there the ability to make effective contingency plans should testing requirements change. Spending too much effort designing goals when causal understandings are still in flux is inefficient. As such, policy making and enforcing policies on the deployment of UASoS becomes very problematic. Testing is required especially for UASoS to identify risk, improve capabilities and minimize unpleasant surprises. It needs to be effective and focused, determining the issues and working towards ensuring the risks of the UASoS are known. It is important to have adequate feedback loops, a culture of information sharing and learning from best practices, as well as the development of metrics and/or performance indicators that adequately reflect the effectiveness of the test process. This thesis describes a model that is part of a larger Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework (PATFrame), which uses knowledge acquisition to minimize risk through a decision support system. This work presents the cost and risk considerations for UASoS T&E and provides the preliminary parameters to conduct trade-off analyses for T&E. It also provides guidance on how the DoD can adopt such tools to transform the DoD T&E enterprise. The model is a combination of information collected from various normative and descriptive views of testing based on literature review, surveys, and interviews with members of the Department of Defense (DoD) T&E community A cost estimation model can have significant impacts on how the DoD currently does testing and would help maximize the use of the resources available. It is a model based method for calculating effort for test and evaluation and forms a baseline for strategic decision making in DoD acquisition programs. The intent is to predict within a certain probability that a test program can be completed within a certain budget given the assumptions used in characterizing the UASoS and the T&E process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; Vita. Page 124 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-114).

Adapting the Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool for health care

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Adapting the Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool for health care Hernandez, Cynthia Lynn The Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool (LESAT) is a product of the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This tool has been applied by many organizations to gage their progress toward lean enterprise management, however applying this tool in health care organizations has been inhibited by language and underlying assumptions from product manufacturing. An adaptation of the LESAT specifically for health care is proposed. Review of the literature and special reports on health care are used in determining the recommended changes. "Product life cycle" is reinterpreted as a health care service cycle and context specific enterprise level processes and practices are presented. Comparison to other industry measures shows the content the LESAT for health care to cover all key issues and practices for high quality health care delivery. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-63).

Organizational assessment processes for enterprise transformation

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational assessment processes for enterprise transformation Abdimomunova, Leyla (Leyla M.) Enterprise transformation is a dynamic process that builds upon and affects organizational processes. Organizational assessment plays critical role in planning and execution of enterprise transformation. It allows the assessment of an enterprise's current capabilities as well as for identification and prioritization of improvements needed to drive the enterprise transformation process. Despite the benefits that organizational assessment has to offer, many organizations fail to exploit them due to unfavorable organizational culture, unsatisfactory assessment processes or mismatch between assessment tool and broader transformation approach. This thesis focuses mainly on a model of organizational assessment and how it can be improved to better support enterprise transformation. We argue that the assessment process spans beyond performing the assessment itself. For the assessment to provide the expected benefit, organizations must first of all create an environment ensuring a clear understanding of the role assessment plays in the enterprise transformation process. To this end they must promote open and frequent discussion about the current state of the enterprise and future goals. The assessment process must be carefully planned to ensure it runs effectively and efficiently and that assessment results are accurate and reliable. Assessment results must be analyzed and turned into specific recommendations and action plans. At the same time, the assessment process itself must be evaluated and adjusted, if necessary, for the next assessment cycle. Based on literature review and case studies of five large aerospace companies, we recommend a five-phase assessment process model that includes mechanisms to change organizational behavior through pre-assessment phases. It also allows for adjustment of the assessment process itself based on the results and experience of participants so that it better suits the organization's needs and practices. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Individuals in product development : interactions with teams and products

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Individuals in product development : interactions with teams and products Castro, João Nuno Lopes This dissertation focuses on how individuals involved in complex product development operate and interact with other people in the project and how they perceive and modify the product. Complex product development requires the collaboration of multiple individuals who are specialists in different disciplines. One of the challenges with the execution of design and development projects is coordinating the contributions of each individual to guarantee an aligned, seamless fit. I review a selection of the literature on team frameworks, coordination methods and empirical product development studies which address teams, individuals and product architectures and structures. I then conduct two studies. One focuses on individual to individual communication requirement stability and the other on individual interaction with product structure over the development period. In the first, I examine how the most important communication channels between individuals in multifunctional teams compare across thirteen different projects. In this study I found a direct correlation between functionally similar projects and their network of important communication links between individuals. This indicates that when faced with a problem of similar nature the profile of connections between individuals - which ones are more or less important - will also be similar. In the second, I study how individuals interact with the structure of a product in four software development projects. I found that most individual work is localized and consists of internal improvement work. When work is done that requires simultaneous modifications of several components, I found that the associations made between components does not follow the existing structural dependencies as indicated by the function calls between components. This behavior is consistent throughout the development of the projects and is not dependent on the design state of the product. The associations made between components are also not a good indicator of future structural dependencies. These observations do not follow the indications from previous work on team interactions and product structure, revealing that individuals make associations beyond those suggested by just the structural connections. It was also observed that individuals are able to identify and work on the most important components in a product and that work is conducted on components irrespective of their age in the system. Finally, a real-time observation of project execution method is proposed based on the several analysis steps developed within this thesis. The use of this method can be advantageous for practitioners to verify the progress of project and control deviations from plan. This thesis contributes directly to the stream of research of coordination in product development and contributes to the practice with new methods to help those involved in large-scale complex product development filter the extensive work done by many individuals and find areas of possible intervention. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-116).

Assessing stakeholder salience through the view of lean enterprise transformation

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Assessing stakeholder salience through the view of lean enterprise transformation Sisto, Gwendolyn A Aerospace enterprises tend to take a strategic approach to managing their enterprise. This thesis posits that stakeholder theory presents another way of looking at the enterprise, as it incorporates elements of both structure and behavior. Using a Lean enterprise thinking framework, this thesis employs stakeholder theory to explain enterprise dynamics and decision making. The thesis uses Enterprise Architecture (EA) theory, developed at MIT's Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), for the Lean thinking enterprise framework. The thesis proposes that an enterprise's core ideology drives its business model and enterprise architecture spaces, which in turn drives stakeholder networks. Stakeholder saliency and identification is based on the relevance of their values exchanges to the enterprise business model and capabilities contributed to the EA. Finally, this system evolves over Epochs, which are a function of time. These ideas are applied to architecting future states of an enterprise. Quantitative models of stakeholder saliency, stakeholder network control structures, Design Structure Matrix, ESAT, and system dynamics are investigated. The thesis finds that stakeholder networks are context dependent with enterprise Epochs. Enterprise core ideology and leadership saliency are the only constants in the system. The thesis adds to insights on stakeholder salience, in a Lean enterprise context, that may be generalized to the aerospace and defense industry. The findings are significant to the aerospace industry's ability to optimize value creation. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-146).

Improving enterprise decision-making : the benefits of metric commonality

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Improving enterprise decision-making : the benefits of metric commonality Friedman, Alissa H. (Alissa Heather) The objective of this research is to identify a new approach in managing, and making internal program-level decisions from, externally tracked performance metrics. Industry observations indicate the increasing challenge for program managers and internal development teams to identify performance improvement opportunities for products, services, organizations, etc., in an effective and efficient manner based on tracked performance metrics by external customers. Literature on metrics; performance measurement selection, systems, and frameworks; the concept of commonality; and designing across a life cycle is assessed and helps generate a new concept of commonalizing metrics across an operating life cycle to address this issue. It is hypothesized that despite the uniqueness of each external stakeholder, the tracking of a small set of common performance metrics at different operating life cycle phases across all external stakeholders would result in more accurate decision-making in identifying the most value-added performance improvement opportunities, increased enterprise-level communication, and lower incurred costs. A detailed case study of a technical product with multiple customers whose external data drives internal program decisions is presented to address (1) if metric commonality is plausible, (2) what the expected benefits are of implementing this new decision-making tool, and (3) how these common metrics would change over the course of the product's operating life cycle. A historical data analysis and initial customer interviews established the architecture of the program's current state. Internal development team expert interviews and a second round of customer interviews were performed in an effort to identify an optimal set of common metrics the external stakeholders could track for this program. Also identified were proper adoption attributes that would need to be considered to not only drive this new decision-making tool through this enterprise, but also to address some of the barriers that influenced the program's current state. The triangulation of the historical, developer, and customer data sets produced a list of less than a dozen common, value-added metrics for this program, with most of these metrics consistently measured throughout the operating life cycle, supporting the plausibility of this new decision-making tool. Having all stakeholders recording the same metrics also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of making the right product improvement decisions, as well as increases communication within the product community. The study also provides insight into the importance of the voice of the customer, the relationship between metrics and strategic planning, the connection to lean thinking, and a new performance measurement framework; and is considered an excellent starting point for future detailed studies in this area. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-97).

The economics of investing in green buildings

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The economics of investing in green buildings Rizk, Charbel Maroun This thesis discusses economics of green buildings. The need to reduce greenhouse gases emissions became clear. Buildings account for a large part of the greenhouse gases emissions, changing the atmosphere's composition. Climate changes will be unevenly distributed between regions; in early stages they might be beneficial for few but will eventually end up being costly for all. Several worldwide rating systems were established with a common objective to determine metrics for measuring a building's performance and minimizing environmental footprint. In this research we selected LEED-NC version 2.2 by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for our analysis. V-2.2 consists of a set of credits distributed in categories. We identified credit's requirements and analyzed their impact on cost and environment. We supported our analysis by looking into cost and benefit studies performed by different organizations, and summarized our findings in providing heuristics on green buildings. Finally, a major take away from this research project is that there are numerous factors affecting difficulty of achieving, cost, and benefits of LEED credits. In addition to that, the correlation between credits and the large number of combinations to qualify for LEED certification levels, make it unreasonable to generalize about the incremental cost for any certification level. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-147).

On developing business architectures : a multi-framework evaluation of an early-stage enterprise

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On developing business architectures : a multi-framework evaluation of an early-stage enterprise Montoya, Mario, 1978- Early-stage enterprises are characterized by leveraging limited resources during periods of accelerating industry growth and relatively high uncertainty. This thesis is an examination of an early-stage enterprise within the medical technology industry using multiple frameworks. In addition to the standard Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) suite of tools, the enterprise will be evaluated using Nightingale and Rhodes' eight Enterprise Architecture (EA) views, Kaplan's Balanced Scorecard (BSC), McKinsey's 7S framework, and Grave's Spiral Dynamics. Moreover, this thesis includes a practical examination of the current state using the framework developed by Piepenbrock's doctoral thesis that introduced the notion of modular versus integral enterprise architectures. A transformation plan is proposed based on the firm's current state and preferred future state based on insights from the various self-assessments and prevailing corporate strategy. The transformation plan is also informed by the author's perceived receptivity, commitment and need for change of the organization. The case organization's current state is described in general terms to protect the company's identity since the material presented includes portions of their corporate strategy and source of competitive advantage. Recognizing that all competitive advantage is temporary, considerable care has been exercised to balance the relevance of the research with the privacy needs of the organization. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-196).

The evolution of business ecosystems : interspecies competition in the steel industry

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The evolution of business ecosystems : interspecies competition in the steel industry Mathur, Akshat This thesis contributes toward the building of a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems by exploring the applicability of Piepenbrock's' theoretical framework to a commodity industrial setting, namely the U.S. steel industry from 1860-2010. As the evolution of business ecosystems framework posits the emergence of symbiotic inter-species competition between heterogeneous inter-organizational architectures, this thesis builds grounded theory by expanding Piepenbrock's original theoretical sample to include the following dominant firms in the U.S. steel industry: United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel, representing incumbents and Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal, representing late-entrants. Comparative historical analyses are performed to determine the evolution of the firms' form, function and fitness: specifically their inter-organizational architectures, their strategic choices in both market quantity and technological quality, and the maturity of the steel industry environment in both market quantity and technology quality. The U.S. steel industry is demonstrated to currently be in a mature state, with slowing rates of growth in terms of both market quantity and technology quality (i.e. performance improvement trajectories of products and production processes). During the growth and maturing of this market environment, the inter-organizational architectures of the dominant incumbent firms of United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel appear to have evolved from integral to modular forms. As the market became mature, late-entrant firms of Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal appear to have entered with integral inter-organizational architectures, in which they compete on quality, cost and delivery dimensions enabled through stable long-term growth. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that the evolution of business ecosystems appears to be a reasonably robust theoretical framework, which is useful in explaining why firms in the same industry vary systematically in performance over time. The investigation of inter-species competition in the U.S. steel industry expands the external validity or generalizability of the framework to include commodity industrial settings. The framework captures the evolution of dominant designs in enterprise architectures that oscillate between modular and integral states throughout an industry's life-cycle. Architectural innovation at the extended enterprise level in Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal is demonstrated to contribute to the failure of established firms United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-104).

A new glide path: re-architecting the Flight School XXI Enterprise at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A new glide path: re-architecting the Flight School XXI Enterprise at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence Enos, James R. (James Robert) This thesis utilizes eight Enterprise Architecture views to analyze the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence's Flight School XXI Enterprise and provides recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of training aviators. The Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation tool provides a guide for understanding the current state of the enterprise and identifying potential areas for improvement. Surveys of the enterprise stakeholders provided an analysis of the stakeholder values and the current enterprise value delivery. Historical data from the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence provided the remaining data for the analysis. A System Dynamics model applied the research to understand the dynamics of the AH-64 training process and conducted an analysis of potential courses of action to stabilize the process. By adding weather days to the Program of Instruction and increasing the daily flight window from 3 to 3.5 hours the enterprise can stabilize the training process. The principles of lean thinking provided a guide for the remaining recommended actions to improve the performance of the enterprise. These recommendations included reducing the batch size of students per course, achieving continuous flow by canceling initial course, and achieving customer pull by aligning aviator production to the aviation force structure. The thesis provides the leadership of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence with a glide path to transform Flight School XXI into a lean enterprise and achieve the Army's current and future training requirements for aviators. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, June 2010.; "May 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-144).

Starbucks cups : trash or treasure? : an example of facilitated systems thinking assisting stakeholders in designing their own system to recycle take-away cups

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Starbucks cups : trash or treasure? : an example of facilitated systems thinking assisting stakeholders in designing their own system to recycle take-away cups Czaika, Ellen Gail A mixed methods, action-research study was conducted to assess the efficacy and usefulness of Facilitated Systems Thinking as an intervention for system design in complex, multi-stakeholder systems, especially where the stakeholders themselves design the system. This research is contextualized within and provides a case study on the Starbuck's Coffee Company's efforts to collaborate with stakeholders throughout food packaging value chain to create a system for recycling hot (poly-coated paper) and cold (plastic) take-away beverage cups. Comparative interview results indicate an increase in interviewee awareness of others in the value chain, increase in discussion of prototyping and pilots, and increase in their awareness of their own responsibilities and leverage points within the system. Preliminary results from the most recent intervention are nine stakeholder-designed pilot tests. This study supplements a larger investigation of the emerging system to recycle take-away cups. Results from this study, as well as suggestions for investigation design changes will contribute to and be incorporated in the larger study. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-97).

Value based analysis of acquisition portfolios

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Value based analysis of acquisition portfolios Burgess, Cheri Nicole Markt Currently, program-funding allocation is based on program performance. Funding cuts commonly lead to a poor reflection on the program management assigned to the given program. If additional factors such as program risk and benefit are objectively factored in, this may lead to a more effective exit strategy for program capabilities, which are no longer required. An enterprise architecture analysis and applied framework case study were carried out to develop a methodology to quantify system-level value for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Research, Development, Test and Evaluation portfolio. Portfolio value is quantified in order to transition from a single program, single stakeholder value analysis to a program portfolio and stakeholder system composite analysis. This methodology is developed based on interviews, official organization literature, and a case study. The results of the applied framework case study on a portfolio of seven programs showed a positive correlation between quantitative capability, execution and risk data at the portfolio level and access to a more informed and objective identification of programs of greatest interest and concern as compared to a qualitative program-by-program analysis when allocating Air Force Acquisition resources. This system includes 17 stakeholder categories, which significantly influence the allocation of resources for a portfolio worth roughly 0.4% of the US GDP. Interviews include high-ranking leadership, including two 3-Star Generals in the US Air Force. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-119).

Enterprise design for services : a systems approach for the Boeing next generation corporate travel system architecture

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise design for services : a systems approach for the Boeing next generation corporate travel system architecture Silva, Hector E Typically a company's second largest controllable expense, corporate travel affects many employees at Boeing. A challenge when implementing improvements in the travel and expense system, which is actually comprised of a system of systems, is the coordination of various solutions to ensure improvements in one area do not adversely affect the efficiency of other areas. Various systems along with the people, policies, and processes used to provide services to travelers must be coordinated both inside and outside Boeing in order for overall travel operations to function properly. The intent of this project is to establish a systems-based architecture for Boeing's Next Generation Travel System. This thesis proposes re-designing the Boeing travel system using an enterprise architecting framework to select a future state architecture for a service organization. The analysis recommends a supplier integrated "off-the-shelf' software solution, employing the software as a service business model. Under this model the supplier is paid per transaction completed in the system; adoption of this metric aligns the system to reduce re-work costs, increase first-time pass quality, and improve usability. Additionally, new supplier software tools will allow the Boeing travel organization to transition from a process-focused to a more knowledge-focused service team. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72).

Simulation modeling to predict drug pipeline throughput in early pharmaceutical R&D

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Simulation modeling to predict drug pipeline throughput in early pharmaceutical R&D Heyman, Jeffrey B. (Jeffrey Brian) With high costs and growing concern about research and development (R&D) productivity, the pharmaceutical industry is under pressure to efficiently allocate R&D funds. Nonetheless, pharmaceutical R&D involves considerable uncertainty, including high project attrition, high project-to-project variability in required time and resources, and long time for a project to progress from a biological concept to commercial drug. Despite this uncertainty, senior leaders must make decisions today about R&D portfolio size and balance, the impact of which will not be observable for many years. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of simulation modeling to add clarity in this uncertain environment. Specifically, performing research at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, we aim to design a process for developing a portfolio forecasting model, develop the model itself, and evaluate its utility in aiding R&D portfolio decision-making. The model will serve as a tool to bridge strategy and execution by anticipating whether future goals for drug pipeline throughput are likely to be achievable given the current project portfolio, or whether adjustments to the portfolio are warranted. The modeling process has successfully delivered a pipeline model that outputs probabilistic forecasts of key portfolio metrics, including portfolio size, positive clinical readouts, and research phase transitions. The model utilizes historical data to construct probability distributions to stochastically represent key input parameters, and Monte Carlo simulation to capture the uncertainty of these parameters in pipeline forecasts. Model validation shows good accuracy for aggregate metrics, and preliminary user feedback suggests strong initial buy-in within the organization. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73).

Enterprise transformation & lean implementation in a globally dispersed organization

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise transformation & lean implementation in a globally dispersed organization Katyal, Abhishek In July 2007, the Supply Planning Organization (SPO) decided to begin its Lean journey. Through some analysis the decision was made to take a culture first approach and then follow with the use of Lean tools. The time had come to use Lean tools to help facilitate in the process of both driving business results and Lean culture acceptance. This thesis and research study set to prove the hypothesis that "Lean tools can be as effective in a non-traditional globally dispersed information environment as they are in the traditional plant floor environment". In addition, this research study set out to show that Lean training and implementation can be successfully completed virtually through simple tools such as a PowerPoint presentation, Microsoft Live Meeting, and a telephone. The research study also shows how two mutually exclusive enterprise tools, X-matrix analysis and Value Stream Mapping, point to the same conclusion around effectiveness of metrics within an organization. The core project within this research study is focused on designing the 2010 organizational improvement strategy and structure of Initech's supply planning division through rigorous analysis of existing configurations and opportunities for process improvement and waste elimination. Initech's Supply Planning division is an 800-person group that is globally dispersed across 23 sites. The supply planning organization is responsible for planning the quantity, timing, and location for product build. The current state analysis was completed through the use of direct observation, 1:1 interviews, and value stream mapping tools. This analysis is focused on identifying non-value added activity and identifying opportunities for improvement through simplified connections and streamlined processes. In addition, this process will also drive improvement and help eliminate the current silo's that exist within the divisions. The enterprise focus around process improvement, waste elimination, Lean cultural adoption, and metric effectiveness will help create a more robust and high performing organization. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-83).

Intrapreneurship as a tool for lean transformation : case study of VBS, intrapreneurship in IT space by Oladapo E. Bakare.

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Intrapreneurship as a tool for lean transformation : case study of VBS, intrapreneurship in IT space by Oladapo E. Bakare. Bakare, Oladapo E. (Oladapo Ehigie) Lean is heralded as the driving methodology for successful organizations ranging from defense to consumer industries. Its approach to reduction of waste and continuous process improvement allows a company to reduce cost, meet customer needs, and sustain growth. As companies embark on transforming their organizations into more efficient, nimble, and high velocity organizations through integration of lean they face severe inertia. The process of lean transformation and integrating lean is an arduous task at which most companies falter on for a number of reasons. These reasons are strategic (costs and time to implement changes), political (decision making process delays), and cultural (company norms and employee motivation). Promoting intrapreneurship in organizations can serve as a driving mechanism to ensure change goals and objectives are met and are sustainable. Intrapreneurial entities are able to cut through silos within an organization and meet the needs of its direct customers. The survival of an intrapreneurial organization is solely dependent on meeting customer needs. Therefore, the cost and time delay to meet the needs of its customers for an intrapreneurial organization is much less than other established functional and support groups within the organization. The hypothesis was that incorporating intrapreneurship into a transformation plan will aid in successful integration of lean in the organization. VBS, an intrapreneurial group within Raytheon IDS, is used as a case example of the impact of intrapreneurship on lean transformation. VBS has played a key role in monitoring and promoting lean culture at IADC (Integrated Air Defense Center and manufacturing site for IDS) at Raytheon. Using real-time metrics, the group has implemented many essential performance and behavioral feedback loops. These real-time metrics and behavioral results continuously drive operations to converge on lean behavior. This has resulted in a 20 % reduction in operating costs for four years running from its lean transformation. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).

Reduced DoD product development time : the role of the schedule development process

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Reduced DoD product development time : the role of the schedule development process McNutt, Ross Theodore According to the Packard Commission, "Unreasonably long acquisition cycles -- ten to fifteen years for major weapon systems is a central problem from which most other acquisition Problems stem." Since the commission issued its report in 1986, the time required to develop new military systems has only grown. This research and its recommendations are intended to identify and eliminate the causes of those long development times for military systems. This report addresses a key factor in determining the development time for military projects: the project's initial schedule. Part 1 outlines the current situation, previous efforts to reduce development time, and experiences with cutting development time in the commercial sector. It also documents the military product development process. Part 2 identifies a key area--the schedule development process, and its impact on development time--for in-depth research. Through understanding what is driving the initial project schedule and the impact of the initial project schedule on the eventual development time, the author identifies key drivers of development time. Part 3 presents the results of three surveys and analyzes the processes used to develop a project's initial schedule, the process used to develop a contracted schedule, and the impact of these schedules on actual development time. Part 4 presents observations, draws conclusions, and makes specific recommendations for remedial action. The key barriers to reducing development time for military systems are the lack of importance placed on project schedules; the lack of effective schedule-based information and tools; the lack of schedule-based incentives; and the overriding impact of the funding-based limitations on defense projects. The steps necessary to establish a focus on reducing development time are: 1) recognizing the impact of development time, 2) providing the necessary information for decision makers, 3) providing proper incentives at each organizational level, and finally providing a structure to effectively managce the set of all development projects to ensure that each project can be funded based on its development related requirements. Implementing the recommendations and focusing on reducing development time will force other changes in the acquisition process. The focus on reducing the time to develop and field systems will drive the acquisition system to better meet the needs of our warfighters, more rapidly, and at lower cost. Better, Faster, and Cheaper. Even more importantly, shortening development times is critical to develop and produce with limited resources, the right weapons at the right time to deter or to defeat any potential enemy at any time with the minimum cost to our warfighters. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 539-544).

Disciplined agility for process control & automation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Disciplined agility for process control & automation Tibazarwa, Augustine Process automation vendors must consider agility as a basis to gain a competitive edge in innovation. Process Automation systems can impact the operating cost of manufacturing equipment, the safe control of large quantities of energy and the safety of dangerous substances used during manufacturing. The manufacturing segment expects greater automation of larger processes, increased capability of process automation systems, and higher quality of those systems. At the same time, business requirements for process automation vendors demand shorter time to market, and greater market return for each dollar invested in product development. Therefore, process automation vendors must determine how to preserve discipline in development processes while adopting process agility necessary to meet dynamic business conditions. Interviews with 9 leaders from 6 companies (2 manufacturers, 2 process automation vendors and 2 automation consulting firms), survey feedback from development personnel and research of literature on state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice, yielded over 90 findings and observations on process automation business needs, development of automation offerings, and on suitability of agile practices to process automation product development. Agile methods may require changes to manufacturer work processes, but would enable an automation vendor to unlock more of the manufacturer's production value.; (cont.) Disciplined adoption of agile methods is crucial for agility to take hold throughout an automation vendor's organization, and to meet the concerns of process automation stakeholders. Rather than dismiss the suitability of agile development to process automation, a prescriptive guidance is provided that integrates an opportunistic risk-based assessment of how much agility is appropriate. The four values and twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto are a good basis for 8 additional agile practices for process automation: transitioning to agile, investing in agile capability, managing critical system parameters, engineering system-robustness, balancing project risk, continuous system validation, assuring domain expertise and clarifying ecosystem role. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-115).

Toward a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems : enterprise architectures, competitive dynamics, firm performance & industrial co-evolution

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Toward a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems : enterprise architectures, competitive dynamics, firm performance & industrial co-evolution Piepenbrock, Theodore F. (Theodore Frederick), 1965- This dissertation contributes toward the building of a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems. In the process, it addresses a question that has been posed by evolutionary theorists in the economics and sociology literatures for decades: "Why do firms in the same industry vary systematically in performance over time?" Seeking a systematic explanation of a longitudinal phenomenon inevitably requires characterizing the evolution of the industrial ecosystem, as both the organization (firm) and its environment (industry, markets and institutions) are co-evolving. This question is therefore explored via a theoretical sample in three industrial ecosystems covering manufacturing and service sectors, with competitors from the US, Europe and Japan: commercial airplanes, motor vehicles and airlines. The research is based primarily on an in depth seven-year, multi-level, multi-method, field-based case study of both firms in the large commercial airplanes industry mixed duopoly as well as the key stakeholders in their extended enterprises (i.e. customers, suppliers, investors and employees). This field work is supplemented with historical comparative analysis in all three industries, as well as nonlinear dynamic simulation models developed to capture the essential mechanisms governing the evolution of business ecosystems.; (cont.) A theoretical framework is developed which endogenously traces the co-evolution of firms and their industrial environments using their highest-level system properties of form, function and fitness (as reflected in the system sciences of morphology, physiology and ecology), and which embraces the evolutionary processes of variation, selection and retention. The framework captures the path-dependent evolution of heterogeneous populations of enterprise architectures engaged in symbiotic inter-species competition and posits the evolution of dominant designs in enterprise architectures that oscillate deterministically and chaotically between modular and integral states throughout an industry's life-cycle. Architectural innovation - at the extended enterprise level - is demonstrated to contribute to the failure of established firms, with causal mechanisms developed to explain tipping points. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (v. 4, p. 698-745).

Major system acquisition reform in the United States Coast Guard : a case for the application of Lean Enterprise principles

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Major system acquisition reform in the United States Coast Guard : a case for the application of Lean Enterprise principles Tiongson, Andrew J. (Andrew Joseph) During any time of reorganization, it is important to look to processes and practices that have been used and proven effective by other organizations whether those organizations are similar in structure or similar in the transitory environment in which they are operating. For this reason, applying Lean Enterprise principles and practices that have been proven in both industry and governmental organizations can be of great benefit to the Acquisition Directorate of the United States Coast Guard as it reorganizes to improve mission execution. Notwithstanding that when most people hear the words "Lean Enterprise" they immediately think of enterprises involved in manufacturing or supply chain effectiveness, the principles of Lean Enterprise thinking can also be applied in the service and support environments. Therefore, the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, a service enterprise, can apply these same principles and practices in an effort to transform the directorate into a Lean Enterprise. In this thesis, the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 project was used as an example for the entire Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate. The Rescue 21 project consists of the acquisition of a new advanced command, control and communications system to replace the antiquated National Distress and Response System (NDRS). From the application of Lean Enterprise evaluation approaches to the Rescue 21 project, it was evident that:; (cont.) * The Rescue 21 project provides low value to its various stakeholders; * This low value is a direct result of cost overruns and schedule delays; * Misalignment exists among Strategic Objectives, Stakeholder Values, Key Processes and Metrics; * The Rescue 21 enterprise architecture has a solid foundation to improve value delivery; * The Rescue 21 project leadership desires to improve in the area of value delivery to stakeholders. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Understanding enterprise behavior using hybrid simulation of enterprise architecture

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding enterprise behavior using hybrid simulation of enterprise architecture Glazner, Christopher G Today, the design of business enterprises is much more art than science. The complex structure and behavior of enterprises makes it difficult to untangle cause and effect amidst its components and their relationships. In order for managers to understand how an enterprise's architecture affects its behavior, they need tools and techniques to help them to manage the complexity of the enterprise. The practice of enterprise architecting continues to make advances in this area with reference frameworks that can be used to guide the decomposition and communication of enterprise architectures, but it does not provide tools to analyze the potential behavior of a proposed enterprise architecture. This research seeks to extend the practice of enterprise architecting by developing an approach for creating simulation models of enterprise architectures that can be used for analyzing the architectural factors affecting enterprise behavior and performance. This approach matches the content of each of the "views" of an enterprise architecture framework with a suitable simulation methodology such as discrete event modeling, agent based modeling, or system dynamics, and then integrates these individual simulations into a single hybrid simulation model. The resulting model is a powerful analysis tool that can be used for "what-if" behavioral analysis of enterprise architectures. This approach was applied to create a hybrid simulation model of the enterprise architecture of a real-world, large-scale aerospace enterprise.; (cont.) Simulation model analysis revealed potential misalignments between the current enterprise architecture and the established strategy of the enterprise. The simulation model was used to analyze enterprise behavior and suggest relatively minor changes to the enterprise architecture that could produce up to a 20% improvement in enterprise profitability without increasing resources to the enterprise. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-314).

Identifying enterprise leverage points in Defense Acquisition Program performance

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying enterprise leverage points in Defense Acquisition Program performance Wirthlin, Joseph Robert, 1970- Large, complex systems development programs in the Department of Defense are finding it more difficult to deliver desired capabilities to the end user on time and on budget than ever before. Evidence exists that almost all developmental programs on record are over cost and schedule, costing the Department and ultimately the U.S. taxpayer billions of dollars more than anticipated. Numerous studies over many decades have addressed various aspects of the problems plaguing these efforts with many recommendations. Unfortunately, most of these recommendations have been ignored or poorly implemented with limited success. This work embodies an exploratory systems approach to characterize the system of acquiring large, complex, socio-technological systems for the Department of Defense. Through a series of qualitative studies and in-depth interviews with individuals working in the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System (JCIDS), the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, and the Acquisition system, a model of the larger "enterprise of acquisition" or Acquisition System was developed. The model has a scope ranging from the very early beginnings of any program through the conclusion of developmental activities. The methodology used consisted of stringing together the individual pieces of the system defined by probabilistic distributions of time and corresponding probabilistic decision points into a model ideal for discrete-event simulation. An extensive program of verification and validation of the model was carried out to increase confidence in the model and its simulation outcomes.; (cont.) Experimental system interventions, designed to mimic potential policy interventions and/or system changes, were introduced into the model and the corresponding outcomes analyzed. Results show several interventions have varying degrees of influence and suggest no single antidote exists for solving the problems related to Acquisition. Furthermore, many of the outcomes of the system can be described as emergent behaviors versus problems stemming from poor program management, program risk management, or requirements management. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-223).

Metrics for enterprise transformation

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Metrics for enterprise transformation Blackburn, Craig D. (Craig David), S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The objective of this thesis is to depict the role of metrics in the evolving journey of enterprise transformation. To this end, three propositions are explored: (i) metrics and measurement systems drive transformation, (ii) employee engagement is a proxy to gauge transformation progress; and (iii) metric considerations enable enterprise transformation when systematically executed as part of a transformation roadmap. To explore this problem, the aerospace measurement community was consulted to help grasp a better understanding of the context in which transformation is currently defined and measured. Once the problem space was defined, the environment of doing research with the enterprise as the unit of analysis was described with the intent of exploring the role of metrics and transformation. In particular, the performance measurement literature helped identify tools and methods used to select metrics to enable decision making at the enterprise level. After this review, two case studies were performed, considering: (1) the implementation of a bottom-up measurement system to drive transformation and (2) the effect of a top-down corporate measurement system on the enterprise. The first case study revealed insights regarding the benefits and challenges of implementing measurement systems and highlighted the use of employee engagement as a proxy to measure enterprise transformation. In the second case study, contemporary measurement issues were discussed and mapped to an Eight Views of the Enterprise analysis to identify critical enterprise interactions.; (cont.) Ultimately, the Lean Advancement Initiative's Enterprise Transformation Roadmap was used as a method for depicting how performance measurement can help enable enterprise transformation. The implications of research in metrics for enterprise transformation span across thee areas: (1) the extensive literature reviews provide an academic contribution for performing enterprise and measurement research; (2) a common language and framework for exploring measurement problems is depicted for practitioners through the case study analysis; and (3) a connection between enterprise measurement and enterprise transformation is established to drive future transformation success. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-161).

Collaborative systems thinking : an exploration of the mechanisms enabling team systems thinking

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Collaborative systems thinking : an exploration of the mechanisms enabling team systems thinking Lamb, Caroline Marie Aerospace systems are among the most complex anthropogenic systems and require large quantities of systems knowledge to design successfully. Within the aerospace industry, an aging workforce places those with the most systems experience near retirement at a time when fewer new programs exist to provide systems experience to the incoming generation of aerospace engineers and leaders. The resulting population will be a set of individuals who by themselves may lack sufficient systems knowledge. It is therefore important to look at teams of aerospace engineers as a new unit of systems knowledge and thinking. By understanding more about how teams engage in collaborative systems thinking (CST), organizations can better determine which types of training and intervention will lead to greater exchanges of systems-level knowledge within teams. Following a broad literature search, the constructs of team traits, technical process, and culture were identified as important for exploring CST. Using the literature and a set of 8 pilot interviews as guidance, 26 case studies (10 full and 16 abbreviated) were conducted to gather empirical data on CST enablers and barriers. These case studies incorporated data from 94 surveys and 65 interviews. From these data, a regression model was developed to identify the five strongest predictors of CST and facilitate validation. Eight additional abbreviated case studies were used to test the model and demonstrate the results are generalizable beyond the initial sample set. To summarize the results, CST teams are differentiable from non-CST teams.; (cont.) Among the most prevalent differentiators is a team's self-reported balance between individual and consensus decision making. Teams that engage in consensus decision making reported stronger engagement in collaborative systems thinking. Another differentiator is the median number of past program experiences on a team. Teams whose members reported more past similar program experiences also reported more engagement in collaborative systems thinking. Data show the number of past similar programs worked is a better predictor than years of industry experience. The apparent enabling effects of qualitative team traits are also discussed. The conclusions of this document propose ways in which these findings may be used to improve training and team intervention within industry, academia, and government. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-214).

Mission emphasis and the determination of needs for new weapon systems

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mission emphasis and the determination of needs for new weapon systems Gillespie, Daniel Mark Efforts to understand the determination of needs of new weapon systems must take into account inputs and actions beyond the formally documented requirements generation process. This study analyzes three recent historical cases of fighter aircraft development to identify decisions made independently from the documented requirements process, about the need for new systems. The primary inputs to those decisions are identified, and a qualitative model for understanding the undocumented inputs, and their role in determining weapon system needs, is presented. By analyzing data across the cases, which span a period of significant change in fighter design, the concept of a Dominant Mission Emphasis (DME) is introduced. The DME is defined as that mission which receives the most emphasis from the majority of participants in the needs determination process, and which the majority of other missions support, either directly or indirectly. It emerges when enough participants become convinced that it is appropriate to address the military, economic, political, social, and other needs that exist, and it serves as a means for bounding the intractable array of possibilities for weapon system needs. The convincing of participants occurs primarily through a social process, not a technical or an authoritative one. Over time, as conditions change, the appropriateness of the DME will decrease. The appropriateness over time can be modeled with a bell-shaped curve. Cues are identified which suggest the need to re-examine the DME.; (cont.) The strength of a DME can be measured by qualitative and quantitative indicators, including such things as verbal statements, military doctrine, intellectual and academic writings, organization within the military, resources committed, and promotion decisions. These indicators can also be used as controls to strengthen or weaken a DME in response to the perception of its appropriateness for existing conditions. The DME is constantly being questioned and challenged by individuals who seek to convince others that its appropriateness is not sufficient for existing conditions. Alternative missions are proposed and advocated as new DMEs. The roles of the primary means for convincing participants of the appropriateness of a DME are presented. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references.

Globally distributed product development : role of complexity in the what, where and how

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Globally distributed product development : role of complexity in the what, where and how Makumbe, Pedzisayi O This dissertation presents findings on four elements of the relationship between Global Product Development or Globally distributed Product Development (GPD) and product complexity. I examine this relationship in the context of medical, industrial and electronic equipment developed for American companies outside each development program's home-country. In the first study, I use multinomial logistics models and find that product complexity, specificity, strategic importance and designing firm's capability are directly related to the modes of global product development. These modes are namely global partnerships, captive offshoring and global outsourcing. The more complex products are developed through global partnerships or captive offshores, while the less complex products are globally outsourced. However, the difference in complexity among the three modes varies by region when I divide the world into emerging and mature regions. It is largest in emerging regions and statistically non-significant in mature regions. In the second study, I investigate factors that drive product development to different countries around the world. Using negative binomial models, I find that market size, national capability and number of engineering graduates are directly related to the amount of product development in a particular country, while market growth rate and labor cost are not. I also find that as product complexity increases, the importance of the national capability as a location advantage increases, and that national and firm capability are statistically related to each other.; (cont.) In the third study on host national culture, I find that national culture influences the internal team dynamics, but not necessarily where product development is eventually located. Finally, I qualitatively characterize the global product development strategy, organization structure, processes and people, and gather some recommended coordination practices. These include modularizing, not only the product, but the process as well to allow closed-loop monitoring in order to ensure that design expectations were perceived as intended. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-177).

Commonality in complex product families : implications of divergence and lifecycle offsets

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Commonality in complex product families : implications of divergence and lifecycle offsets Boas, Ryan C Commonality, or the sharing of components, processes, technologies, interfaces and/or infrastructure across a product family, represents one of many potential tools for increasing corporate profitability. Industrial interest in commonality is strong, but results appear to be mixed. A rich stream of academic research has examined commonality (typically under terms such as "product platforms" and "platform-based development") but has not emphasized the benefits and penalties of commonality, a topic that is critical to effective product family planning and lifecycle management, and ultimately, to improving corporate profitability. This dissertation leverages field research and a simple cost model to examine commonality in the context of complex product families. The core research effort was focused on conducting seven case studies of complex product families (aircraft, automobiles, satellites, and capital equipment). While the case studies provided a wealth of general insights, the studies were focused on examining divergence and lifecycle offsets, two critical topics that influence the benefits and penalties of commonality, yet appear to be inadequately addressed by the literature. Divergence refers to the tendency for commonality to reduce with time, for both beneficial and non-beneficial reasons. Lifecycle offsets refer to temporal differences between the lifecycle phases of product family members. Lifecycle offsets alter the potential benefits and penalties of commonality and their apportionment to individual products.; (cont.) Additionally, key factors identified during the literature review and case studies were translated into a simple two-product cost model of development and production in order to demonstrate key research insights in a more analytical manner. The case studies provide a refined view of commonality that reflects the realities of industrial practice. The cases indicate that complex product families are developed in a mostly sequential manner; that commonality is highest during the product family planning phase and then declines significantly throughout the lifecycle; and that development focuses more on reusing prior product baselines than on enabling future, potential commonality. The case studies also identified challenges in the evaluation of commonality and its lifecycle management. The case findings and simple cost model contribute to an improved understanding of commonality, while the recommendations offer potential paths to improved corporate profitability. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 220-224).

Standardizing and improving test wafer processes : inventory optimization and a days of inventory pull system

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Standardizing and improving test wafer processes : inventory optimization and a days of inventory pull system Johnson, David W. (David William), S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Over the past few years, the Intel Fab-17 facility has aggressively pursued lean methodology to reduce the manufacturing costs associated with its aging 200mm diameter wafer process. One area ripe with improvement opportunities is the processes supplying and managing Test Wafers, which are non-production wafers used to verify production tools and operations. With four test wafer types, hundreds of different sequences of operations (defined as routes), and varying consumption trends, thousands of decisions must be made daily to ensure Test Wafers are available on time and with the proper base characteristics. To further illustrate the magnitude and importance of Test Wafer systems, roughly the same number of Test Wafers are introduced each time period into the fab as production wafers. Through direct observation and process mapping techniques, I identified two system level projects, each containing enormous cost and performance improvements to the entire facility. Project One: Reallocating excess inventory In analyzing the Test Wafer inventory quantity and consumption rates in primary stockroom, I noticed that certain routes had excess inventory while others were deficient, thus leading to significantly more expensive Test Wafers types to be used instead. In order to maximize realized cost savings, I developed a linear optimization program which distributed excess Test Wafer inventory to areas of need. Different re-allocation costs, initial material specifications, and forecasted consumption needs constrained the quantity and location for this redistribution.; (cont.) Per the optimization program's recommendations, I led a team to re-allocate the largest excess Test Wafer inventory area to twelve different locations. The savings for this project correspond to over a year's worth of test wafer inventory now available for these routes and banks. Project Two: Determining supply decisions from a Days of Inventory (DOI) metric The previous process for supplying Test Wafers into the fab was complicated, lacked standardization, required significant human intervention, and led to tool performance impacts despite high operating costs. To address these issues, I designed, developed, and implemented a program which prioritized and calculated thousands of test wafer decisions based upon a Days of Inventory (DOI) metric. By prioritizing actions based on the time until stock out, cost-effective decisions were made while ensuring Test Wafers are available at a tool when needed. The program forecasted short term consumption using an Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EMWA) and pulled real-time inventory and available Test Wafer material to support the calculations and decision logic. After a successful fab-wide pilot, the "DOI Scheduler" program has now replaced the previous test wafer supply process. As a result, internal fab test wafer inventory will decrease by approximately 35% (as of March 2009, inventory has dropped by 15% and continues downward), Test Wafer availability will improve by approximately 75%, and 4 to 5 hrs a week of labor resources have been saved.; (cont.) Equally important, the prior non-standard process is now standardized, enabling future Test Wafer improvement projects and allowing root cause analysis on previously unsolvable problems. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73).

Operational flexibility on complex enterprises : case studies from recent military operations

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Operational flexibility on complex enterprises : case studies from recent military operations Dickmann, John Q An emerging requirement for 21st century enterprises is operational flexibility, a requirement particularly important for the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD). To achieve flexibility, most practice and research emphasizes process improvement, robust collaboration and "flattened" or "networked" organizations. Lateral alignment has also been proposed as a means to enable flexibility. Missing from these approaches is an appreciation and understanding of the role of architecture and hierarchy as well how to apply these ideas at the enterprise level of organization. The DoD has embraced information technology as one means to achieve flexibility via these methods. Within DoD the Air Force is a uniquely flexible combat arm, but it has proven particularly difficult to integrate air power at the level of inter-service (Joint) military operations in order to leverage this flexibility. Kometer (ESD Ph.D., 2005) used a complex, large-scale, interconnected, open, socio-technical (CLIOS) systems analysis to examine command and control of the Combat Air Operations System (CAOS), proposing new command and control concepts to gain flexibility. This thesis extends Kometer's research by using a qualitative architectural analysis to explore the twin ideas of hierarchy and laterality in enabling flexibility. We define lateral interactions as those within the same layer of an enterprise hierarchy. Lateral interactions enable formalized collaboration among peer entities, which can enable more operational alternatives and make these alternatives executable on more responsive timelines than possible with classic hierarchical structures.; (cont.) We identify previously unexamined trends in the operational architecture of combat air operations that are related to flexibility and examine the trade-offs between flexibility and other enterprise properties. We find a pattern of increasing enterprise laterality from beginning to end of the case studies and an association between upper- and lower-echelon laterality, overall system flexibility and strategic coherence. To enrich the analytical framework, an analogous example of flexibility in the New England Patriots football team is developed and presented. We find that our architecture framework provides a rich addition to existing empirical research on combat air power and addresses difficult socio-technical analysis issues in a way that complements other approaches. We also find that traditional perspectives on flexibility, efficiency and effectiveness trade-offs are strongly dependent on hierarchical level of analysis. Our framework lays a foundation for rigorous holistic enterprise design efforts in the area of military operations and other socio-technical enterprises such as health care, disaster relief and large-scale defense acquisition. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, June 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "May 2009." Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references.

An Integrated Real options Framework for model-based identification and valuation of options under uncertainty

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

An Integrated Real options Framework for model-based identification and valuation of options under uncertainty Mikaelian, Tsoline Complex systems and enterprises, such as those typical in the aerospace industry, are subject to uncertainties that may lead to suboptimal performance or even catastrophic failures if unmanaged. This work focuses on flexibility as an important means of managing uncertainties and leverages real options analysis that provides a theoretical foundation for quantifying the value of flexibility. Real options analysis has traditionally been applied to the valuation of capital investment decisions by considering managerial flexibility. More recently, real options have been applied to the valuation of flexibility in system design decisions. However, different applications of real options are often considered in isolation. This thesis introduces an Integrated Real options Framework (IRF) that supports holistic decision making under uncertainty by considering a spectrum of real options across an enterprise. In the context of the IRF, enterprise architecture is described in terms of eight views and their dependencies and modeled using a coupled dependency structure matrix (C-DSM). The objective of the IRF is to leverage the C-DSM model in order to identify and value real options for uncertainty management. The contributions of this thesis are as follows. First, a new characterization of a real option as a mechanism and type is introduced. This characterization disambiguates among 1) patterns of mechanisms that enable flexibility and 2) types of flexibility in a system or enterprise. Second, it is shown that a classical C-DSM model cannot represent flexibility and options.; (cont.) The logical C-DSM model is introduced to enable the representation of flexibility by specifying logical relations among dependencies. Third, it is shown that in addition to flexibility, two new properties, optionability and realizability, are relevant to the identification and analysis of real options. Fourth, the logical C-DSM is used to estimate flexibility, optionability and realizability metrics. Methods that leverage these metrics are developed to identify mechanisms and types of real options to manage uncertainties. The options are then valued using standard real options valuation techniques. The framework is demonstrated through examples from an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) project and management of uncertainty in surveillance missions. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-231).

Identifying the impact of modeling and simulation in the generation of system level requirements

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying the impact of modeling and simulation in the generation of system level requirements Walton, Myles Alexander, 1975- Requirements generation is an influential time in the evolution of the program. It allocates 70% of the life-cycle cost of a program and is responsible for a large percentage of the system errors and cost overruns. This project lays the framework of the current state of requirements generation and then focuses on the use of modeling and simulation within the process. It is shown that although modeling and simulation tools are being used extensively in requirements generation in many programs throughout the DoD, their effectiveness is largely undocumented and areas of high leverage are unknown. Research results also indicate that the more effective use of M&S within requirements generation could be achieved with increased tool interoperability and easier tool validation and verification. Finally, the ability to perform more iteration early and M&S use as a boundary object for communication are set forth as the two main benefits of M&S. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).

Engine production system in the US defense aircraft industry

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Engine production system in the US defense aircraft industry Ramirez-de-Arellano, Luis G. (Luis Guillermo), 1970- A study was conducted, under the auspices of the Lean Aerospace Initiative, to determine the causes of increment in the production throughput time of engines in the US defense aircraft industry. Three sites were included. The study was based on data gathered through interviews and review of engine build records at the sites. Besides engine characteristics, specifications and applications, emphasis was put on collecting data related to engine build spans, records of perturbations, factory floor layouts, and part flow paths. Particular attention was paid to the production scheduling systems used at the sites. Supply chain management and worker training and cross-training were also covered. Finally, a comparison was made between the policies implemented at the sites and the enabling practices of the Lean Enterprise Model Results show how one of the studied sites achieves much better performance in terms of reduced build span variability and schedule conformance. Future improvement for the industry is also suggested. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 89).

Building software factories in the aerospace industry

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Building software factories in the aerospace industry Menendez, Jose K Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110).

Enabling cultural shifts : an enterprise approach toward lean thinking

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling cultural shifts : an enterprise approach toward lean thinking Olschewsky, Scott (Scott Michael) The Supply Planning Operations team, in a large manufacturing firm, faced a future where their complexity of scope was increasing without an increase in resource levels. As an effort to improve both efficiency and effectively within the organization, they chose to adopt Lean Thinking as a method to streamline and simplify activities, connections and flows. Lean Thinking, while often viewed as a set of tools (value stream mapping, andon cords, kanbans, and others), involves the harmony between principles, culture and the appropriate application of tools. SPO has taken an approach focused on culture and deep understanding of Lean Principles before deploying the tools of Lean. It was important to examine why artifacts succeeded or failed in influencing cultural change. One common theme for successful artifacts was their portability. With a geographically diverse team, it was important that any artifact could be transported electronically. Although not all the actions have been successful in influencing the organization's culture, many actions have had a profound impact. Seeing members of the organization write about their personal experiences is just one example of how Lean Thinking has been adopted. By committing to "Rules before Tools," the group embarked upon a journey to change culture. This thesis used an Enacted Systems Analysis to identify Artifacts, Habits of Thought and Habits of Action. Several organizational barriers emerged along with possible levers to promote change. Even though the revolution is only in its infancy, SPO appears to be on a sustainable path toward a Lean Thinking transformation. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67).

Identifying system-wide contact center cost reduction opportunities through lean, customer-focused IT metrics

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying system-wide contact center cost reduction opportunities through lean, customer-focused IT metrics Sen, Avijit Dell's long-term success depends on its customers' future buying patterns. These patterns are largely determined by customers' satisfaction with the after-sales service they receive. Previously, Dell has been able to deliver high customer satisfaction but has done so at a high expense, further reducing the low margins on their consumer product line. Dell's Global Consumer Services and Support organization (GCSS) is constantly innovating to lower its operating costs while maintaining customer satisfaction. Their task is difficult to achieve in part because of the broad scope of problems that Dell's customer service agents (CSAs) tackle and the grey areas of support boundaries. In order to identify and correct the root-causes of these contact-center costs, Dell needs the ability to measure the specific cost of supporting individual customers. Yet, no such customer-centric data framework exists at Dell, or indeed in the contact center industry. However, it is possible to create just such a customer focused data framework by applying an automated value stream mapping (VSM) analysis to a large sample of contact-center activity data from Dell's data warehouse. The resulting data set is a collection of digital value stream maps representing the end-to-end customer service experience of each contact-center customer. After performing the proposed data transformations, these customer-focused metrics (CustFM) are shown to yield significant insights into previously unidentifiable cost reduction opportunities available across Dell's global contact-center network. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72).

Lean principle application in an automotive product development process with special emphasis on peer reviews

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Lean principle application in an automotive product development process with special emphasis on peer reviews Boren, Michael S. (Michael Stuart) Global Automotive, a large US based, global manufacturer of automobiles, has made significant gains in manufacturing competitiveness, in part through application of a lean manufacturing approach to high volume assembly. A similar approach applied to product development can result in significant improvements in product design throughput, speed, cost, design quality, and innovation. With major product programs taking in excess of 36 months and a billion dollars to complete, the potential impact of process improvements is substantial. This thesis examines elements of Global Automotive Product Development Process. Some general guiding principles for Lean product development are also reviewed from the existing literature. Special attention is given to metrics for measuring product development performance at Global Automotive. The thesis focuses on the role of peer reviews in the development process. The analysis is performed using a work order data set for two automotive development programs. Score cards from Peer Review and a survey of the component engineering community are also used to assess the effectiveness and current state of the peer review process. The study found evidence that high scores on peer reviews do not guarantee that late changes will occur, if anything component groups with average lower scoring peer reviews generated led to consistent levels of late stage changes. The objective of peer reviews should clearly be to find as many problems as possible and participants should be encouraged to delivery "low scoring" reviews. Keywords: Product Development, Lean, Peer Reviews, Design Defects. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94).

Accelerating value capture of SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system : governance model and process

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Accelerating value capture of SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system : governance model and process Shih, Ting-Chih Raytheon produces a diverse range of defense products using a wide range of business systems and tools that are not currently integrated. To achieve the corporate vision of "one company", in 2005, Raytheon began to deploy its SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, called "PRISM", focused on planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery processes. After a few single-site PRISM deployments, in 2009, Raytheon launched its biggest deployment yet, to 7,000 users and two business units in California and Texas. This thesis explores effective governance models and post-deployment governance processes necessary to mitigate the anticipated performance dip and accelerate return on investment (ROI) of the SAP system. The desired governance model for multi-business unit SAP ERP system includes comprehensive representation of stakeholders from business functional areas, information technology (IT) areas, user support groups, and SAP system experts. The governance structure consists of integration points among users, system experts, process owners, management, and corporate leadership team to ensure development of corporate system and solutions to address business unit needs. The governance process involves reviewing change requests, assessing changes needed, and deciding on final resolution. The governance structure and its linkages among different groups facilitate the process by involving the stakeholders with the appropriate knowledge and experience to contribute to decision making. The result is a governance structure capable of making just-in-time decisions to implement the "one-company" vision. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-115).

Understanding, modeling and improving the development of complex products : method and study

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding, modeling and improving the development of complex products : method and study Rogers, Bradley W. (Bradley Warren) Development of new aerostructure designs frequently occurs through a complex process that is difficult to understand and control. Tight requirements for weight, cost, strength, and aerodynamic behavior create many interdependencies in the product design, which translate through to the design process. An increasing fragmentation of the commercial aerospace industry has also added a dimension of complexity to the process - outsourced component designs are often interdependent with in-house component designs, resulting in frequently changing requirements for supplier components during the design process. This thesis offers an analysis of the product development processes of a first-tier aerostructures supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. Although this host company provides the context for analysis, the method is meant to be generally applicable to the development of any complex product. The Design Structure Matrix (DSM) methodology is used to capture the required interaction between tasks of the development of a propulsion structure for commercial aircraft. The task times, time variations, work loads, interdependencies, likelihoods of rework, and learning curves are then quantified and applied to a discrete-event Monte Carlo simulation model which outputs probabilistic completion time and workload of the project. The model is then used to show how changing the customer requirements at different points in the development cycle affect the cost and schedule of development.; (cont.) The failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is applied to quantify risks and ensure proper control of their likelihoods and consequences A holistic industry-level analysis provides insight into the complexities of developing an interdependent product across multiple organizations. Potential recommendations to improve the development process are outlined. Finally, the "Three Lens" methodology is applied to identify implementation obstacles. This paper builds upon product development process simulation theory by introducing process independent externalities into the model to show how changing customer requirements may impact the cost and schedule of development. It also proposes a new framework for optimal staffing based upon the maturity of the customer requirements. Finally this paper shows that a disintegrated, sections-based design process architecture, like that used for the Boeing 787, is sub-optimal for product development, and it proposes a new architecture for developing aircraft. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 90).

Lean visual management in an ERP/MES-controlled production cell

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Lean visual management in an ERP/MES-controlled production cell Kisby, Brian M. (Brian Matthew) As a company grows, more and more effort is needed to control and coordinate operations. Typically, this is accomplished through an evolving collection of systems and processes, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, but such systems also influence how a company does business, reviews performance, and communicates results. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are often used in conjunction with ERP systems to streamline and enable actual manufacturing processes. A third type of system, the visual management system, is used to take production out of the closed, computerized realm and make it open, intuitive, and efficient. Visual Management, as a lean concept, can be a simple and effective means to efficiently regulate inventory levels and production activities. However, when visual management systems are to be embedded within a broader ERP/MES system, certain conditions and support systems are requisite, the absence of which will render the visual management system ineffective, at best, or destructive, at worst. Furthermore, there are fundamental issues around implementing visual management, be it high-tech or low-tech. This thesis will describe a case study of the process to manage the design and implementation of a visual management system, while addressing various stakeholders' needs and refined business objectives. Theories and frameworks of Enterprise Architecting and Change Management are utilized to analyze which functions the visual management system should perform and how to achieve operator buy-in. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94).

Mitigating the risk of a new workforce by reducing rework and rightsizing on hand inventory

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Mitigating the risk of a new workforce by reducing rework and rightsizing on hand inventory Larson, David (David William) Dramatically increasing the hourly workforce at a rapid pace to support accelerated product demand in an aircraft manufacturing facility in a short amount of time resulted in: (1) increased rework, and (2) increased part damage during assembly. The majority of rework results from simple workmanship mistakes from the new workforce. The approach used in this thesis to combat the increase in rework involves the design and implementation of a feedback loop on the shop floor of a leading aircraft manufacturer. The loop consists of providing each worker with a list of their discrepant work from the day before and the opportunity for them to perform their own rework. The thesis shows that the percent of discrepancies reworked by the original mechanic increases from 27% to 41%. Paired data is analyzed to show (on average) a 20% decrease in rework when the feedback loop is utilized. Included is qualitative advice on implementing change on the shop floor. During final testing, damaged parts (typically as a result of out of sequence work or workmanship mistakes) are discovered and require immediate replacement. Frequently, there are no replacement parts available at the test site, since the original part was installed by a subcontractor. To meet the immediate replacement need, test personnel remove an already installed part from an aircraft upstream in final assembly at the same location. The thesis includes a case study to demonstrate a binomial demand model to estimate the amount of on hand safety stock required to prevent the unnecessary labor from the redundant part removal and replacement from upstream aircraft.; (cont.) The case study estimates demand based on the probability of finding a damaged part, the takt time of the particular model, the leadtime and delivery quantity of replacement parts. A cost tradeoff is calculated to justify the additional capital investment in inventory. The thesis closes with a leadership case study on whom and how to hand off a shop floor Tip of the Day system for the new workforce to ensure its continued success. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 56).

Causes and impacts of Class One engineering changes : an exploratory study based on three defense aircraft acquisition programs

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Causes and impacts of Class One engineering changes : an exploratory study based on three defense aircraft acquisition programs Hsu, Teng-Cheng, 1973- Past studies on engineering changes have focused on products other than defense aerospace products, and have concentrated primarily on the design-manufacturing interface within single companies. Thus, engineering changes in the context of US defense aerospace product development - where the user community, the acquisition community, and the contractors share the responsibility for developing a product - remain largely unexplored. This research focused on three defense aircraft acquisition program case studies, referred to hereafter as Programs A, B, and C. The primary goal of these studies was to develop a better understanding of the causes and impacts of Class I engineering changes in the US defense aerospace product development context. Class I engineering changes, simply referred to as engineering changes below, are those that fundamentally modify the form, fit, and/or function of a product such that the results before and after the engineering changes are different, and are visible to all communities involved with developing the product. In addition, this research sought to identify ways in which contractors and customers may help to reduce the number of undesirable engineering changes. For the three case-study programs, requirements definition issues, changes in user needs, the need to fix deficiencies, and technological changes were found to be the four dominant causes of engineering changes. It was also found that program characteristics determined the dominant causes in each of the programs. Engineering changes due to the four dominant causes across the three case-study programs were found to be most likely of high-impact. The scope of impact of engineering changes remained relatively constant with respect to time, and engineering changes rarely led to subsequent, unanticipated engineering changes. Thorough requirements definition facilitated by the use of integrated product teams (IPTs), prioritization on program schedule, and the use of mature technologies combined to allow Program C to make frequent engineering changes to accommodate evolving user needs and changes in technology without any program schedule delay. It was also found that had IPTs been used during the development phases of Programs A and B, the prime contractors and their suppliers might have been able to avoid some engineering changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-173).

Context characterization for synthesis of process architectures

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Context characterization for synthesis of process architectures LaFon, Christian (Christian Phillip) Analysis steps are proposed as an aid for establishing Lean Product Development (LPD) activities in an organization. The proposal is offered as an aid to engineering managers and process designers for coping with the unique challenges of implementing processes from their inception - for example, at a new enterprise. As such, the thesis focuses on the creation of LPD, as opposed to traditional Lean improvement activities which benefit from the perspective of hindsight of a legacy process. Without established product development processes to improve upon, the implementation of product development activities at a new venture relies on the use of foresight to instance a LPD environment in new organizations. Therefore, the paper stresses stakeholder value delivery within the specific context that an enterprise operates and competes. A generic framework for context characterization is proposed and discussed. The framework is then evaluated for its usefulness in process design activities. The analysis steps are based on literature review and case study interviews. The proposed analysis steps include: * a comprehensive definition of the business context in which the enterprise operates and competes, * a statement of goals and objectives for the product development organization based on this context, and, * a determination of appropriate behaviors to meet these goals. Traditional Lean research has typically been approached from a large-scale, complex systems, for-profit perspective.; (cont.) Unique insights are gained from the perspective of small, privately funded, new ventures. The benefits include foresight-only value objectives for product development (process creation) and uniqueness of context (i.e. resource limited, mindshare-driven). The analysis method was validated by examining process design case studies within three contexts: large-scale aerospace, industrial process monitoring, and high-technology start-up. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-118).

Integrating military unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system : an application of value-focused thinking and enterprise architecting

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating military unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system : an application of value-focused thinking and enterprise architecting Cropsey, Luke C. G. (Luke Christopher Grant) The research presented in this thesis presents a methodology compatible with the Department of Defense (DoD) Capability-Based Assessment (CBA) process for analyzing and recommending appropriate enterprise architectures for the challenge of integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the national airspace system (NAS). Thesis organization is sub-divided into four sections. Section I provides the introduction, context, and recent efforts of the UAS airspace integration challenge and the underlying motivations driving the increased desire to see UAS better integrated into the NAS. Section II details the methodology used in the analysis by extending various value-focused, lean enterprise constructs using rigorous object process methodology (OPM) to describe and build alternative enterprise architectures. Section III applies the methodology to the UAS airspace integration problem specifically with the development and selection of a preferred enterprise architecture and a recommended transformation plan. Section IV concludes with a discussion on extending the methodology for specific application back into the CBA process, the issues involved in creating an executable model for enterprise architecting, and final thoughts on the iterative nature of the methodology and the need to further refine the initial results with the UAS airspace integration enterprise decision makers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-318).

A system dynamics analysis of the interaction between the U.S. government and the defense aerospace industry

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

A system dynamics analysis of the interaction between the U.S. government and the defense aerospace industry Bakkila, Michelle Vivian Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-139).

Strategies for dealing with instabilities in a complex, multi-project product development system engineering environment

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Strategies for dealing with instabilities in a complex, multi-project product development system engineering environment Wright, Michael R. (Michael Robert), 1966- This thesis evaluates the product development process from the perspective of a multiple gas turbine engine development programs. The risk to meeting cost and schedule requirements has increased solely due to squeezing budgets and schedule to fit the "better, faster, cheaper" mold. The thesis focuses on the further risks to cost and schedule of the gas turbine product development cycle that are caused by instabilities introduced by the cyclical nature of multiple product development programs completing the cycle and new ones starting. Market and business factors influence the numbers of cycles and can not be controlled. Workload and resource-usage are not stabile within multiple product development cycles. The analysis establishes an overview of the gas turbine engine, product development process, and project management techniques employed to deliver the product to the customer within cost and schedule constraints. The analysis then uses a risk causal framework to identify the issues that the process faces relative to the cost and schedule risk. The use of this framework identifies staffing issues to be one of the key drivers of cost and schedule risk. A systems dynamic model developed in a previous Systems Design and Management thesis was adapted to represent the product development process by adding structure and calibrating the model with realistic scenarios. The model evaluates the policies that can mitigate risks identified within the given process. Recommendations are provided within a framework that enables management to decide the appropriate use of the policies recommended Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references.

A life-cycle flexibility framework for designing, evaluating and managing "complex" real options : case studies in urban transportation and aircraft systems

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A life-cycle flexibility framework for designing, evaluating and managing "complex" real options : case studies in urban transportation and aircraft systems McConnell, Joshua B. (Joshua Bryan), 1974- Designing a flexible system with real options is a method for managing uncertainty. This research introduces the concept of "complex" real options, which are composed of interconnected echnological, organizational and process components. "Complex" real options differ from the "standard" real options described in the literature in the option life-cycle activities of design, evaluation and management. To address the challenges posed by "complex" real options, the Life-Cycle Flexibility (LCF) Framework was created. The framework addresses issues along the entire life-cycle of an option, in both technical and social system dimensions. Two case studies were considered in this research to better understand "complex" real options and test the LCF Framework: 1) a large blended wing body aircraft in a commercial aircraft manufacturing enterprise and, 2) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities in an urban region with multiple public and private stakeholders. For the case studies, both a quantitative and qualitative analysis was completed. System dynamics and traffic demand models were used to quantitatively evaluate flexibility for each case study. Forty interviews with practitioners were conducted to better understand the practical challenges associated with flexible systems.; (cont.) This research found that there are significant differences between "standard" and "complex" real options. In the design phase, enterprise architecture issues must be considered either as a precursor or simultaneously with the design of the option. In the evaluation stage, option valuation techniques more sophisticated than those found in the real options literature were needed to value the "complex" real options. In the management stage, political considerations were of great importance as political opposition could prevent option exercise from occurring. Without the LCF framework, existing processes for evaluating real options are not adequate for taking into account the interacting technical, organizational and process components of 'complex" real options. In summary, this research provides new insights into the design, evaluation and management of "complex" real options. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references.

Lean transformation of a supply chain organization

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean transformation of a supply chain organization Walsh, Daniel Andres There are two basic schools of thought regarding how to approach a Lean transformation. Either start with introducing Lean tools or start with driving a Lean cultural change. Academic researchers like Steve Spear (Harvard/MIT), Lean experts such as James Womack (Lean Enterprise Institute), and many Lean practitioners within the company believe that a "culture first" approach is more likely to create a sustainable Lean transformation rather than a "tools first" approach. So, who is responsible for this "culture?" The leaders of an organization are responsible for the culture. Leaders drive cultural change through incentive systems, performance management, and role modeling. One critical tenant of Lean is the concept of kaizen, or making change for the better. Kaizen and continuous improvement applies to everyone, everywhere, everyday. This paper proposes that if one's approach to Lean is "culture first," then the leaders who own driving cultural change should hansei (personal introspection and reflection) and kaizen his or her own leadership behaviors and practices to ensure a successful Lean cultural shift for the organization. Supply Planning Operations (SPO) decided to begin its own Lean journey in July 2007, and the transformation is still in its infancy. As part of the journey, the leadership team is reflecting on and comparing the group's leadership and management practices with those advocated by Lean experts. The team found that Toyota's leaders built an enabling bureaucracy to foster a high-performing learning organization. "Leading Lean" requires new approaches and behaviors that challenge existing group norms. This paper summarizes the gaps between SPO's current leadership norms and those identified by Lean experts.; For example, SPO needs to continue developing their "people value stream" based on Lean organizational capabilities and healthy relational contracts between employees and management. These recommendations are not a prescription for success nor are they necessarily directly applicable to other groups. The intent of this thesis is yokoten (Toyota term for the horizontal transfer of information and knowledge) to share SPO's current understanding of its leadership problems with others on the Lean journey. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-113).

The role of assessment in a lean transformation

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The role of assessment in a lean transformation Shan, Raymond S. (Raymond Shing) When starting the journey to become a Lean company, companies commonly face the problem of understanding how to manage a Lean transformation. Often times, the first step in managing a Lean transformation is to understand the current state of the organization followed by defining the desired future state of the organization. However, in order to assess the current state, an effective measurement method is necessary. With a good measurement method, a company can not only understand the beginning state, but it can also take periodic measurements to check its progress against its transformation plan. In this thesis the effectiveness of Dell Business Assessment is analyzed in comparison to other current assessment methods. The Dell Business Assessment is examined in depth, as the thesis describes the development, piloting and recommendations for Dell's assessment tool. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-93).

Enabling manufacturing flexibility issue resolution in advanced vehicle development

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling manufacturing flexibility issue resolution in advanced vehicle development Tomlin, Grace C. (Grace Catherine) Manufacturing Flexibility is a broad term used to describe a metric that can be measured in many different ways. Current industry experts agree that Flexibility is one of the key measures that will help the automotive industry reduce current overcapacity and remain competitive. In addition to flexibility, General Motors is also focusing on fewer, interbuildable product architectures.To maintain and implement flexible manufacturing systems, General Motors has developed a list of Flexibility Enablers. These enablers identify critical product characteristics which affect the interbuildability of the product and the flexibility and of the subsequent manufacturing process.Market forces drive product requirements, and lead to designs that potentially violate the Flexibility Enablers. This thesis will look at GM's internal structure and how it has developed to support design decisions and issue resolution. It will then study cases in which the design requirements led to design, manufacturing and cost tradeoffs in an attempt to understand and document the different unwritten resolution processes in disparate groups.Keywords: Manufacturing Flexibility, Product Development, Flexibility Enabler, Interbuildability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

Tailoring the prototyping process to achieve customer value

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Tailoring the prototyping process to achieve customer value Jordan, Brian Lane The main objective for prototyping is to get the most value out of the opportunity. Value may take the form of information, performance, displaying production readiness or proving capability for the amount of resources consumed and time required. The extents to which the aforementioned variables add customer value differ from project to project. Therefore, it is important to understand what the customer values most in the effort and modify the process to best achieve the prioritized results. Achieving customer value in the prototyping process is critical to Raytheon's Advanced Products Center (APC) business because it is likely that the customer will bring production into the facility. Misalignment with customer expectations will be avoided by tailoring the process around the metrics that the customer prioritizes. Confusion and inconsistency will be limited by having a clear and understood process. The intent of this thesis is to provide a means of tailoring the process to best achieve customer value given the characteristics of the project. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61).

Designing and implementing auxiliary operational processes

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Designing and implementing auxiliary operational processes Smith, Zachary R Amazon.com, one of the largest and most profitable online retailers, has been experiencing such dramatic growth rates that it must continually update and modify its fulfillment process in order to meet customer demand for its products. As the volume of customer orders increases, management at the different fulfillment centers must determine the optimal way to increase the throughput through their facility. Many times the answer lies in improving the primary process, but occasionally it makes better sense if an auxiliary process is built or expanded to meet the increased demand.This thesis analyzes the decision criteria necessary to determine when an auxiliary process should be designed in addition to an established primary process. The author's internship project will be presented as an example of how to implement such a secondary method. The six-month LFM project focused on increasing the Fernley, Nevada fulfillment center's capacity by making improvements to its manual sortation/packaging. This process, nicknamed BIGS, was originally built to offload large and troublesome orders from the primary, automated process path. The unique labor-intensive procedures used in this process held several advantages that justified its existence and the investments necessary to expand its capacity Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84).

Cycle time reduction through wafer starts control

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Cycle time reduction through wafer starts control Wang, Sam, M.B.A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Intel's Fab 17, located in Hudson, Massachusetts, has experienced dramatic improvements in its cycle time performance in the last two years. These improvements have been attributed to lean implementation efforts, reduced tool variability, as well as other key initiatives. In its efforts to continuously improve cycle time and cycle time variability, a new methodology of conducting wafer starts was developed and pilot implementations were conducted. The new methodology was based upon the concept of Little's Law of Cycle Time = Inventory / Output, whereby controlling the level of inventory through wafer starts would positively impact cycle time performance. Thus, by monitoring the current Work-in-Process levels at selected areas of operations and contrasting it with the optimal levels based upon Little's Law, an appropriate level of wafer starts could be determined.Close collaboration between the manufacturing, engineering, and planning departments allowed for the creation and pilot implementations of the wafer starts control model. The pilot implementations were conducted in three separate phases, providing opportunities for data analyses and methodology improvements. Model parameters and logic were modified between each phase to better reflect actual fab realities and to achieve more effective outcomes. Positive results were observed during the pilot implementations, as cycle time variability (as defined by standard deviations) decreased and overall fab cycle time remained consistently lower, all during a period of increased production. As of the conclusion of the internship, Fl7 planned to adopt the wafer starts control model as part of its routine starts process. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 55).

Leveraging global operations innovation to create sustainable competitive advantage

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Leveraging global operations innovation to create sustainable competitive advantage Storm, Andrew P. (Andrew Phillip) High fixed costs and the emergence of globalization have forced traditional domestic automotive mass producers to the brink of bankruptcy. This thesis focuses on the global growth strategy of a Tier 1 automotive supplier and examines causal relationships between that strategy and the system stakeholders who execute and support it. The literature review examines current research to illustrate the benefit of approaching globalization with a process-driven, systems-based mindset. Current literature offers insight into improved financial measures that traditional mass producing firms can employ to streamline decision making and shift the mindset of leaders to engage employees, suppliers, and customers around a long-term systems based operating strategy. The thesis is based upon three core experiences the author had at American Axle to illustrate the importance of systems-based operations innovation. The literature review in conjunction with the internship experience is used to illustrate opportunities for American Axle to improve its operating strategy. The paper highlights traditional approaches currently used inside the company and offers solutions to change employee behavior throughout American Axle's global manufacturing system. The thesis examines behaviors, metrics, and results often seen in an absorption cost environment where there are weak operational controls and non-standard corporate scorecards. Using current research and professional industry experience, I will argue robust operational controls and metrics, aligned with an overarching systems approach that considers the long term implications of today's decisions, are essential components to the viable, long term success of any global enterprise. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-91).

Applying lean enterprise principles to optimize delivery of customer service

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Applying lean enterprise principles to optimize delivery of customer service McClellan, Hannah Elizabeth Many companies have realized significant value through the application of lean principles to manufacturing and supply chain operations. Dell Inc. in particular garnered international fame for its ability to manufacture and deliver computers using a lean, direct-to-customer approach that provided a tremendous competitive advantage. The Author suggests that these same lean principles can be applied to improve a firm's service and support operations, while acknowledging some important nuances of applying lean in a customer service environment. The Author calls to light a key differentiator between lean manufacturing and lean customer service. Specifically, while customers use relatively consistent value systems to assess manufacturing operations, different customer segments typically value customer service in very different ways. Thus, lean customer service must begin by thoroughly characterizing the value expectations and contributions of each customer segment. After characterizing these value systems, a firm must design a support channel architecture aligned with the value exchange system of the entire customer population. After designing a lean channel architecture, lean principles may be tactically applied to optimize performance within individual channels. This research project focused on improving customer service operations at Dell by using lean principles to: 1. Establish a data-driven, strategic architecture for Dell's consumer support division and 2. Identify operational improvement opportunities to drive the tactical execution of that strategy. The project began with a benchmarking study of customer service strategies at companies such as Best Buy, Apple, Fed-Ex, Amazon.com, GM, and Comcast.; (cont.) The Author then proposes a "Lean Support Channel Architecture" using on-line and retail service channels to offload demand from the call centers, effectively eliminating waste from call centers. Finally, the Author examines how lean principles can be tactically applied to a retail service channel to enable the cost-effective delivery of retail support in line with the support channel architecture proposed. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

A framework for dynamic safety and risk management modeling in complex engineering systems

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A framework for dynamic safety and risk management modeling in complex engineering systems Dulac, Nicolas, 1978- Almost all traditional hazard analysis or risk assessment techniques, such as failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA), and probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) rely on a chain-of-event paradigm of accident causation. Event-based techniques have some limitations for the study of modem engineering systems. Specifically, they are not suited to handle complex software-intensive systems, complex human-machine interactions, and systems-of-systems with distributed decision-making that cut across both physical and organizational boundaries. STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes) is a comprehensive accident model created by Nancy Leveson that is based on systems theory. It draws on concepts from engineering, mathematics, cognitive and social psychology, organizational theory, political science, and economics. The general notion in STAMP is that accidents result from inadequate enforcement of safety constraints in design, development, and operation. STAMP includes traditional failure-based models as a subset, but goes beyond physical failures to include causal factors involving dysfunctional interactions among non-failing components; software and logic design errors; errors in complex human decision-making; various organizational characteristics such as workforce, safety processes and standards, contracting; and other managerial, social, organizational, and cultural factors. The main contribution of this thesis is the augmentation of STAMP with a dynamic executable modeling framework in order to further improve safety in the development and operation of complex engineering systems. This executable modeling framework: 1) enables the dynamic analysis of safety-related decision-making in complex systems, 2) assists with the design and testing of non-intuitive policies and processes to better mitigate risks and prevent time-dependent risk increase, and 3) enables the identification of technical and organizational factors to detect and monitor states of increasing risk before an accident occurs.; (cont.) The modeling framework is created by combining STAMP safety control structures with system dynamic modeling principles. A component-based model-building methodology is proposed to facilitate the building of customized STAMP-based dynamic risk management models and make them accessible to managers and engineers with limited simulation experience. A library of generic executable components is provided as a basis for model creation, refinement, and validation. A toolset is assembled to identify risk increase patterns, analyze time-dependent risks, assist engineers and managers in safety-related decision-making, create and test risk mitigation actions and policies, and monitor the system for states of increasing risk. The usefulness of the new framework is demonstrated in two independent projects: 1) A risk analysis of the NASA Independent Technical Authority (ITA), an organization mandated by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) to provide independent safety oversight of space shuttle operations, and 2) A risk management study for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) at NASA. For these two projects, model refinement, validation and analysis required extensive data collection and interactions with NASA workforce. Over 45 interviews were conducted at five NASA centers (HQ, MSFC, KSC, JSC, and LaRC). Interviewees included representatives from the Office of the Administrator, the Office of the Chief Engineer, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, ESMD Directorate Offices, Program/Project Offices, and many others. Among other data sources, 200 pages of interview transcripts were compiled and used for model creation and validation activities. Specific risks analyzed include: 1) NASA workforce and knowledge management issues, 2) the impact of various levels of outsourcing, 3) the impact of safety priority on design, and 4) the impact of requirements change on safety and schedule during development. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, June 2007.; "February 2007."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 328-338).

Using Virtual Business Systems to drive lean behavior in engineering design and support

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Using Virtual Business Systems to drive lean behavior in engineering design and support Ho, Purdy P. (Purdy Pinpin), 1977- Virtual Business System (VBS) is a visual-based analytics and real-time information displaying system. It first started at Raytheon's Andover manufacturing facility in early 2000 with the strategic objectives of linking Lean and Six Sigma behavior to customers' successes and gradually transforming Raytheon into a Lean workplace. VBS dashboards are projected onto flat screen panels located throughout the factory floor such that anyone on the floor can view the production line status in real-time. This thesis focuses on developing a new VBS dashboard and using it to transform the enterprise. Leveraging the success in manufacturing deployment, this thesis describes Raytheon's initial attempt of extending VBS to the engineering arena, with the goals of driving Lean and Six Sigma behavior to the next level, transforming problem solving behavior from reactive to proactive and from containment to prevention, redefining quality control and performance metrics to better reveal business risks and opportunities and eliminating undesirable aspects in cost, cycle time and information latency. The VBS dashboard described in this thesis provides root cause "drill-down" capabilities for quality control and performance assessment, which leads to cycle time reduction, early stage problem resolution and defect prevention. VBS changes data ownership culture from privatize to publicize, which couples employees' actions to responsibilities and enhances proactive problem solving attitude. VBS dashboard is also a one-stop shop for data collection and analysis, which eliminates non-value added work for processing and fetching data from multiple sources. Last but not least, VBS dashboards build on modular development architecture, which enables quick turnaround on deliverables.; (cont.) Therefore, VBS is considered the "disruptive technology" of many existing corporate information technology systems and the Andon boards. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (M.B.A.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 85).

Restoring product focus across the value stream through organizational restructuring

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Restoring product focus across the value stream through organizational restructuring Pasqual, Jeffrey M. (Jeffrey Michael) Businesses take deliberate action to change their internal context when managers believe that better performance lies beyond the capabilities of assets in their present configuration. A typical course of action is reorganization. A key consideration for organizational design is how the relationship between an organization's structure, the structure of its products, and the structure of its processes influence the value delivered to customers. In some sense, products, processes, and the organization should "fit" each other. This thesis presents a framework for thinking about product architecture, enterprise architecture, and the value stream of processes that binds them together. Critical to any enterprise architecture are process owners that control and improve organizational processes and product owners that manage the end-to-end development of products. When a product is significantly complex, independent tiers of product ownership might be established to ensure that different levels of products - systems, subsystems, or components - are managed with appropriate developmental objectives in mind. For example, some components must be distinct to a single product; other components can be common among several products. The proposed framework shows how product and enterprise architectures can be integrated to support the development of complex systems. The thesis also presents a case study to which the proposed framework is applied. The study focuses on a business that has recently restructured its organization to achieve better alignment with the complex products it develops. Using the proposed framework, the new organizational structure is evaluated to determine if the new enterprise architecture positions the business to increase customer value and accomplish its long-term goals. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (M.B.A.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-94).

Symbiotic strategies in enterprise ecology : modeling commercial aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Symbiotic strategies in enterprise ecology : modeling commercial aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises Sgouridis, Sgouris P We investigate the effectiveness of strategic alternatives that are designed to dampen the cyclicality manifest in the commercial aviation (CA)-related industries. In this research we introduce the conceptual framework of Enterprise of Enterprises (EoE) as an extension and special case of a System of Systems, to facilitate the design of strategic alternatives in an enterprise ecosystem characterized by loosely coupled enterprises. The constituent enterprises in an EoE exhibit managerial and operational independence and have diverse value functions that are often viewed by the enterprises as zero-sum games. We argue that this may not always be the case; for example, in the CA EoE both airline and airframe manufacturers constituents would benefit from a steadier influx of aircraft that counters the current situation that is characterized by relatively stable demand growth rate for air travel while airline profitability and aircraft ordering fluctuate intensely. A strategic alternative geared towards this EoE-wide desired state is "symbiotic". In order to identify such strategies, we use the EoE framework to analyze the CA-related industries and to specify their local value functions and the salient interfaces among them based on an extensive review of the literature on commercial aviation. We develop working hypotheses about the driving mechanisms of the cycle in the CA EoE informed by the literature on economywide and supply chain cyclicality. To test these hypotheses, we extend a system dynamics model of commercial aviation. After testing several individual strategic alternatives, we find that capacity management is key to cycle moderation. We then compare two diverse, non-collusive ways for capacity management: faster aircraft deliveries and semi-fixed production schedules generated by long-term forecasts.; (cont.) While both are promising, only the latter alternative is shown to be Pareto optimal. We also examine the potential synergistic effects from combining more than one strategic alternatives for which we also discuss implementation implications. The EoE framework and some of our findings can be applicable and generalizable to other industries facing intense cyclical behavior. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-351).

Qualitative knowledge construction for engineering systems : extending the design structure matrix methodology in scope and procedure

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Qualitative knowledge construction for engineering systems : extending the design structure matrix methodology in scope and procedure Bartolomei, Jason E This thesis presents a new modeling framework and research methodology for the study of engineering systems. The thesis begins with a formal conceptualization of Engineering Systems based upon a synthesis of various literatures. Using this conceptualization, a new modeling framework is presented called the Engineering Systems Matrix (ESM). The ESM is an improvement to existing system-level modeling frameworks, such as the Design Structure Matrix (DSM), by providing a dynamic, end-to-end representation of an engineering system. In support of this contribution, a new research methodology is presented called Qualitative Knowledge Construction (QKC). QKC can be thought of as a Bayesian-type approach to grounded theory. The methodology integrates qualitative social science with quantitative methods by developing a procedure for translating textual reports of observations, interview transcripts, system documentation, and figures into coded data represented in the ESM. The thesis develops the ESM framework and the QKC methodology in the context of a real world engineering system, a US Air Force miniature uninhabited air vehicle (MAV) product development system. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; MIT Barker Engineering Library copy: printed in pages.; Also issued printed in pages.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-146).

Knowledge integration for problem solving in the development of complex aerospace systems

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge integration for problem solving in the development of complex aerospace systems Haddad, Marc George The development of complex products requires widespread knowledge interactions among a significant number of individuals and teams designing numerous interrelated components. Increasing product complexity typically leads to a corresponding increase in the types and sources of knowledge that need to be tapped during development, and a common strategy for managing product complexity is to outsource parts and components to external suppliers. As a result, the knowledge required for development is increasingly specialized and distributed across multiple boundaries spanning large-scale organizational networks, thus requiring the subsequent integration of this knowledge in order to accomplish the development task. A framework for knowledge integration in the development of complex systems in a large-scale organizational context is proposed in this thesis using an extensive review of the pertinent literature. The framework consists of the main channels, strategies, practices and mechanisms most commonly used to transfer, share and apply knowledge in the course of complex technical problem solving. The framework is progressively refined using empirical data collected through several rounds of interviews and a questionnaire instrument administered across three major aircraft programs in the defense aerospace industry. We find that knowledge integration in routine problem solving situations is most efficiently and effectively accomplished through extensive transfer and sharing of codified information using formal mechanisms such as information systems, while knowledge integration for major non-routine troubleshooting events requires extensive integration of individual expertise and know-how through both formal and informal advice sharing as well as direct assistance across internal and external organizational boundaries.; (cont.) A principal contribution of this research is in demonstrating how different characteristics of the engineering artifact defined in terms of product complexity, architecture and technology newness, and different aspects of problem solving including problem type and novelty, drive the knowledge integration process and the organizational system. We conclude that permeability of cross-program boundaries, direct relationships with functional groups and rich tacit knowledge flow from suppliers are critical for countering rampant firefighting in complex product development. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-248).

Lean Transformations in Supply Chain, the autocatalytic nature of lean principles, and tactics for implementing lean tools

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean Transformations in Supply Chain, the autocatalytic nature of lean principles, and tactics for implementing lean tools Gardner, Bryan (Bryan Jay) Expanding Lean principles beyond the manufacturing floor, ultimately to entail a comprehensive Lean Enterprise, has gained increasing attention among corporations. This thesis entails a detailed case study of initiating a Lean Transformation in the Supply Chain department of a technology center for engineering, integration and final assembly of directional drilling equipment. This technology center is part of Schlumberger, a global corporation and industry leader in directional drilling and other oilfield technologies and services. Initiating the Lean Transformation in this Supply Chain department is detailed and used as the central theme throughout the thesis. The rapid, successive applications and results of conventional Lean principles are evaluated. Due to the near relative proximity of the several initiatives undertaken, in both time and within the organization, this case is used to evaluate the Autocatalytic Nature of Lean Principles within the Supply Chain department. Concurrently, the dynamics involved with the interactions of personnel within the department are evaluated. As a Lean Transformation is so heavily dependent upon the personnel participating in the change, tactics for initiating a Lean Transformation are treated in reference to the several initiatives of this case study. These three components, Lean principles, their autocatalytic interaction, and relevant human interactions, are all combined to comprehensively address the most influential aspects of affecting a Lean Transformation in a Supply Chain department. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 179).

Analysis of email and phone queuing systems in a world-wide contact center network

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Analysis of email and phone queuing systems in a world-wide contact center network Carter, Kristopher (Kristopher W.) Contact centers are operated by companies to answer customer inquiries via phone calls or email. Customers often equate the service they are provided while interacting with a contact center to the quality of a company's product offering. Therefore, a major concern is what service level the company should choose to provide. One means of measuring service level is speed of response (how quickly a customer inquiry is answered). In general, faster response requires more customer service agents for a given volume of inquiries. Phone response times are usually measured in minutes or seconds. Email response times are usually measured in hours or days. This paper examines customer expectations regarding email and phone inquiry response time, and examines various models for planning staffing requirements to meet these response times. The expectations for response time to phone calls are found to be stable, having not changed much in the last few decades. The expectations for response time to email inquiries have been increasing though, with customers demanding much faster response in the last few years. Many customers now expect response to their emails within hours rather than days, with a significant number now expecting response as quickly as one hour. The challenges of implementing faster response times to email are examined using a case study at a major online retailer. A model is also introduced for email service level planning, that allows for the fact that typical response times are much longer than for phone calls. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 50).

Accelerating time-to-market in the global electronics industry

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Accelerating time-to-market in the global electronics industry Folgo, Elena Jean In today's electronics industry, fast time-to-market (TTM) and time-to-profit (TTP) is key to customer satisfaction and firm competitiveness. Optimizing the product development and new product introduction (NPI) process is particularly critical for products in dynamic market segments such as consumer electronics and telecommunications. This analysis will utilize a case study to define the current state of the development process for a top electronics manufacturing services (EMS) player conducting original design manufacturing (ODM) projects in a dynamic market. The analysis will identify process and organizational improvements that will eliminate product development waste in support of accelerating TTM and TTP using an enterprise perspective. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 57).

Lean concepts in customer care : adding value and reducing waste with proactive order status messaging

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lean concepts in customer care : adding value and reducing waste with proactive order status messaging Gill, Kaine C Information technology (IT), operational efficiency, and a strong relationship with customers are three critical components to Dell's success over the last twenty four years. Information technology throughout Dell's history has enabled strategic advantages such as the direct sales model. Operationally, Dell has continuously striven to be best in breed in terms of having an efficient supply chain and manufacturing facilities. Dell's customers were delighted because Dell dealt directly with them without a middle man, quickly translating their needs into products and solutions. These three factors are interdependent and have driven Dell to a sixty billion dollar Fortune 50 company in less than a quarter century. Over the last few years Dell has begun to embrace a lean culture within its manufacturing and supply chain operations. These initiatives are above and beyond other continuous improvement initiatives such as Business Process Improvement (BPI) which traditionally has focused on cost avoidance. To date the lean concepts have not progressed far beyond traditional operational boundaries or the proverbial four walls of manufacturing. This thesis looks to apply lean philosophical concepts and tools in customer service and IT environments. The analysis included consumer call center call drivers identification and value stream mapping of online self help environments. The analysis pointed to the order management process and proactive order status messaging in particular as a thesis focus area. The author convinced high level leaders across Dell's support, IT, and logistics organizations to sponsor a kaizen event to bring all of the key stakeholders together to design an ideal state, end-to-end proactive order status messaging process.; (cont.) Stakeholders analyzed communication channels (phone, internet, email channels, etc.) and messages delivered (order processed, order confirmed, order shipped messages, etc.). The team developed a coherent ideal state vision of what the processes and data systems should look like. Some short and long term successes were realized by the time this thesis was published. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [78]).

Development of a global facility location analysis tool

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Development of a global facility location analysis tool Johnson, Briana F With an economy and customer base that is global, companies are increasingly expanding outside their home country's borders. Many times this is done to take advantage of lower labor or material rates, to increase proximity to the customer, to decrease logistics and transportation costs, to avoid tariffs and other taxes as well as many other factors. How does a company take advantage of the benefits of global operations while still taking into account the corporate strategy and risks associated with a location? By looking beyond standard matrix analysis tools that provide a one number comparison of potential locations, this thesis will expand the existing tools to incorporate the views of Enterprise Architecting to provide a more complete picture of how the decision to expand to one location versus another supports the desired architecture of the firm. This thesis combines analytical hierarchy process with a two level decision matrix to quantify the score of each location. A risk profile was developed to quantify the risk associated with specific locations and criteria in order to provide a more complete picture of the potential costs and benefits of building a facility in a certain location. This more complete view of location analysis will provide a tool that is both repeatable and reliable in its results and allows for an objective decision to be made on location in terms of the critical factors. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65).

Using visual analytics to drive lean behavior in program management office

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Using visual analytics to drive lean behavior in program management office Antoniou, Charalambos J. (Charalambos Jean) Raytheon recently won a large order for one of its programs (Program X) leading to a doubling of monthly production. With a relatively larger order, Raytheon reduced the acquisition unit price to the customer. Thus, there is a burning platform to evaluate the current program assessment tools and ensure that the future assessment tools are adequate for a smooth production schedule. In addition, there is a need to create a more robust and automated manner of identifying risks and opportunities in the production process. The main approach is to use the Raytheon Six Sigma process (visualize, commit, prioritize, characterize, improve, and achieve) to solving major projects, which is similar to the original Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control). Using the aforementioned process, this thesis explores whether introducing visual analytics and controls to the Program Management Office (PMO) can improve the overall communication between the PMO and the manufacturing work centers, and ultimately eliminate the various wastes and improve Program X's production process. In addition, this thesis examines if driving Lean behavior to the PMO, can indirectly drive Lean behavior across the manufacturing value chain leading to cost savings and increased productivity. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 73).

Applying an enterprise architecting framework to design enterprise sales and operations planning

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Applying an enterprise architecting framework to design enterprise sales and operations planning Chu, Brandon B Raytheon Company, a leader in aerospace and defense, has experienced tremendous growth through mergers and acquisitions. In particular, the company's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business unit was largely formed through acquisitions of E-Systems and Texas Instruments and a merger with Hughes Aircraft Company. To assimilate the legacy organizations, Raytheon and SAS have undertaken great efforts to work as "One Company." One such example has been to strive for an enterprise sales and operations planning process. Five years ago, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) Operations leaders recognized the need to be more proactive in comprehending forecasted business and subsequent impacts to SAS' manufacturing network. As a result, Program Requirements and Operations Planning (PROP) was born to enable improved supply chain planning for factory labor and capital resources. Over time, the complexity of SAS' business has proven to be a challenge for PROP to achieve its intended objectives.- This thesis considers PROP as an enterprise rather than a process and proposes re-designing it using a holistic enterprise architecting framework including a thorough examination of the current state of PROP with respect to seven architectural views (strategy, policy/external factors, process, organization, knowledge, IT, and products/services). A future state PROP design is derived from the analysis and then validated against a detailed case study of the Army's Firefinder radar product line manufactured at Raytheon's Forest, Mississippi facility. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 63).

Lean technology development

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Lean technology development Bouzekouk, Salim, 1976- In today's corporate world, successful technology management is separating market leaders from laggards. Because technology is in constant change and what is state-of-the-art today will be obsolete tomorrow, it is not companies with the best technologies that ultimately succeed. Instead, successful companies are those that succeed in institutionalizing and sustaining an efficient technology development process. Moreover, this process must be continuously improved by applying new techniques and concepts to cope with the increasing challenges of technology management. This thesis will explore the extent to which Lean principles can be applied in technology development and how they can contribute to achieving new technology development imperatives (fast cycle time, increasing number of technology introductions, etc.). In order to answer these questions, the thesis proceeds in a logical manner by decomposing the objectives of technology development into organizational solutions using Axiomatic Design. Then, Lean principles as they have developed within the Product Development Focus Team of the Lean Aerospace Initiative are mapped into the above decomposition. The research concludes that under some additional considerations, Lean principles do lead to the achievement of technology development objectives. More, the above theoretical research is applied to a real world case: Technology development at Ford Motor Company. After an assessment of the current process, opportunities of improvement are identified and a leaner process is proposed. Finally, issues and opportunities with OEMs-Suppliers partnerships for new technological systems development are studied. The objective was to formulate policies and make recommendations for a better management of technology supply. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-91).

A survey of front end modularity as an automotive architecture and its ability to deliver value

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A survey of front end modularity as an automotive architecture and its ability to deliver value Mahé, Vincent R. (Vincent Robert) The partitioning of a system can and will dictate the creative space for a designer or engineer. This thesis will analyze how using a new automotive architecture known as a Front End Module (FEM) can affect a limited specific subset of stakeholders. Through the use of interviews of subject matter experts, literature research and the use of System Design Management tools, an in depth analysis will be done on the FEM and how it affects the craftsmanship, damageability and assembly attributes. It will be shown how the craftsmanship attribute can be improved through the strategic use of FEM's to allow for a feed-forward system where build data are incorporated into upcoming FEM builds. Even with this advantage, the FEM architecture will not negatively impact the damageability attribute or assembly attribute if the proper design cues and strategies are followed. The FEM will also be intensely analyzed using the tools from the MIT SDM program where it will be evaluated as an architecture itself through the specific and targeted intent and beneficiary breakdown. The analysis will also include an Object/Process Mapping analysis where it will be proposed that the true customer of the automotive front end is not the individual that purchased the vehicle but rather the visual society as a whole. Finally, a managerial approach will be taken for the analysis of the inherent and inevitable supplier relationship that is required with using this FEM architecture. Interviews were conducted with two suppliers of OEM's and their common road blocks will be analyzed such as lack of holistic thinking or failure to understand the role of the system integrator. Proposed next steps will be laid out to address these barriers in order to open the communication channels between the supply base and the Original Equipment Manufacturers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-118).

Global product development : a framework for organizational diagnosis

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Global product development : a framework for organizational diagnosis Martínez, Víctor Takahiro Endo The main purpose of this thesis is to present an approach for analyzing product development organizations in a globalizing world. The fragmentation and distribution of several product development activities in the global market have generated a variety of strategies. In addition, an increasing visibility of the influence of cultural diversity in these strategies and an intensified sensitivity to sustainability issues motivate this research. Retaking the questions of which is the best strategy for product development organizations to succeed and, even further, which is the measure of success for these organizations are also part of the motivation behind the research. The methodology followed for constructing the socio-technical framework presented in this document mainly consisted of gathering, analyzing, and integrating existing literature and frameworks from systems engineering, social, and management studies. Utilizing a macro-framework with three spectra -space, time, and context- the framework allows the decomposition of the product development system into three levels, identifying the key stakeholders and roles within the system. The framework includes four different angles -structural, human resources, political, and symbolic- from which a product development organization can be diagnosed. Also, the knowledge of predictable reflexive human responses is presented as a means for stabilizing an organization. In parallel, the study includes an exploratory approach for finding a robust way of measuring a product development organization. Finally, an intervention strategy is proposed as an outcome of both the research process and the framework presented. An automotive product development organization was selected for testing the applicability of the framework. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-128).

Value assessment of new product innovations

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Value assessment of new product innovations Aykroyd, Timothy N In the commercial industry, an investment in a new innovation can make or break a company. In order for the new innovation to succeed in a competitive marketplace, it must deliver value to its stakeholders. Companies are thus rewarded to assess the value an innovation will deliver to its customers early in the design process. This thesis provides a framework to measure the potential value a new innovation will deliver to consumers based on scoping the project. The framework provides details on creating a model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) by establishing a hierarchy of customer objectives. The application of the framework is then applied to a large company developing two new innovations. Two interesting facts arose from the study. First, the value assessment model can be fractionated to evaluate how new products are valued by multiple market segments. A company can use this information to align a new innovation with a brand segmentation and develop an appropriate strategy to launch products. Secondly, this methodology has been shown to work on incremental innovation and non-traditional products which expand the customer base. The methodology does work when applied to radical innovation which overturns existing value structures and changes the market dynamics. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-85).

Synchronization of system-of-systems interfaces in military satellite communications

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Synchronization of system-of-systems interfaces in military satellite communications Davis, Mark J. (Mark Jeffrey) Military systems continue to become more complex and nearly all are now part of one or more system of systems (SoS). Military satellite communications programs have expanded over the last decade from three distinct satellite constellations with dedicated ground, ship, and airborne terminals to several existing and planned satellite constellations and dozens of multi-purpose terminal variants. Each of the new systems must operate with both legacy and new systems. This has given rise to many new external system interfaces that span the boundaries of large SoSs. Unsynchronized interface design and development has caused large amounts of scrap and rework in the design and development of the new military systems leading to adverse impacts including large cost growth and schedule delays. The Air Force Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing (MCSW) in Los Angeles, CA has begun to put a framework in place to manage SoS interfaces, but there are still big challenges ahead and room for improvement. This research collects data to quantify the performance of the present MCSW change management process. A value stream mapping and analysis effort along with a discrete even simulation model is conducted to identify areas for improvement in the as-is change management process and suggest an improved future-state change management process. The future-state change management process draws on best practices from the lean and SoS engineering literature to improve interface synchronization and significantly reduce process cycle time. This leaner and more effective future-state change management process could be applicable to many government acquisition program offices to save cost and schedule on programs by reducing the amount of rework due to engineering changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-212).

Business model transformation for the international division of a fortune 100 high technology company

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Business model transformation for the international division of a fortune 100 high technology company Mokhtari Dizaji, Reza, 1968- Raytheon Canada in Waterloo, Ontario offers a very interesting but challenging research case. As one of the international divisions of Raytheon Corporation, the company has a business model similar to its parent company. The company however is facing new trends in its business environment which have characteristics different than those of its parent company. The main focus of this thesis is to identify the key missing elements in the company's current business model and propose solutions in order to assist the company to adopt the best strategy to successfully operate in this evolving market.The company's interactions with the rest of Raytheon are limited due to the recent tightening of ITAR regulations. Although the company's organization structure is still tightly integrated to the rest of Raytheon, Raytheon US restricts the company's access to the best practice from the rest of the corporation in US. Another interesting observation relates to the company's two major product lines. ATM, Raytheon Canada's legacy product line is being disrupted by the recent arrival of ADS-B technology. This new technology has the potential of providing a major threat to company's sustainability. At the same time Raytheon Canada is introducing HFSWR, which is a disruptive technology, to maritime surveillance market. The company is facing the challenges of commercializing this breakthrough technology to a highly regulated and fragmented market. Raytheon Canada needs to operate in this complex business environment. This makes the company a remarkable research case for analyzing its current business model and ways to improve it through integrating the latest business knowledge from both industry and academia.; (cont) The goal of the thesis is to assist Raytheon Canada to transform its business model by determining the key characteristics of its future business model through detailed assessment of the company's current business model and study of the enterprise future business environment. This is obtained by studying the market research data, the strategic goals of parent company, trends in the technology and product landscape, and the customer behavior. Solutions are proposed for developing a realistic roadmap to transform the current business model of the company to address the future business environment challenges. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-127).

Transforming commercial aerospace supply chain management practices by utilizing Toyota production system principles, practices, and methodologies

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Transforming commercial aerospace supply chain management practices by utilizing Toyota production system principles, practices, and methodologies Patneaude, Steven M This thesis examines The Toyota Motor Corporation's core precepts, management principles, supply chain architecture, product development methods, leveraged practice of supplier partnerships and procurement practices, all of which are integral elements associated with the Toyota Production System, and assesses the scalability these elements for application in the commercial aerospace industry.The methodology used in this study includes an examination of basic concepts and practices that Toyota employs throughout its extended enterprise and which are being widely adopted throughout the automotive industry as well as other industries worldwide, based on a review of the open literature. The research also draws upon the author's first-hand exposure to Toyota's production system through field research involving benchmarking site-visits to Toyota plants, and makes use of extensive interviews conducted with both automotive and aerospace industry experts.The research reported in this thesis reveals that Toyota's Production System, as a mutually reinforcing set of principles, methods and practices, are indeed scalable to the aerospace industry and that one of the two commercial aerospace behemoths, Boeing and Airbus, has an opportunity to leverage them in order to obtain a clear and sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. This is possible, however, with an important caveat: the end-to-end enterprise transformation process would need to be based on adopting a long-term approach to renovating the current system, working closely with the supply chain partners, owning the change process, and holding steady over the longer-haul. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-133).

Reducing instability in a transforming organization

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Reducing instability in a transforming organization Salter, Thelton Raymond It is obvious from many studies that an alignment and understanding around vision, strategy and goals must occur within a corporation across all organizations before the corporation can operate at its highest efficiency. This becomes even more important in a "flat" organization with distributed leaders. Having this type organization allows transformation to a lean enterprise because decisions can be made at a much lower level and therefore accomplished faster. However, the leaders must know and understand the corporate vision, strategy and organizational goals, which create the context and framework for many of the decisions that will need to be made. Absent this understanding, decisions can appear disjointed, uneven and without purpose towards meeting larger corporate goals and once made, the decision may not in fact support the corporate strategy. The results of this may manifest itself in internal instability caused by leadership vision changes.The Labor Aerospace Research Agenda (LARA) at MIT, starting in the late 1990's, has documented leadership vision changes as a major source of internal instability. This instability could be real or perceived but in either case if not properly managed could lead to a less efficient transformation. Thus, a structured approach around a common framework to create a shared vision from top to bottom throughout the corporation could prevent this instability from occurring. One corporation being studied has instituted a "roadmap" process, which was developed, in part, to address this issue. While the roadmap process does not address all stakeholders or potential sources of instability, it does address leadership vision and how that vision is turned into a strategy with shared goals. The purpose of this thesis is to: 1) Present an outline of the process used to align the corporation; (cont.) 2) Present the results of whether there is a measurable difference in instability driven by changes in leadership vision between departments that use the "roadmap" process and those that don't 3) Compare the results from this company and others previously studied to determine if there is more or less internal instability naturally within the company 4) Conclude whether the roadmap process evaluated is beneficial or not and propose potential modifications to the process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72).

Evaluation and synthesis of methods for measuring system engineering efficacy with a project and organization

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Evaluation and synthesis of methods for measuring system engineering efficacy with a project and organization Flynn, Timothy Daniel The need for robust systems engineering in product development has been understood by those developing product in the aerospace and defense industries since the days of the Atlas ballistic missile program. In recent times industries developing systems of similar complexity have come to respect the value of systems engineering. Systems engineering is the glue which binds a large technical team and focuses the engineering effort towards satisfying a set of realizable customer needs. EIA/IS-632 definition of systems engineering is as follows; "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach encompassing the entire technical effort to evolve and verify an integrated and life-cycle balanced set of system people, product and process solutions that satisfy customer needs."To control and improve a process a viable set of measures must be in place. Existing measures of the strength of the systems engineering process in a specific project address only project execution (e.g. earned value) and technical performance. When applied properly these metrics provide valuable insight into the status (cost and schedule) of a project and a products ability to meet customer needs. However, few of these existing measures are progressive in nature and as such fail to provide early warnings of systems engineering process failure. What are needed are prognostics for the systems engineering effort; gauges to provide predictions of future events which impact product cost, schedule and/or performance. The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), working with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), released a guide (in Beta form) in December of 2005 outlining a progressive set of thirteen leading indicators to address this need. This set of metrics has yet to be been verified against an active or historical project but provides a starting ground for additional research. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [126]-128).

Re-architecting the Battalion Tactical Operations Center : transitioning to network centric operations

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Re-architecting the Battalion Tactical Operations Center : transitioning to network centric operations Minami, Nathan A. (Nathan Andrew) As the Army conducts transformation in the midst of an ongoing information driven Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and the War on Terror, it has realized the need to develop leaner, more agile, versatile and deployable forces. As part of its latest transformation to Brigade "Units of Action," the Army realized the need to improve the "tooth to tail" ratio of its forces and transferred from a Cold War "Divisional" force structure to one focused around more deployable and sustainable Brigade Units of Action. Ironically, this transformation to what is suppose to become a more lean and deployable force structure has produced larger and more heavily staffed battalion, brigade and division command posts. Despite introduction of the Army Battle Command System (ABCS), a system of digital systems that are intended to help speed up the Army's ability to transfer information, improve situational awareness, make decisions, and out "OODA" (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) its opponents, in many aspects the Army has actually taken a step backwards. The end result is that these larger command posts are becoming more hierarchical and bureaucratic, and are reducing the Army's ability to get ahead of the enemy's decision cycle. Platoon Leaders and Company Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan constantly lament that "if they only had the information they needed 48 hours earlier," they could have captured the target. This study examines one small aspect of this tremendous problem, the architecture of the Battalion Tactical Operations Center (TOC). It analyzes the current information revolution, the contemporary operating environment, network centric warfare, other emerging Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) concepts, and the current Battalion TOC configuration and doctrine. It then applies System Dynamics techniques and develops a set of heuristics to address the problem. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a practical concept for an improved organization, structure and function of the command post. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-134).

Towards an information technology infrastructure cost model

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Towards an information technology infrastructure cost model Huang, Ken, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ever since the introduction of the Internet in 1994, one of the defining characteristics of the global economy, particularly in the US, is a dramatic increase in expenditures on Information Technology. While this trend is expected to continue, a major issue for companies of all sizes is the manner in which precise forecasting of future IT cost may be undertaken. The present thesis investigates the possibility that a set of the essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors may prove capable of estimating total IT infrastructure costs. An online questionnaire was developed for this purpose, and was used to survey senior IT leadership teams. The data collected from this survey was then computed with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to illustrate the relative importance of different cost drivers. The study revealed three primary findings. First, that a set of essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors could be used as a general tool for estimating the total cost of IT infrastructure. Second, these different sectors prioritize cost drivers differently from each other. In the Financial Services sector, for instance, the security of the IT network was reported to be of greater importance than the service call response time. In the Technology sector, however, the opposite was true. Third, numerous correlations were found to exist within each cost driver category defined. The correlated nature of these cost parameters may mean that a more parsimonious model may be more predictive of total IT infrastructure costs. It is hoped that these findings may be of benefit to a variety of large and small commercial and government entities, which may be able to use the predictive cost drivers to help eliminate problems related to inaccurate IT cost estimates.; (cont.) It is believed that the cost model proposed may be applicable across a variety of economic sectors. In this thesis, its applicability is demonstrated within the 3 financial services and technology sectors. Future research may be useful in evaluating the model further, by increasing the sample size, and by testing the reliability and validity of the cost model within additional economic sectors. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-67).

An exploration of architectural innovation in professional service firms

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

An exploration of architectural innovation in professional service firms Espinosa Vasconcelos, Fernando (Francisco Fernando) Architectural innovation is achieved using architectural knowledge to reconfigure an established system to link together components in a new way that provides a competitive advantage. Components in professional service firms are the expertise areas in which the firms have developed proficiency or those in which they plan to develop it. Competitive advantage in professional service firms is related to the capacity of the firm to add continuing value to a dynamic set of clients and to itself. In order to add value, professional service firms, being knowledge intensive, must develop capabilities that enhance the knowledge capital they possess, which is valuable to both its clients and to the professionals they employ. This knowledge capital can be classified into Human Knowledge, Relational Knowledge and Structural Knowledge. The first two types are comprised mainly of tacit knowledge, while the third one consists of explicit knowledge. Architectural innovation modes result from the reconfiguration of these knowledge types in ways that enhance the value creation processes of professional service firms. This work explores the ways professional services firms achieve these reconfigurations and offers insights into the key characteristics of successful practices. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105).

A lean enterprise approach to process improvement in a health care organization

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A lean enterprise approach to process improvement in a health care organization Casey, James (James William) United States health care costs are rising and demand is increasing as the population ages. An already overburdened system is being squeezed more each year. Process improvements are urgently needed, and some health care professionals are looking to lean production principles for answers. Past lean health care initiatives have resulted in islands of success with limited overall impact. A lean enterprise approach that delivers value to all stakeholders and challenges current operational models can result in efficiency improvements and cost reduction while delivering a high quality of care. This study examines a single primary care practice. It is shown that an enterprise level perspective assisted health care professionals in evaluating the goals and metrics that influence their behavior. The practice was analyzed through first hand observations and data collection over a four month period. Physicians and staff were shadowed throughout their daily activities to identify waste and evaluate the impact of lean improvements. This data was supplemented with information captured via work sampling, analysis of monthly reports and metrics, and interviews and meetings with key stakeholders. It was determined that the physician productivity goal was driving dysfunctional behavior, resulting in a deteriorating work-life balance throughout the practice. The potential of this behavior to negatively impact patient satisfaction and quality care delivery also created a reason to change. Lean improvement efforts to address these issues resulted in a redesign of the patient visit schedule to allow more adequate time to address patient care, while also reducing the demand on the overworked physicians and staff. Success with the process led to the realization that medical professionals employ an approach to patient care that emulates lean enterprise principles.; (cont.) Diagnosing a patient complaint is analogous to investigating the cause and effect associated with wasteful processes. This characteristic of the industry, along with the short cycle times of patient care relative to lengthy processes in other industries, suggests the strong potential of health care to achieve swift improvements based on rapid experimentation, thus offering a possible proving ground for new lean enterprise approaches. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Developing a boundary object model to analyze communication interfaces : applications for system integrators

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a boundary object model to analyze communication interfaces : applications for system integrators Fong, Allan Physical information is transferred between technical systems through wires, beams, and other physical attributes, while more intangible information is typically transferred between communities of people through artifacts such as documents, e-mails, etc. This research attempts to characterize these communication interfaces better by analyzing the use of artifacts at these interfaces by means of a boundary object attribute model. Boundary objects, the metric of analysis of this thesis, are artifacts used to bridge information and knowledge gaps between different communities of practice. The US Army's Future Combat System (FCS) was chosen as a case study primarily because of its complex programmatic characteristics. The information gathered in the FCS case study was combined with knowledge from previous boundary object literature to generate an attributes model. Once developed, the boundary object attributes model was validated on the US Air Force Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT) program focusing specifically on the TSAT Mission Operations System (TMOS) segment of the program. Data were collected on the frequency and type of resources used to understand information and the dependencies that individuals have with each other for documented information. Furthermore, five communication artifacts were critiqued for their effectiveness as boundary objects. Statistical tests were conducted to highlight trends in resource dependencies and attributes common in effective boundary objects. An implication of this research is that the most important attributes for a boundary object are inclusivity, traceability, and synchronization. This research also found that people generally tend to rely much more on other people for information than artifacts. This introduces problems of exhausting valuable human resources and creating unnecessary bottlenecks.; (cont.) A second implication of this research is that spending the extra time and effort to design artifacts with high inclusivity and freshness will add significant value to the overall system. In addition, a third implication of this research is that having the right boundary objects alone is not enough for effective collaborative interfaces. A fourth implication of this research is that designing a boundary object whose form follows its function is critical for its effectiveness. These suggestions can provide relief to a program highly taxing to its human resources and reduce transaction costs of the overall system. Furthermore, this model may be extended for the purpose of determining the roles and responsibilities of system integrators. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133).

Improving commonality implementation in the cockpits of commercial aircraft

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Improving commonality implementation in the cockpits of commercial aircraft Bador, Damien (Damien Pierre Marcellin Dominique) Product development is a major source of competitive advantage in the commercial aircraft business. Judiciously implementing commonality across a range of products yields important benefits in this area. Thus, measuring the quality of commonality implementation is extremely beneficial for aircraft manufacturers. This thesis analyses the concept of commonality and divides it into three constructs that can help understand all of its aspects: standardization, reusability and modularity. This work then presents a set of metrics measuring each of these aspects, from the point of view of the manufacturer and of the customer. The appropriateness of this set of metrics is then tested in a case study analyzing the efficiency of commonality implementation in the cockpit of two well-known commercial aircraft families: the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737 family. This thesis further describes what additional analysis should be performed to validate the set of metrics for broader applications. After documenting the efficiency of the set of metrics, this thesis analyses the current practices of commonality management in commercial aviation. It finally explores some of the limitations of the concept of commonality and sketches solutions to overcome them. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-154).

United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers : lean enterprise transformation and associated capabilities

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers : lean enterprise transformation and associated capabilities Cohen, Jessica L. (Jessica Lauren) Lean enterprise transformation entails a complementary set of initiatives and efforts executed over a substantial period of time, in a consistent and coordinated manner, at all levels of the enterprise. It builds upon ordinary organizational change in that a broader set of people and functions will be affected, and non-traditional approaches and mental models will continue to be exercised. I have developed and proposed a set of capabilities that must be possessed by any enterprise in order for that enterprise to successfully transform and sustain a new way of doing business. These capabilities have been drawn and compiled from a combination of organizational change literature and models, as well as personal experience and observations. Between 2003 and the present, three US Air Force Air Logistics Centers (ALCs) initiated lean enterprise transformation efforts. This notion was beyond the activities these sites pursued in the past, as the ALCs were challenged to see their enterprises as a system that needed to be optimized. I have used the capabilities developed to assess each ALC and make suggestions regarding their future needs in executing lean enterprise changes.; (cont.) In particular, I have focused on two of the twelve capabilities (a leadership team with a shared mental model and a balanced and cascading system of metrics), and compared each ALC to an ideal state and utilization of these capabilities. Further, I have examined the Warner Robins ALC with respect to all twelve capabilities, in light of past work conducted at the site. The results of this research are two-fold. First, I have learned that there are certain conditions that must be met before lean enterprise transformation can be attempted and sustained. The readiness necessary can be assessed within a combination of the qualitative results derived from a comparison with the ideal capabilities I have defined, along with the quantitative results reported with the LAI Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool. Second, I have determined that there are special practices and cultural aspects of government enterprises that makes lean enterprise transformation particularly difficult for them. This is the result of policies in place, and a tradition of strategic direction being handed down from above. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-183).

Building flexibility in the volatile aftermarket parts : supply chains of the defense aerospace industry

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Building flexibility in the volatile aftermarket parts : supply chains of the defense aerospace industry Myers, Kevin Michael Within the Integrated Defense Systems of The Boeing Company, aftermarket support of military aircraft serves as an increasingly large source of revenue. One of the newest contracts between Boeing and the U.S. Government created such a supply partnership at the Army Rotorcraft Repair Depot in Corpus Christi, Texas. At this depot, all Army helicopters, including Boeing's AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter and CH-47 Chinook Cargo helicopter undergo major repair and overhaul. In 2004, Boeing entered an agreement with the U.S. Government to assume responsibility of the repair depot's supply chain for aftermarket parts for Boeing rotorcraft. Over the last two years, Boeing has been creating and refining Corpus Christi's support structure to ensure that the required repair parts arrive when demanded. In establishing this new supply chain, Boeing has identified numerous inefficiencies as a result of inaccurate and highly volatile forecasts. This thesis examines the impact of volatility within the new support structure and creates flexible solutions to mitigate its negative effects on lead times, multiple sources of supply and inventory management.; (cont.) Efforts to increase communication flow across the supply chain are used to capitalize on economies of scale for cost reduction while safety stock recommendations are made for critical end-items. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to justify and validate the solutions. The results of the thesis reveal that a strategic selection of raw material safety stock can reduce procurement lead times by an average 61% for a subset of parts while maintaining financial responsibility. Additionally, by leveraging cost reduction techniques, an average increase of 11% in Boeing's income from sales can be achieved while eliminating inefficient administrative delays and increasing customer fulfillment rates. These two recommendations demonstrate specific solutions for mitigating the effects of demand volatility and inaccurate forecasting. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90).

Fab cycle time improvement through inventory control : a wafer starts approach

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Fab cycle time improvement through inventory control : a wafer starts approach Ward, Matthew John Intel's Colorado Springs wafer fabrication facility, known internally as F23, has undertaken several initiatives to reduce cycle time including High Precision Maintenance (HPM), content reduction through the application of Manufacturing Excellence (mX), effective utilization of production equipment, and aggressive inventory control. Each of these efforts has contributed to the marked improvement F23 achieved throughout 2006. F23's cycle time efficiency, the ratio of raw process cycle time to actual fab cycle time, improved from 12% (worst amongst Intel facilities) to greater than 35% (best amongst Intel sites), and overall cycle time was reduced by more than 61% in 2006. Inventory control was found to have a major impact on factory cycle time and performance. F23 controls its factory work-in-process, WIP, inventory through the F23 Wafer Starts Protocol. F23 utilizes Little's Law (Cycle Time = Inventory / Output) to identify target WIP inventory levels required to achieve particular cycle time goals. The target inventory is then achieved by modulating wafer starts. To do this, the Wafer Starts Protocol monitors the inventory of the overall fab and the constraint operations and suggests the amount of wafers to start for each shift.; (cont.) Maintaining the target inventory level drives the overall factory cycle time towards the cycle time goal. Using the starts protocol, F23 has reduced its inventory by 44% while ramping factory output. During the implementation of this wafer starts protocol, F23 began tracking a new inventory metric to determine factory performance. Critical WIP ratio was introduced to evaluate the factory's inventory relative to the theoretical minimum inventory based upon a given factory output level and raw process time. F23 also found that this metric provides an effective comparison of inventory level between fabs. The Fab23 Wafer Starts Protocol is one of the ways in which F23 has applied Manufacturing Science tactics and principles to drive cycle time improvements. F23 has found that inventory control can have significant impacts on factory cycle time. This is one of the reasons why F23 was able to achieve dramatic cycle time improvement. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).

Applying enterprise architecting to the business acquisition process

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Applying enterprise architecting to the business acquisition process Porter, Christopher Vernon Background: Since the 1980s, the pace and dollar value of acquisitions in the US have grown at an astounding rate (Hitt, Sirower). The benefits from many of these acquisitions are elusive, with 60% of recent acquisitions showing negative return for the acquiring company (Hitt et. all, 5). Expected synergies are not realized despite the valiant efforts of the integration team who struggle with implementing the plans developed prior to deal close. Correlations can be drawn to the field of systems engineering, where specific processes and tools are employed to understand the interactions of various functional areas and avoid such implementation difficulties. Enterprise Architecting (EA) is one such framework that has shown promise in analyzing complex enterprises. Results: The thesis shows that all currently analyzed aspects of a potential acquisition are evaluated if the EA framework is used. It also shows that enough information is available prior to closing to use the EA framework to understand the potential enterprise. Further, it shows that the EA framework is flexible enough to accommodate the unique aspects of an acquisition analysis. Finally, the thesis shows a definite qualitative benefit from applying the EA framework.; (cont.) Conclusions: Despite the fact that one of the aspects of the hypothesis was not met, EA is still a valid and beneficial framework to apply to the acquisition process. It provides a sound process framework that should be used to design and implement robust acquisition analysis processes. This will enable greater process efficiency, quality, and consistency. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 98).

Inventory optimization in an aerospace supply chain

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Inventory optimization in an aerospace supply chain Lo, Billy S. (Billy Si Yee) Strategic inventory management has become a major focus for Honeywell Aerospace as the business unit challenged itself to meeting cost reduction goals while maintaining a high level of service to its customers. This challenge has become particularly important as customers have steered their purchase decisions from focusing only on capability and quality to including cost performance as well. To do so, Honeywell Aerospace's Planning and Asset Management group is undertaking a three-year effort to re-engineer its inventory planning systems with the goal of increasing planner productivity, improving supply chain responsiveness, and reducing overall inventory. This internship forms the building blocks of this strategy by leveraging existing software available in the industry and applying it to Honeywell's supply chain. Through two pilot programs with different supply chain designs, this internship analyzed the cost and benefit of transforming the company's inventory management strategy. In addition, this internship attempts to identify the challenges associated with such an enormous change, compare them with challenges with implementation in other industries in order to prepare management for full implementation across all product lines. These challenges range from leadership buy-in and information readiness to implementation feasibility both within Honeywell manufacturing and its suppliers. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-67).

Demand allocation strategies in the seasonal retail industry

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Demand allocation strategies in the seasonal retail industry Chan, Carin H Amazon.com is a publicly-held company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It revolutionized the retail industry by being one of the first major companies to sell goods over the Internet. It is an international company servicing countries throughout the world with goods ranging from books to jewelry. Amazon.com fulfills its customers' orders through a series of fulfillment centers throughout the United States. The goal of this thesis is to present a framework for testing and validating off-peak demand allocation strategies. Using Amazon.com as a primary study, this framework explores variable cost and transportation cost for the retail industry. The Amazon.com organization is discussed. Then a presentation on variable cost and transportation cost is introduced. A model is then introduced that ties variable and transportation costs together. This thesis concludes with a discussion on labor and transportation improvements implemented by other companies. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65).

Re-architecting the failure analysis supply chain

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Re-architecting the failure analysis supply chain Hebalkar, Tejaswini With customer satisfaction and lifecycle product quality becoming a competitive advantage, technology companies are motivated to look beyond their historical focus on forward supply chain management. Operational excellence in customer returns management, failure analysis, and closed loop corrective action is taking on an increasingly important role as companies strive to improve their business processes, policies and supply chains to achieve a world-class leadership position in their industry. In the competitive high-tech industry, companies face a number of challenges in managing customer returns and re-architecting their failure analysis supply chains to support a closed loop corrective action approach to product quality. Supporting globally distributed customers through a diverse network of outsourced manufacturing, repair, failure analysis and logistics partners increases the complexity of the supply chain architecting problem. This thesis proposes a holistic enterprise architecting approach, including governance, process, network design, organization, enabling technology, and performance management elements that should be considered when re-architecting the failure analysis supply chain. During this process, strategic decisions need to be made regarding supply chain designs that are aligned with the vision of the enterprise.; (cont.) Operations managers and leaders can use data-driven, collaborative approaches supported by decision support tools like the "Decision Model for Failure Analysis Supply Chain" to align decisions with customer value and stakeholders' needs. Implementing changes based on these strategic decisions requires understanding organizational dynamics within the enterprise. An understanding of the "frame of reference" that guides decision makers can help address implementation challenges. In addition, communication, training and alignment of incentives across functional groups to encourage collaboration can allow enterprises to make strategic decisions that are successfully implemented. The strategies proposed in this thesis are intended to aid managers in making monumental changes to their "reverse" operations and exceeding customer expectations. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references.

Enabling systems thinking to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Enabling systems thinking to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers Davidz, Heidi L As engineering systems become more complex, the roles involved in developing and managing such systems also become more complex. Thus, there is increasing interest in educating and training engineering professionals to think more systemically. In particular, there is an increasing need to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers. As new educational degree programs in systems rapidly emerge and as companies scurry to establish systems training programs to meet this need, fundamental questions still remain about how systems thinking develops in engineers. Increased understanding of the mechanisms that develop systems thinking will enable effective and efficient development of senior systems professionals. After reviewing related literature, an exploratory and inductive study was designed to gather data on enablers, barriers, and precursors to systems thinking development in engineers. In a field study conducted primarily in the United States aerospace sector, 205 interviews were conducted in 10 host companies. Senior systems engineers were studied to better understand how they developed systems thinking, and information was collected on company procedures for developing systems engineers. Using interview and survey data, comparisons were made of two control groups and senior systems engineers.; (cont.) Proven stellar systems thinkers were also interviewed. To summarize the results, even though systems thinking definitions diverge, there is consensus on primary mechanisms that enable or obstruct systems thinking development in engineers. In order to reconcile the divergent definitions observed, a systems thinking framework, definition, and accompanying conceptual illustration are given. The data show that the primary mechanisms that enable systems thinking development include experiential learning, specific individual characteristics, and a supporting environment. This document defines the research space on this topic and suggests applications for the results. Better understanding of systems thinking development provides a foundation for educational interventions and employee development in systems thinking for engineering professionals across industry, government, and academia. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-213).

Performance collaborative, distributed systems engineering (CDSE) : lessons learned from CDSE enterprises

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Performance collaborative, distributed systems engineering (CDSE) : lessons learned from CDSE enterprises Utter, Darlene Ann The United States aerospace and defense budgets are shrinking, resources are scarce and requirements are more demanding: aerospace and defense enterprises are expected to deliver a more capable product in less time and with fewer resources. To achieve this tough mission, the enterprises that comprise the United States aerospace and defense industries must form strategic partnerships and collaborations to utilize their respective resources, knowledge, and expertise to meet their customers' needs. Collaboration, be it between competing companies or within different divisions of the same company, is necessary for the survival of each company and the defense industry. In the past. United States aerospace and defense company relationships consisted mostly of a prime contractor. with sub-contractors providing a specific hardware or software subsystem. as specified by the prime contractor. Today, aerospace and defense company relationships are moving more toward that of "partners" where the previous supplier or sub-contractor for hardware or software subsystems is now sharing in the overall system design and engineering efforts.; (cont.) Since the partner companies and intra-company divisions are still geographically distributed throughout the United States, it is necessary for the aerospace and defense contractors to perform collaborative, distributed systems engineering (CDSE) over several geographical locations. Previous research has demonstrated that the design practices of distributed design teams differ from those of traditional. co-located teams. However. many companies today are performing CDSE using systems engineering (SE) processes and methods developed for traditional SE environments and are therefore encountering many issues. Successful SE practices are difficult to carry-out when performed by a traditional, co-located enterprise. The addition of geographic distribution and cross-company or intra-company collaboration in SE presents a myriad of social and technological challenges that necessitate new and different SE methods for success. Best practices for CDSE are currently unknown (or undocumented). In an attempt to benchmark the current state of CDSE practices in industry, this research presents the collection of CDSE lessons learned and success factors gathered from two case studies carried out at two United States aerospace and defense companies.; (cont.) The case studies examine many different factors that pertain to the companies "current CDSE efforts, including collaboration scenarios: collaboration tools; knowledge and decision management; SE practices and processes; SE process improvements: SE culture: SE project management. SE organization: and SE collaboration benefits and motivation. Since the research for successful CDSE practices is in its infancy. this research also outlines key areas for future CDSE research. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-291).

A comparative analysis of supply chain management practices by Boeing and Airbus : long-term strategic implications

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

A comparative analysis of supply chain management practices by Boeing and Airbus : long-term strategic implications Horng, Tzu-Ching The goal of this research is to develop an improved understanding of supply chain management strategies and practices being pursued by Boeing and Airbus in the 787 Dreamliner and the A380 Navigator programs, respectively, and to identify their long-term strategic implications for supply chain management in the future. The research takes as its point of departure a review and synthesis of supply chain management principles and practices, with particular emphasis on lean supply chain management concepts. Guided by this review, the research focuses on the common set of suppliers supporting both programs and employs a questionnaire survey, followed by telephone interviews with representatives of selected suppliers. The research also makes extensive use of the open source information on both companies, on both programs and on the common suppliers.; (cont.) A major finding is that Boeing's new supply chain model in the 787 program represents a significant break with past practices in the aerospace industry, allowing major partnering suppliers an unprecedented role in terms of design, development, production and after-market support, where they are integrated early in the concept development stage and are incentivized to collaborate with Boeing, as well as among themselves, as risk-sharing partners with deep responsibility for system integration, involving detailed interface control at the system and subsystem levels. Airbus, as well, is found to rely heavily on its major suppliers in connection with the A380 program, but acting as the primary system integrator in the more traditional mode and exercising much greater control of all design interfaces. Also, both Boeing and Airbus have been outsourcing more and more activities to suppliers located in non-traditional regions, such as Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Finally, aerospace manufacturers, in general, are aggressively adopting information technologies (e.g., EDI, PLM, 3-D Digital Model, RFID) to facilitate greater data sharing and communications with their partners and lower-tier suppliers dispersed in many geographical regions, as part of a broader trend involving more collaborative supplier relationships reaching down to the subtier level. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-131).

A methodology for implementing total productive maintenance in the commercial aircraft industry

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

A methodology for implementing total productive maintenance in the commercial aircraft industry Hamacher, Eugene C. (Eugene Carl) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-173).

The role of product development metrics for making design decisions in the defnese aeorspace industry

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

The role of product development metrics for making design decisions in the defnese aeorspace industry Stout, Todd Michael Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1996.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references.

The micro-foundations of alignment among sponsors and contractors on large engineering projects

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

The micro-foundations of alignment among sponsors and contractors on large engineering projects McKenna, Nicholas A. (Nicholas Alan) Large engineering projects design, engineer and construct much of the world's energy, transportation and defense infrastructure. These large scale engineering endeavors are highly visible, have long lasting impacts and are of major economic significance. Yet despite their importance they frequently suffer from cost overruns and long delays and deliver systems with operational shortcomings. A contributing factor to the challenge of large projects is that the project enterprise is created by separate firms being brought together by the project sponsor, typically via formal contracts. Success requires multiple firms with hundreds (possibly thousands) of engineers working together to efficiently create complex product systems within an environment of high uncertainty. In an attempt to improve project outcomes, sponsors often endeavor to create "alignment" between themselves and their key contractors. In practice, alignment has proved difficult to create and to sustain. This research explores the policies and actions taken by firms that give rise to alignment. The large engineering projects studied for this research were offshore oil and gas field developments. grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment.; (cont.) A grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-230).

Creating high performance enterprises

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Creating high performance enterprises Stanke, Alexis K. (Alexis Kristen), 1977- How do enterprises successfully conceive, design, deliver, and operate large-scale, engineered systems? These large-scale projects often involve high complexity, significant technical challenges, a large number of diverse stakeholders, distributed execution, and aggressive goals. In this context, simultaneously meeting technical performance, cost, and schedule goals effectively and efficiently is a serious challenge. In fact, it is rarely accomplished. The nature of an enterprise contributes to this challenge. Enterprises are interorganizational networks with distributed leadership and stakeholders with both common and diverse interests. They are unique from traditional levels of analysis in organizational studies, and in general their behavior is not well understood. They are a prevalent form of organizing work in these large engineering projects, where one organization simply does not have the capability or willingness to take on the entire project by themselves. This work explores the factors that distinguish high performance enterprises from those that are less successful in these large-scale projects. The setting for this research is programs in the aerospace industry.; (cont.) A comparative case study method was used to study nineteen programs spanning the U.S. (mainly defense) aerospace industry in order to develop grounded theory regarding contemporary program execution strategies and distinguishing attributes. Drawing on prior research with high performance teams, several characteristics were explored and refined, eventually resulting in identification of ten best practices. The contribution of this work is codification of these best practices into a coherent framework of complementary elements relating to particular outcomes. The framework articulates three drivers of individual and systemic behaviors: a system of distributed leadership, informal and formal structures. The framework addresses the role each of these plays in enterprise performance. The synergistic combination of the elements enables enterprises to execute planned activities, leverage emergent opportunities, and deal with unforeseen circumstances. For enterprises involved in large-scale engineering projects, these capabilities are a necessity for success. In addition to an academic theory, this framework can be considered an architectural design for high performance enterprises. Putting this enterprise architecture into practice has important implications for both corporate and program management. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-140).

Cost modeling in the integrated supply chain strategic decision process

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Cost modeling in the integrated supply chain strategic decision process Robinson, Todd (Todd Christopher) This thesis is based on an internship at Honeywell Aerospace's Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) Leadership division. This work focuses on the role and use of analytical cost models in the strategy development process. The scope of ISC strategic decisions encompasses Honeywell Aerospace's global footprint of external and internal suppliers, and includes insourcing, outsourcing, transition and consolidation activities. The current practice within Honeywell Aerospace is to construct a Transition, Migration, and Integration (TMI) model which calculates the net present benefit associated with a specific transition's spending and savings. This model is the primary tool for strategic plan development. This work looks at the use of the TMI model for strategic planning with the intent of addressing concerns related to the model's complexity and accuracy. This work also develops the framework for estimating a confidence range within the TMI model to provide better visibility to the potential range of financial outcome. An additional tool used in the development of the strategic plan is the Landed Cost model.; (cont.) The Landed Cost model is used to calculate the steady state total cost associated with a particular supply chain. Historically within Honeywell Aerospace ISC planning, the Landed Cost model has been used to much less of a degree than the TMI model. This work develops the role of the Landed Cost model and establishes a framework for estimating labor, logistics, inventory, and tax costs associated with manufacturing products in a variety of global regions. While this work focuses on developing analytical tools, developments and recommendations are provided in the context of the overall strategic decision process. Examples are provided to highlight the major cost drivers associated with a particular transitional activity or supply chain design. Improving the analytical component of the decision process allows ISC Leadership to more accurately and effectively identify tactics for improving operational efficiency and identify potential growth opportunities in emerging regions. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55).

Corporate decision analysis : an engineering approach

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Corporate decision analysis : an engineering approach Tang, Victor, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology We explore corporate decisions and their solutions under uncertainty using engineering methods. Corporate decisions tend to be complex; they are interdisciplinary and defy programmable solutions. To address these challenges, we take an engineering approach. Our proposition is that as in an engineering system, corporate problems and their potential solutions deal with the behavior of systems. Since systems can be studied with experiments, we use Design of Experiments (DOE) to understand the behavior of systems within which decisions are made and to estimate the consequences of candidate decisions as scenarios. The experiments are a systematically constructed class of gedanken experiments comparable to "what if' studies, but organized to span the entire space of controllable and uncontrollable options. In any experiment, the quality of data is important. Grounded on the work of scholars, we develop a debiasing process for eliciting data. And consistent with our engineering approach, we consider the composite consisting of the organization, their knowledge, data bases, formal and informal procedures as a measurement system. We then use Gage theory from Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA) to analyze the quality of the measuring composite.; (cont.) To test this engineering approach to decision analysis, we perform four experiments. The first two are a set of simulations using a company surrogate. Using a progression of experiments, we simulate two major corporate decisions. Simulation data show that there is support for the validity of our decision analysis method. We then perform two in situ experiments: with a manufacturing company and with a technology services company. Findings from these company experiments also support the validity and efficacy of our decision analysis method. The company executives were very satisfied with our findings. Finally, we evaluate our method using method-evaluation criteria. The evaluation suggests that our DOE-based decision analysis method is valid. Unexpectedly every experiment resulted in near-decomposable systems at the scale we formulated our problems. Scaling of corporate decision problems at the appropriate level of abstraction and the resultant properties of their dynamic behavior are identified as areas of future work. This research breaks new ground in corporate decision-analysis as engineering and it furthers DOE and MSA research to a new domain and a new class of problems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-330).

Evaluating a continuous improvement initiative using Stakeholder Value Mapping

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Evaluating a continuous improvement initiative using Stakeholder Value Mapping Lathrop, Benjamin H. (Benjamin Hurst) Lean implementations have had a mixed record of success in organizations. One possible explanation for this observation is that lean is built upon a value system that is not always shared by the organizations trying to implement the philosophy. For example, one element of lean is that employees at all levels of the organization are expected to share ideas for improving processes. This idea might seem foreign in companies where responsibility for process improvement comes only from management or specialized departments. Lean would not be expected to flourish in an environment where employee innovation and initiative is not valued. As this example demonstrates, lean loses its effectiveness when its values are incompatible with those prevailing in an organization. Determining this compatibility has not been straightforward to date. Whereas lean literature is filled with methods and tools for discovering and removing waste, there is little guidance on how to determine if lean can be successfully applied to an organization's unique socio-technical system. Stakeholder Value Mapping (SVM), a technique adapted from the field of Enterprise Management, is presented to address this need.; (cont.) Whereas SVM has already been developed for use at the enterprise level, this thesis aims to extend the applicability of SVM to the micro level. A methodology for mapping stakeholder values around a specific lean project at Raytheon's Integrated Air Defense Center is developed. The project, a pull system for bolted cabinets, is described in detail in this thesis as a case study. We find that SVM alone does not yield sufficient data to guide lean implementations. It is, however, an effective method for understanding the stakeholder interests that can serve as barriers to lean. Leaders trying to bring lean into their organizations will find SVM a promising tool for determining where to initially focus their attention. If lean and stakeholder values are aligned, the groundwork will be set for a traditional lean implementation that focuses on well-known tools for discovering and removing waste. On the other hand, if lean and stakeholder values differ significantly, consideration should first be given to aligning organizational interests with the lean strategy. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 42).

Using lean enterprise principles to drive quality and on time delivery to customers : a study of the Honeywell Aerospace Engine Assembly and Test Center of Excellence

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Using lean enterprise principles to drive quality and on time delivery to customers : a study of the Honeywell Aerospace Engine Assembly and Test Center of Excellence Jones, Andrea (Andrea Sieg) Honeywell Aerospace has been a leader in manufacturing high quality engines to customers for decades. With engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) growth of-9% in 2005, and projected growth similar or greater for 2006, however, some segments of the business are experiencing difficulty in delivering engines on time to customer request dates. In the spirit of Lean Enterprise, Honeywell must to deliver value to its customers by stepping back and analyzing the entire value stream. Enterprise-level optimization of supply chain, assembly, and test practices will lead to the greatest benefit to both internal and external stakeholders. This thesis explores the issues within one segment of the Aerospace business - specifically, new engine and APU deliveries -- as well as internal initiatives to drive high quality and lean manufacturing. A Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool survey was conducted to highlight opportunities to propel Honeywell to a culture of high performance. Both high-level multi-million dollar opportunities, as well as low-budget, improved processes and communication initiatives will be discussed. Ultimately, the Honeywell Aerospace Engine Assembly and Test Center of Excellence must sacrifice narrow use of lean tools for wide ranging promotion of lean principles, thereby improving the overall value delivery to all enterprise stakeholders. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-122).

Improving complex enterprises with system models

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Improving complex enterprises with system models Hemann, Justin M. (Justin Matthew) Air Force sustainment operations are the focus of an intensive internal effort to improve performance and reduce costs. Past improvement initiatives have often failed to produce the intended results, and have caused performance to decline in some cases. Exploratory research was conducted at an Air Logistics Center to study how improvements are executed. Two conclusions are drawn from this research. The first is that changing sustainment operations is a problem of high dynamic and behavioral complexity. The second conclusion is that system models are well suited to coordinating change at the ALC because they provide insight into how a complicated system can be managed and improved. Three key findings support these conclusions. First, there is significant correlation between categories of unavailable F-16 aircraft such that reductions in one category are associated with increases in another. Second, an analysis of change efforts in two parts of the ALC shows that systemic influences, such as the inability to reinvest in improvements, are hindering change initiatives in one part of the ALC.; (cont.) The third finding is that a model of sustainment operations suggests that independent improvement initiatives are outperformed by coordinated efforts driven with an understanding of systemic interactions. Leaders throughout the sustainment community have expressed their desire to understand how sustainment operations function as a system. A hybrid approach to change is offered as a method for understanding and improving sustainment operations. System models are used to quantify and model system interactions; then policies and recommendations are drawn from the models. Recommendations may include process-level improvements utilizing change methods already in use at the ALC. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98).

Systems level approach to process improvement initiatives in a semiconductor manufacturing environment

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Systems level approach to process improvement initiatives in a semiconductor manufacturing environment Ruddick, Todd Andon Many successful companies have difficulty implementing large-scale change initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, outsourcing or Advanced Process Control. This can often be due to the fact that they treat large-scale improvement efforts in the same way that they handle smaller improvement efforts. Instead the author suggests that companies should take a more systemic approach to implementing large-scale improvement efforts and handle them differently from other improvement efforts. The suggested systemic approach involves four major aspects. The first aspect is to subdivide the initiative into smaller more manageable phases. The next aspect is to analyze each of the individual steps independent of each other. From there the change agent should examine the interdependencies between different steps and assess the systemic relationships of the initiative. Finally the approach suggests ways to look at the financial impact of the large-scale effort and ways to ease its implementation. Specifically the research focused on a Fab-Wide Process Control improvement initiative at Intel's Fab 18 in Qiryat-Gat, Israel.; (cont.) The research is used to validate the suggested systemic approach as well as highlighting additional leadership challenges concerning the strategic design, cultural and political challenges an organization faces in implementing large-scale change. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to create a process by which companies can easily take a systemic approach to large-scale improvement initiatives. This should help companies with the implementation of future large-scale improvement efforts. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71).

On-orbit serviceability of space system architectures

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

On-orbit serviceability of space system architectures Richards, Matthew G. On-orbit servicing is the process of improving a space-based capability through a combination of in-orbit activities which may include inspection; rendezvous and docking; and value-added modifications to a satellite's position, orientation, and operational status. As a means to extend the useful life or operational flexibility of spacecraft, on-orbit servicing constitutes one pathway to a responsive space enterprise. Following launch, traditional satellite operations are tightly constrained by an inability to access the orbiting vehicle. With the exception of software upgrades from ground controllers, operators are wedded to supporting payload technologies that become rapidly obsolete and to bus structures that deform during the stress of launch and degrade in the harsh environment of space. On-orbit servicing offers satellite operators an option for maintaining or improving space-based capabilities without launching a new spacecraft. Numerous studies have been performed on on-orbit servicing, particularly regarding the architecture of the servicing provider. Several customer valuation case studies have also been performed to identify the economic case (or lack thereof) for different categories of servicing missions.; (cont.) Little work, however, has been done to analyze the tradespace of potential on-orbit servicing customers-a global analysis of operational satellites currently orbiting the Earth. The goal of this research is to develop and test a methodology to assess the physical amenability of satellites currently in operation to on-orbit servicing. As defined here, physical amenability of a target satellite, or "serviceability," refers to the relative complexity required of a teleoperated or autonomously controlled robotic vehicle to accomplish on-orbit servicing. A three-step process is followed to perform serviceability assessments. First, a taxonomy of space systems is constructed to add structure to the problem and to identify satellite attributes that drive servicing mission complexity. Second, a methodology is proposed to assess serviceability across the four servicing activities of rendezvous, acquire, access, and service.; (cont.) This includes development of an agent-based model based on orbital transfers as well as a generalized framework in which serviceability is decomposed into four elements: (1) knowledge, (2) scale, (3) precision, and (4) timing. Third, the value of architecture frameworks and systems engineering modeling languages for conducting serviceability assessments is explored through the development of a discrete event simulation of the Hubble Space Telescope. The thesis concludes with prescriptive technical considerations for designing serviceable satellites and a discussion of the political, legal, and financial challenges facing servicing providers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-182).

Developing and managing organizational capabilities to meet emerging customer needs : insights from the Joint Strike Fighter program

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Developing and managing organizational capabilities to meet emerging customer needs : insights from the Joint Strike Fighter program Moon, Hee Sung This research examines the development and management of dynamic organizational capabilities. These capabilities include, among other things, how enterprises generate and integrate knowledge, understand and respond to customer needs, manage technological interdependencies, create interorganizational alliance networks, and solve complex technical problems as they design and build complex engineering systems. Enterprises must meet emerging customer needs by combining, integrating and deploying their organizational capabilities. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, which represents the largest defense acquisition program in history, provides an excellent natural experiment for an exploration of the link between the technological solutions offered to meet the emerging customer needs and dynamic organizational capabilities. This research focuses on the early Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) of the JSF program, when the two competing teams led by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, respectively, offered their best possible technological solutions in response to a common set of customer requirements.; (cont.) This research examines these competing technological solutions in some detail in order to gain some new insights into the set of organizational capabilities the two competitor teams pulled together in order to win the big JSF contract. An expected contribution of this research, by focusing on the JSF program, is to provide significantly greater "real world" depth to the extant discussion on dynamic organizational capabilities in the context of developing such an extremely complex and technologically advanced engineering system. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-82).

Demonstrating the benefits of knowledge management assets : developing and applying a valuation methodology

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Demonstrating the benefits of knowledge management assets : developing and applying a valuation methodology Taylor, Aaron B Since the early 1980s numerous knowledge-dependent organizations have made diligent attempts to measure their intangible assets. In more recent years, knowledge-dependent organizations have expressed a desire to demonstrate the benefits resulting from significant investments in knowledge management assets in order to provide reassurance to senior executives, to motivate knowledge worker utilization of the asset, and to leverage further funds for knowledge management investments. A six-step methodology is prescribed in this thesis to assist organizations seeking to identify both qualitative and quantitative benefits realized from the utilization of knowledge management assets. This methodology is underpinned by take-a-ways from current intellectual capital measurement models found in literature, and the lessons learned from industry application of an immature version of the prescribed methodology in two industry case studies. Lessons learned from the practical applications of the methodology, and a detailed description of the methodology, are provided as key findings of this thesis.; (cont.) Application of the methodology in the provided industry case studies indicates significant benefits from the utilization of knowledge management assets can be demonstrated if the appropriate performance indicators are selected for measurement. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-148).

Managing unarticulated value : changeability in multi-attribute tradespace exploration

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Managing unarticulated value : changeability in multi-attribute tradespace exploration Ross, Adam Michael, 1977- A framework for creating value robust systems in the face of changing value perceptions during the architecture and design of systems is proposed. Both unarticulated value, that which is not explicitly communicated to system designers, and dynamic value, that which changes over time, are used to motivate the dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) process. Value can be represented as decision maker perceived attributes, which can be classified according to the ease by which the system can display them. The attribute class spectrum from least to most costly ranges from articulated, class 0 attributes, to inaccessible value, class 4 attributes. Supporting the value-adding approach, the system property concepts of flexibility, adaptability, rigidity, robustness, scalability, and modifiability are proposed to be different aspects of the same concept: changeability. A quantification of changeability is shown to be the Filtered Outdegree of a design within a networked tradespace formed through explicit consideration of transition paths between design instantiations. A focus on designing not only for value, but for changeability as well, leads to the concept of path enabling variables, whose purpose is to increase change paths or decrease cost for change.; (cont.) Value robustness is shown to be achieved through either passive or active means. Passive value robustness can be quantified as the Pareto Trace number of a design, reflecting the number of contexts within which a particular design is determined to be best value at a given level of resource expenditure. Active value robustness is achieved through a strategy of pursuing designs with increased changeability and accessibility to likely high value regions of a tradespace. Supporting the process, the Design-Value Matrix and the Rule-Effects Matrix help system designers visualize the key factors for creating dynamic value-generating systems by capturing the important relationships between decision makers, design variables, attributes, path enablers, and resources. The dynamic MATE process is applied to two real system cases including the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). The framework is shown to be applicable at both quantitative and qualitative levels, giving insight into assessing and designing for changeability and value robustness for systems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-310).

Reducing inventory and order delivery time in an internal extended value chain

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Reducing inventory and order delivery time in an internal extended value chain Siefering, Brian W The extended value stream for the ABB Power Technologies Medium Voltage Business Area consists of numerous factories situated across various different countries. Most of these facilities were originally acquired by ABB to provide an established presence in local markets. In an effort to consolidate and align the Business Area's materials resources and reduce internal competition between similar factories, PTMV assigned specific products to specific factories on a regional basis. As a result, factories that use to have broad control of their entire manufacturing process from raw material to finished products are now either internal suppliers or internal customers of other ABB factories. The Business Area must now develop internal processes across these factories that focus on achieving timely delivery balanced with low inventory. In order to do so, it is essential for the Business Area to inspire individual factories with different cultures and languages to cooperate and work for a common goal. 'This thesis describes how Value Stream Mapping can be used to analyze current order processes in individual factories and across multiple factories in a single value chain.; (cont.) Value Stream Mapping reveals the areas where non-value added time is the greatest in the overall order delivery process. Using this information, recommendations are formulated to reduce materials 'work-in-progress (WIP), and subsequently, system lead-time. This internship looked at the inventory management control of key components between two factories in the internal value chain. The impact of inventory cost due to inventory location, transportation, and production decisions is investigated and documented. Additionally, this thesis studies the strategic, cultural, and political challenges that ABB faces as it attempts to implement operational change management in a new organizational structure. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79).

Managing the integration of technology into the product development pipeline

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Managing the integration of technology into the product development pipeline Barretto, Eduardo F., 1971- Managing the integration of technology is a complex task in any industry, but especially so in the highly competitive automotive industry. Automakers seek to develop plans to integrate technology into their products such that they deliver significant value to the customer. These plans and their implementation are critical to achieving success in the marketplace. This thesis proposes a framework for developing and implementing technology integration plans using the systematic application of specific "building blocks". The "building blocks" are developed through specific technology integration case studies at an automotive manufacturer, and further validated by studying other auto manufacturers. While the current technology integration process at the main automotive manufacturer studied is somewhat structured, the process seems inadequate, as significant issues with the strategy and implementation diminish its effectiveness. There are many building blocks that can help define and implement a strategy for technology integration, but which ones to focus on and how to apply them is not well defined. The proposed solution for developing a comprehensive technology integration process and applying it systematically, focuses on five key building blocks. Each of the building blocks is applied through a holistic lens, and is designed to enhance the technology integration process. The proposed methodology can be a complement to an existing process, or can be used to create a new technology integration process. The methodology combines known system engineering and change management frameworks and principles. Analyzing the current technology integration processes at a few automotive manufacturers and contrasting them with the proposed technology integration; (cont.) approach leads to several conclusions. The technology integration framework provides a valuable and comprehensive method to evaluate the current technology integration process. Each step in the technology integration framework serves to strengthen the technology integration process and is aimed at making it more consistent and successful. Furthermore, the framework as a whole, contributes to alignment within the organization, helping to ensure objectives at the staff level are matched to the corporate strategy. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-131).

An analysis of retention issues of scientists, engineers, and program managers in the US Air Force

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

An analysis of retention issues of scientists, engineers, and program managers in the US Air Force Beck, Derek William, 1977- The United States Air Force is having a difficult time retaining their technical officers, who are critical to the success of their research, development, and acquisitions of major military and defense systems. A statistical analysis is conducted on survey data collected, and the analysis seeks to explain the reasons why officers, mostly junior in rank, leave the Air Force after only a short time on active duty. This retention problem leads to fewer higher-ranking officers, since the military only hires from the bottom up. Results of the research show that about 47% of junior officers have intent to leave the Air Force after their initial commitment, which is 4 to 5 years. With nearly half of the Air Force's incoming officer leaving after their initial commitment, the problem is very serious. Job satisfaction and the closely related Air Force assignment system are shown to be the primary problems for junior officer retention. The thesis concludes with recommendations to Air Force leadership on where to focus their retention efforts. Special emphasis is given on how the Air Force may address tangible components of job satisfaction. Policy change recommendations that affect satisfaction levels with the assignment system are also given. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 212).

Integrating lean principles in automotive product development : breaking down barriers in culture and process

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Integrating lean principles in automotive product development : breaking down barriers in culture and process Garza, Laura A., 1970- Lean principles have been applied throughout the manufacturing industry with noted success although the process of integrating them into the entire enterprise has been complex and slow. Certain areas of the automotive industry, specifically product development, require a deeper study of its readiness to transition to lean. This thesis analyzes the product development enterprise at a large North American based auto manufacturer with respect to cultural and procedural inhibitors to becoming lean. The traditional lean principles and historical advancements in lean techniques are presented along with a description of the area studied. The scope of analysis focuses on three major phases in product development; the early concept phase, the middle core design phase and the launch phase. Recently, there has been difficulty in translating the lean principles into the product development environment. In this study, unique product development definitions of the lean principles are required and used to develop a framework for analysis. Inhibitors or barriers were discovered through interviews, observations, documentation and experience, each causing significant amounts of waste (muda). By understanding how these inhibitors affect the product development lean principles, the course of transitioning to lean can be illuminated. The system effects of the barriers and inhibitors are also described using system dynamics. Finally, conclusions are developed in order to guide the company in its quest to become lean in product development and throughout the entire enterprise. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-111).

Lean product development for the automotive niche vehicle marketplace

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lean product development for the automotive niche vehicle marketplace Kupczewski, Celeste D., 1974- The automotive low volume niche vehicle marketplace is growing, evidenced by increasing media coverage and fierce competition between original equipment manufacturers. Development of niche vehicles must be lean and therefore fast to beat competitors and keep customers interested. This thesis case studies a niche vehicle product development organization which has survived within a major original equipment manufacturer for over 11 years. This work defines niche vehicles and presents process things gone right and things gone wrong which have been identified through detailed interviews. The organization's current product development enhancement strategy is also summarized. Product development value stream mapping is used to identify process improvement opportunities for leaning the major engineering activities of the niche vehicle organization. Current state maps and desired future state maps are presented. Recommendations for approaching the desired future state are discussed. Process improvement opportunities outside of engineering are identified which work toward improving the cycle time of the overall product development process. Finally, all of the recommendations are summarized and rated on their difficulty of implementation and suggestions for future research are presented. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83).

Stakeholder analysis in the context of the lean enterprise

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Stakeholder analysis in the context of the lean enterprise Grossi, Ignacio, 1964- This thesis combines three different areas of study that are very active nowadays: Lean Enterprises, Stakeholder Theory, and Social Networks. Elements from these three research areas have been articulated to produce a methodology that allows for the analysis of stakeholder systems. In order to successfully apply lean enterprise principles and practices the study of the way in which stakeholders are structured along the extended enterprise is an indispensable first step. In a similar manner, stakeholder management practices require the identification of the most salient stakeholders together with their motivations to participate in the enterprise's value creation efforts. Original frameworks and methodologies for stakeholder systems analysis are presented in this thesis. Several qualitative, quantitative and systematic techniques have been developed that allow for the characterization and mapping of stakeholder networks. Among them are models for stakeholder systems representation, a process for the identification of stakeholders, a method to determine their salience and relationships relevance, and several stakeholder network metrics. Also is proposed and demonstrated the use of Dependency Structure Matrix technique for the analysis of stakeholder networks structural and functional characteristics. Some of these methodologies rely on known theories and practices such as social network analysis techniques and other graph theoretic concepts although their combination and further development provide an original set of tools for the analysis of stakeholder systems. All these methodologies were applied to a real case enterprise scenario. The stakeholder system of a relatively small space application enterprise was analyzed and characterized. Several important; (cont.) conclusions were derived from this enterprise's stakeholder analysis, demonstrating the capabilities and adequacy of the methods and techniques proposed. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; MIT Institute Archives copy: p. 3-50 bound in reverse order and inserted between p. 2 and p. 51.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-150).

Product development processes and their importance to organizational capabilities

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Product development processes and their importance to organizational capabilities Liu, Bing Product development is a creative and interdisciplinary activity that transforms a market opportunity and technological innovation into successful products. It is a set of activity-based processes in a product-oriented enterprise, and is essential to the economic success of such organization. Determining important processes in the product development and determining their relationships with organizational capability are crucial to the sustainable success in product development. Studying their relationships would give us insights into the product development dynamics. The objectives of this research are to provide a framework to determine the importance of product development processes and their relationship with organizational capabilities, to provide an assessment vehicle that helps organizations assess their capabilities and make improvements, and to improve predictions of project outcomes as the ultimate goal. To fulfill the objectives and to achieve the goal of this research, a step-based approach was adopted: first, Identify important processes in product development, second, identify an organization's capability using important product development processes identified through literature review and survey. Third, study various factors that influence the determination of importance of product development and the capability of product development were studied. Forth, test two hypotheses based on the statistics. The work in this thesis illustrates how various factors such as company size, industry sectors, and professional experience may influence the dynamics of product development process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).

Enterprise level value stream mapping and analysis for aircraft carrier components

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise level value stream mapping and analysis for aircraft carrier components Frenkel, Yuliya M., 1977- Northrop Grumman Newport News is committed to implementing lean on the enterprise level. This thesis is focused around work toward creating a global, high-level information and material value stream map for a specified pipe assembly. It identifies the largest areas of waste in the value stream and their root causes. The recommendations assist with the reduction and elimination of the major time delays, inventory buildups, re-work, excessive processes and other waste in the system. The pipe assembly chosen as the basis for the enterprise value stream map is part of a system, newly developed for the current aircraft carrier. The pipe assembly is representative of other pipe assemblies fabricated in the shipyard, so challenges experienced with the manufacturing and flow of the selected assembly are likely to be seen in many other pipe assemblies in the facility. A large number of assemblies was examined to determine the root causes of delivery problems. The analysis was based on the criticality of the ship need date. The root causes for the late assembly delivery were found to be inadequate material inventory levels in the warehouses, lack of fabrication timeline coordination between fabrication shops, late engineering drawing revisions, underestimated fabrication durations, late supplier delivery, late material purchase order placement, and lost material. Suggestions are provided to improve operational efficiencies by targeting the elimination of these root causes that result in the delay of assembly fabrication. Some include material ordering process reorganization, shop loading variability elimination, fabrication timeline alignment, metric realignment, and rework system prioritization. Recommendations for future work focus are; (cont.) concentrated on the control of the stock material inventory levels, alignment of the incentives across the enterprise, and reorganization of the planning processes. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96).

A study of the Mighty Motors operating system : making sustainable improvements at a powertrain manufacturing facility

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

A study of the Mighty Motors operating system : making sustainable improvements at a powertrain manufacturing facility Dibb, Gregory David, 1974- Many manufacturing companies are developing their own production or operating system, particularly in an effort to duplicate the widely renowned Toyota Production System. Toyota has demonstrated its potential for improving productivity and profitability. These same opportunities exist in nearly all companies, manufacturing or otherwise. This thesis explores the application of a similar operating system for a powertrain manufacturing company referred to as the Mighty Motors Company. More specifically, this thesis seeks to discover and explain Mighty Motors' obstacles to making sustainable improvements on the factory floor. The conclusions of this thesis are based primarily on the author's firsthand observations at Mighty Motors' powertrain manufacturing facilities. These data include quotes from interviews, results from factory floor experiments, and observations from improvement projects on the factory floor. The data are then sorted into five categories of observations, which serve as the basis for final recommendations. These five recommendations are suggested as a course of action to overcome the obstacles to making sustainable improvements on the factory floor at Mighty Motors: 1. Go to the floor to make firsthand observations. The best quality data regarding a problem or opportunity on the factory floor is obtained by going to the site in question on the factory floor. 2. Standardize all activities (by making them highly specified according content, sequence, timing, and outcome). 3. Standardizing activities in this way improves the visibility of problems and provides a common basis for improvement. 3. Standardize each link to create one clear, direct, unambiguous signal. Standardizing links (connections); (cont.) between activities eliminates ambiguity and waste. 4. Solve every problem and make every improvement in accordance with the A3 and the scientific method. Following this scientific approach on the factory floor increases the rate of learning about and improving the processes. 5. Provide sufficient support to the operators by way of a robust help chain. Constant support is required to sustain processes and improvements on the factory floor. These conclusions are then consolidated with the previous models of the Mighty Motors Operating System to provide one unified model for making sustainable improvements on the factory floor at Mighty Motors. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134).

The Dell operating model

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

The Dell operating model Paxton, Blaine Kermit Dell, Inc. is well known for its dramatic and continually improving operational performance in terms of unit cost, inventory level, production capacity, and labor efficiency. However, in late 2002, several members of Dell's Americas operations group realized that they did not fully understand what was driving this operational excellence. Therefore, they decided to sponsor an MIT Leaders for Manufacturing internship project to find out. The goal of this project was to "identify and document the essential beliefs, principles, and practices that have contributed to the operations success at Dell". The result of this endeavor is a model which describes four beliefs that are widely shared between members of Dell's operations organizations. These four beliefs (or cultural elements) are, in turn, supported by a set of specific management practices and programs. This model was developed using qualitative organizational research methods including conducting semi-structured interviews, holding focus groups, and gathering individual feedback on a draft version of the model for final validation. In this thesis, the "Dell Operating Model" is described, and each element of the model is shown to support Dell's critical business objectives. The model is then examined through the lenses of three organizational frameworks, and the limitations of these alternate frameworks are discussed. Finally, the applicability of the model to other companies is discussed, and new projects are proposed that will build on this research. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63).

Enterprise design for dynamic complexity : architecting & engineering organizations using system & structural dynamics

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise design for dynamic complexity : architecting & engineering organizations using system & structural dynamics Piepenbrock, Theodore F. (Theodore Frederick), 1965- As the business world is neither linear nor static, the mastery of its "chaotic" nonlinear dynamics lies at the heart of finding high-leverage policies that return uncommon benefits for marginal costs. Today's global enterprises are dynamically complex socio-technical systems where cause and effect of management's strategies and policies are distant in space and time. Spatial complexity recognizes that correctly defining the limits of the extended enterprise is essential in maximizing shareholder value via stakeholder management. Temporal complexity recognizes that policies, decisions, structure and delays are interrelated to influence growth and stability. An enterprise's long-term success therefore is a function of management's ability to control this "dynamic complexity". The goal of this thesis is to develop management insights into "enterprise design", i.e. to create more successful management policies and organizational structures. Enterprise design can be decomposed into the science and art, or engineering and architecting. Using the heretofore-separate academic fields of system dynamics and structural dynamics, an attempt is made to define the scientific "laws" of enterprise physics that will then be used to construct non-obvious, often counter-intuitive enterprise architectures. The goal is to combine the methodologies from the "business of building" with the "building of business", in an attempt to draw lessons from the design of high-rise buildings for the design of high-rising enterprises. Throughout this thesis, examples of a variety of socio-technical enterprises are discussed in order to explore and test the principles and insights developed herein. There is however a unifying case study; (cont.) used throughout of one of the world's most dynamically complex socio-political-technical enterprises: the Commercial Airplanes enterprise of The Boeing Company. This thesis uses the approaches of system and structural dynamics to explore Boeing's stability, growth, market share and profitability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 291-308).

Driving a lean transformation using a six sigma improvement process

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Driving a lean transformation using a six sigma improvement process Krishnan, Satish, 1974- Successive transformations within manufacturing have brought great efficiencies to producers and lower costs to consumers. With the advents of interchangeable parts between 1800 and 1850 in small arms manufacturing (Hounshell, 1984, pp. 3-4), mass production in the early 1900s in automobile manufacturing (Hounshell, 1984, pp. 9-10), and lean production in the early 1950s in automobile manufacturing (Womack, Jones, & Roos, 1990, p. 52), the state of manufacturing has continued to evolve. Each time, the visionaries that catalyzed the transformations were forced to overcome the inertia of the status quo. After convincing stakeholders of the need for change, these change agents: 1. Established a vision for the future 2. Committed resources to attain that vision 3. Studied the root causes for current methods 4. Proposed a new solution 5. Implemented the new solution 6. Quantified the results and sought future improvements. This basic process to implementing change is remarkably simple yet incredibly powerful. By explicitly emphasizing the need for root cause analysis, the process recognizes that improvements will be transient if the root causes of prior problems are not fully understood and resolved. When deploying a lean production system, an understanding of lean principles and tools is necessary but therefore not sufficient. Rather, implementing a lean production system should follow: 1. An analysis mapping the root causes of current production methods back to technical issues and the organization's strategic design, culture, and political landscape. Only by fixing the problems that led to the current production system can a lean transformation be sustained. 2. A detailed plan which achieves a transformation in both the organization; (cont.) production system. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

Process for evaluating options for materials management outsourcing

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Process for evaluating options for materials management outsourcing Hagan, Mark This thesis investigates the issues involved with the outsourcing of the materials management function within aerospace assembly, proposing a process for determining whether all or part of the responsibility should be given to suppliers. A flowchart tailored to the aerospace assembly process has been developed to address strategic as well as cost concerns. This flowchart looks not only at the outsourcing of the entire materials management function, but also at the possibility of outsourcing the management of individual carts of parts to suppliers. In this case, referred to as supplier kitting, existing suppliers package parts in a kit that stops short of a full outsourced assembly, but has many of the same attributes. At this point, a cost model is proposed for assessing the internal costs of receiving and packaging a single set of parts for use at the assembly line. The cost of receiving, storing, and building up a set of parts is difficult to estimate from the data used within internal accounting systems. The cost estimated by the model can be used as the basis of comparison for outside bids to package parts. In addition, the broader trend towards outsourcing in the industry is explored, along with the recent implementation of best practices in supply chain management that impact the requirements of the materials management function. Finally, the organizational barriers to making improvements in the organization's supply chain are explored, along with specific examples that are related to materials management. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-79).

Developing a circumstance-based innovation strategy for a midsized aerospace manufacturer : fostering intrapreneurship, opening boundaries, and seeding disruption

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a circumstance-based innovation strategy for a midsized aerospace manufacturer : fostering intrapreneurship, opening boundaries, and seeding disruption Brylawski, Michael M. (Michael Mills), 1972- This thesis derives a seven-stage methodology and presents a case study for developing an actionable innovation strategy for manufacturing firms. The methodology is based around a careful examination of their firm's circumstances, or external context and internal praxis. How a firm should innovate is dependent on industry environment, firm activities, technology competencies, internal culture, and its networks-and this thesis aims to develop a "theory of practice" in how to do such circumstance-based strategy. Thus, unlike much of the innovation literature, which push universalistic theories on innovation (e.g., form a Skunkworks to create a new radical product) this work aims to help firms become more innovative by developing strategies unique to their conditions. The methodology has seven modules: 1) stake intent, 2) survey the industry and firm, 3) create an innovation strategy, 4) audit the firm, 5) develop the plan to reinforce the capabilities through its existing culture, 6) execute and measure the plan, and 7) periodically reflect and adjust the plan as the firm's environment change. The case study focuses on modules 2-5. The case company is a midsized aerospace manufacturing-focused firm competing in the thick of the highly competitive global aerostructures market, specializing in airframe control surfaces. It employs a variety of advanced manufacturing techniques, with an emerging focus in carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite fabrication. Undertaking the methodology, the thesis finds that the highly competitive landscape combined with the firm's current market position and capabilities suggest an innovation strategy focused on differentiation (as opposed to low-cost), high levels of collaboration (as opposed; (cont.) to in-house R&D), and architectural innovation (as opposed to component innovation), with a balanced perspective on processes and products, core and new markets, and sustaining and disruptive approaches. The thesis proposes "ideal" capabilities for the company to execute this strategy, audits their current state, and proposes solutions embedded in an actionable, three-phase plan to reinforce them compatible with the firm's existing culture and networks. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-124).

The application of value stream management principles in a batch production environment

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

The application of value stream management principles in a batch production environment Allison, Daniel J The need for continuous improvement within a value stream is very necessary in today's business environment and can be one of the key sources of competitive advantage. As a company learns and implements the tools and practices of a Lean system, the underlying management and leadership methods become critical to sustaining fundamental operational change. A Value Stream Manager provides this leadership and is responsible for increasing the ratio of value to non-value by eliminating waste in the overall value chain from start to finish. The scope of the responsibilities of a value stream manager should cover at least two domains. First is the plant domain, that improves the value stream between the four walls of the plant; including the inbound and outbound logistics to/from the plant. The second domain is to consider the value stream at the enterprise-level. At the enterprise-level, the value stream manager is responsible for eliminating waste throughout the extended value stream, including channel partners such as suppliers and customers. This thesis will examine the operations of the ABB Wessel Cable plant in Longford, Ireland and analyze the application of Value Stream Management principles during a six and a half month internship period. By involving all the employees at ABB Wessel we were able to reduce WIP and Finished good levels down to historic lows holding scrap below 4% and increase overall equipment effectiveness by almost 30%. By concentrating on velocity of flow through the factory with reduced overtime, the business stopped losing money. In the proposed future state, additional performance enhancing changes are identified and discussed as a going forward plan for the future. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95).

Implementing a new organization to manage manufacturing technology innovation

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Implementing a new organization to manage manufacturing technology innovation Flores, Annabel, 1977- The purpose of this research is to provide an academic, external perspective to facilitate the implementation and development of a new internal organization for Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) with a focus on strategy and the organization. The new organization, named the Advanced Manufacturing Development Center (AMDC), is chartered to work concurrently with the design community to develop state-of-the-art manufacturing technology to compliment the next generation engineering designs. This thesis documents the efforts of a company implementing change detailing the specific challenges they faced. The principle lessons learned during the course of this project are (1) that effectively introducing change is very difficult and depends largely on thorough planning and understanding the culture and (2) that manufacturing innovation and development is a critical step to improving the manufacturing capabilities and providing a competitive advantage to a company. The defense industry is undergoing a lean transformation that focuses on "Better, Faster, Cheaper" defense systems demanding better products within a faster development timeframe at cheaper development and production costs. Defense companies have an external push to improve their manufacturing capabilities. In the context of the defense industry, adapting to change is a slow process given the industry's clockspeed and historical development. Making the challenge of effective implementation even more difficult is the lack of urgency at RMS's due to their success in the marketplace. Benchmarking and organizational studies specific to the industry and the company were conducted to identify best practices to provide a basis for the development of the AMDC. This project uses academic research to identify existing theories on manufacturing innovation and organizational change to overcome the socialization and cultural issues that ensued from implementing change and to improve the potential sustainability and impact of the AMDC. An implementation roadmap and operational model were generated that combined the best practices found in industry and academic theories that would help meet the objectives of the AMDC. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-137).

Improved integration of information in discrete part manufacturing environments

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Improved integration of information in discrete part manufacturing environments Hoag, Michael P. (Michael Paul), 1975- The flow and coordination of information across an enterprise is handled through complex networks of manual and automated processes. Forty years ago, the proliferation of computers spawned a revolution in automating many functional silos within a business via Material Requirements Planning applications. These systems evolved over time into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions as more functionalities were included in the scope of their planning modules. Only four years ago, the availability of high bandwidth Internet access at the corporate level also started revolutions beyond company walls, with Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management applications. Companies have recently invested heavily in these Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Customer (B2C) solutions. However, electronic commerce, or "e-Commerce", has thus far been unable to achieve its "Shop Floor to Top Floor", "Sensor to Boardroom", or "Factory Floor to Executive Door" transparency of data as it was intended to do. The reason for this failure is that these applications typically lack direct links to the real-time status information from manufacturing operations. This thesis attempts to bridge the gap between the enterprise wide applications and the vast amount of data trapped in the controls and machinery on the manufacturing floor. The vision to integrate these pieces is referred to as electronic manufacturing, or more commonly "e-Manufacturing". This newly emerging e-Manufacturing market is expected to offer rapid growth for companies who can move fast enough to capture a sizeable share. While ERP vendors appear best positioned to push from the "top-down" into this space, this thesis demonstrates that the control vendors with a "bottom-up" strategy may prove to be more successful. The developments in this thesis are built upon ABB's Industrial ^IT technology. Given Industrial ^IT 's ability to quickly integrate to a variety of data sources in real-time, e-Manufacturing related feasibility studies were conducted in four of ABB's facilities. The thesis also suggests strategies for implementing these kinds of solutions successfully. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-88).

Optimizing the assembly sequence of an aerospace manufacturing process

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Optimizing the assembly sequence of an aerospace manufacturing process Wolters, James Aaron, 1966- The 1990's were a time of downsizing and consolidation for much of the defense aerospace industry. Many defense contractors sought to integrate lean manufacturing principles and techniques into their business, as a means of becoming more cost-competitive in bidding for a shrinking defense budget, and to enable moves into commercial product lines. UTC-Sikorsky Aircraft Company began a series of restructuring and re-engineering initiatives in the late 1990's aimed at addressing these issues. This internship focused on cost reduction in Sikorsky's main product line - the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The final assembly line for the UH-60 was subject to cost and schedule overruns, along with high inventory levels. The assembly line was also characterized by a high degree of variability, and a major source of variability was believed to be the lack of a defined and repeatable sequence for the installations that comprise final ass~mbly. The introduction of an optimized assembly sequence, and subsequent adoption for daily use by shop floor personnel, was expected to reduce variability and improve performance. The use of a sequence itself was expected to produce the following benefits: 1. Provide a significant improvement in the use of visual tools for line management. 2. Help capture valuable information about installations from workers, and then transfer this knowledge to management, planners, and new workers as personnel are rotated through the factory. 3. Enable significant inventory reduction through introduction of a just-in-time (JIT) material delivery methodology, by linking material delivery to the order in which it is consumed. Implementation was expected to aid in identifying the shortcomings and limitations of the systems that have prevented the use of a sequencing methodology in the past. More importantly, it would elevate the importance of addressing and solving these issues as a means to achieve company-wide goals for cost and inventory reduction. Through implementation of this sequence, key issues were identified: -- JIT inventory levels are difficult to achieve in a large, complex aerospace assembly process, -- The manufacturing system, along with systems and processes which support it, must be capable of supporting JIT prior to implementation (and may need to be redesigned to do so), and -- Process re-engineering to support JIT is best accomplished through a combination of top-down and bottom-up change processes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage .; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66).

Understanding and managing uncertainty in lean aerospace product development

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Understanding and managing uncertainty in lean aerospace product development Bresnahan, Steven M. (Steven Michael) Aspects of aircraft product uncertainty during system development are examined. Generation of stakeholder value in lean aerospace product development is linked to the reduction or elimination of project risks and uncertainties in areas such as customer requirements, product performance, and issues that may arise later in the product's life cycle. A commercial aircraft system project is explored as a case study. The system is comprised a numerous subsystems developed by separately managed teams. Teams had different approaches to risk identification and mitigation. The relative success of each team is summarized. A framework for creating value by efficiently and effectively managing uncertainty and mitigating risks during aerospace system development is presented. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-98).

Re-Architecting the DoD acquisition process : a transition to the information age

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Re-Architecting the DoD acquisition process : a transition to the information age Brown, Kevin M., S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The military is the midst of significant change, due to the DoD transformation guidance and movement to Network-Centric Warfare/Operations. Unfortunately, both the guidance given, roadmaps produced and the level of espoused support for the transformation have caused fundamental change to occur slowly and at increasing expense. The military material development process was designed around a platform-centric system and worked well, but now the information age is causing a move to network-centric systems. This fundamental shift is not aligned with the DoD development process and reform will require broad changes in both organization and policy. This paper reviews the NCW Transformation goal, the DoD transformation guidance and compares them to the Transformation Roadmaps of the Army, Navy and Air Force. These guidance documents are then compared with actual transformation changes and the associated factors effecting the change, using J. Forrester type system dynamics models. The systems dynamics analysis studies numerous transformation factors for their effects and yields recommended alternative development architecture.; (cont.) The goal of the paper is to align the DoD development process with the transformation guidance goals to result in a process which speeds prototype testing, development and fielding of new military systems, while integrating state-of-the-art business practice and theory. This resulted in the creation of several models which describe the various acquisition systems and a new model which addresses the issues found in the other models. The new model represents a reconfigured architecture for the DoD acquisitions system and a new organization to implement the transformation. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-150).

System development technical interactions and innovation : a network-based investigation

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

System development technical interactions and innovation : a network-based investigation Makumbe, Pedzisayi O The development of complex engineering systems such as aircraft engines involves many cross functional teams that are usually geographically distributed. These teams interact in several ways but one of the most important set of interactions during the product development phase is the flow of technical information which is largely used for coordination and problem solving. For analytical purposes, these technical information flows can be represented as a directed network. This thesis develops a context and a research design that can help one investigate the impact of the resultant network structure on innovation in complex engineering systems. The broad context can be divided into two: theoretical and real world contexts. The theoretical context is developed by reviewing literature at the intersection of networks and innovation, and the real world context is typified by a modular enterprise developing a complex engineering system. Within this broad context, the research area of interest is framed by a set of hypotheses that lead to precise innovation measures and characterizations. The research design is motivated by the context and intended theoretical contributions. It consists of two major sections.; (cont.) The first section discusses and critiques methodologies for constructing networks and proposes a methodology more suited to this engineering systems development context. The second section describes a two-stage model whose variables include network structural properties such as structural holes, nodal degree, tie strength, and innovation output. It also describes a methodology for investigating the relationship between network density and the innovation development subprocess. Finally, the context and research design are tied together to create an instantiation of the measurement and characterization of innovation in complex engineering systems development. The characterization considers product innovation as radical, architectural, modular or incremental, and process innovation as organizational / coordination-based or technical. The measures of innovation include granted patents, implemented employee suggestions, product literature based innovation counts and results from structured interviews with the two leaders from each node in the network. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-77).

Measuring and managing intellectual capital in the U.S. aerospace industry

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Measuring and managing intellectual capital in the U.S. aerospace industry Siegel, Lawrence R "Intellectual capital" has been heralded in business journals as an important component for successful business development in today's economy. Intellectual capital consists of knowledge-based assets -- including people, relationships, tools, and processes - that create value for a firm and its clients. Previous research has emphasized the financial measurement of intellectual capital, including the valuation of corporate intangible assets and the difference between a firm's market value and book value. Unfortunately, these financial measures are not very useful to practitioners, as they provide few insights about how to allocate resources, improve operations, or strategically plan for future needs. In this research, a new conceptual framework is developed for understanding the role of intellectual capital in new product development. The framework develops a dynamic model of the three forms of intellectual capital - human capital, structural capital, and relational capital -- and identifies mechanisms for knowledge transfer, organizational learning, and value creation. The framework is bolstered by data from case studies of seven product development projects at different U.S. aerospace firms.; (cont.) Using the concept of intellectual capital as a "lens", the case studies are comparatively analyzed to identify critical knowledge-based resources and capabilities that are used in the development of complex products and services. The studies suggest that a balanced portfolio of intellectual capital can create unique capabilities that lead to competitive advantage and differentiated performance. The analysis culminates in a self-assessment tool that managers can use to measure and assess the health of their intellectual capital base. In addition to providing management tools, the research has implications for U.S. aerospace policy, as well as the funding of further research into the role of corporate knowledge in today's information economy. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2004.; Page 145 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-144).

Enterprise integration strategies across virtual extended enterprise networks : a case study of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program enterprise

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise integration strategies across virtual extended enterprise networks : a case study of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program enterprise Glazner, Christopher G Over the last decade, many companies in industries that produce complex and technologically-advanced products have begun to integrate their operations along the value chains of the primary products they design, produce or sustain. Increasingly, integration efforts have moved beyond the boundaries of the core or focal enterprise serving as the prime contractor or system integrator to span the entire value chain, to form virtual extended enterprises. These structures allow the members of the virtual extended enterprise to focus on their core competencies in order to collaboratively deliver a world-class product at a competitive price. While integration offers many benefits to enterprises, a high degree of integration is not always desirable or advantageous in a limited duration virtual extended enterprise composed of autonomous companies. Virtual extended enterprises must find a balance between decoupled collaboration and highly coupled integration, balancing the need to closely coordinate their efforts with the need protect the autonomy of their members. The objective of this research is to explore the extent to which a focal enterprise, such as a prime contractor or system integrator, should consider integration across its virtual extended enterprise, identify major barriers to integration, and define key enablers of integration overcoming these barriers.; (cont.) Analysis focuses on the extent of integration based on the characteristics of the virtual extended enterprise, such as the duration and scope of the program in question, product system architecture, the organizational architecture, and the external environment. In particular, three key conceptual dimensions of integration are developed and explored-technological integration, strategic integration, and organizational integration. This framework is applied in an in-depth case study of integration strategies on the virtual extended enterprise of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program. The knowledge gained from the case study is used to make recommendations for the development of integration strategies for future programs. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.; Page 184 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-181).

Lifecycle perspectives on product data management

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Lifecycle perspectives on product data management Hines, Erisa K. (Erisa Kimberly) Implementing a new IT system often requires the enterprise to transform in order to maximally leverage the capabilities generated by the new system. The challenge in using IT as an enabler to change arises from the need to synergistically redesign processes, develop and implement a solution using internal talent and external suppliers, and establish adoption by users. Product Data Management (PDM) technology represents a substantial portion of large industry IT investment over the last decade. The ability to manage and deliver product data throughout the lifecycle has become increasingly important to the aerospace enterprise as products become more complex, cost and development cycles shorten, and customer, partner, and supplier relationships evolve. Currently, the aerospace community does not have capability to provide traceability from requirements and design through field maintenance. While initially an attempt to understand the application of PDM in product development, what emerged was a study in how PDM affects and enables lean enterprise transformation. The selection, development, and deployment of PDM solutions were studied in the aerospace industry in order to enable better implementation decisions in varying complex environments. Organizational, technical, and cultural factors were considered as they contribute to a PDM's effectiveness. .; (cont.) A current-state observation of nine aerospace company sites highlights the difficulty in reaching the technology's full potential to deliver customer value. Data show that PDMs are being used primarily to manage design engineering data and are not tightly integrated with other business systems. The data also show a distinct difference between prime and supplier companies' spending on and capability of their respective data management systems. While the value of PDM to product development includes better data quality, traceability and transparency, value to the enterprise is also found beyond the traditional role of PDM. Looking horizontally across the lifecycle and vertically through the hierarchical relationships, PDM provides opportunities for organizational and process change and stakeholder involvement, both important tenets for evolving into a lean enterprise. This conclusion is supported by both the site interviews and the two case studies Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-109).

Value stream mapping and earned value management : two perspectives on value in product development

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Value stream mapping and earned value management : two perspectives on value in product development Whitaker, Ryan Brent The concepts of value and value stream are crucial to the philosophy of Lean, and a better understanding of how these concepts relate to product development (PD) is essential for the creation of a Lean PD strategy. This thesis focuses on value by looking at PD processes through two different value perspectives: Product Development Value Stream Mapping and Earned Value Management. Product Development Value Stream Maps (PDVSMs) were created for two different PD projects, and the tasks from the maps were analyzed for how they each create value. The official value measurement for the two projects, Earned Value Management System data, was analyzed and compared to the PDVSMs. This comparison of the two value perspectives proved valuable, as it showed that despite some misalignments, they are congruent. The comparison also highlighted several flaws in EVMS. Finally, a combined EVMS/PDVSM hybrid management tool is proposed and discussed. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-152).

Designing the lean enterprise performance measurement system

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Designing the lean enterprise performance measurement system Mahidhar, Vikram The research contained in this thesis explores design attributes of the enterprise performance measurement system required for the transformation to the lean enterprise and its management. Arguments are made from the literature that successful deployment of the lean practices, across three different stages of the evolution of lean thinking, requires a supporting performance measurement system. The increase in scope of lean practices at each stage of the evolution increases the complexity in achieving synchronization across the enterprise subsystems. The research presents various attributes of the performance measurement system required at each stage and further derives the three key attributes for the design of the lean enterprise performance measurement system. These three attributes are: enterprise level stakeholder value measures, the causal relationships across performance measures at each level, and Uniform and consistent set of performance measures. A detailed case study of an aerospace and defense business of a multi-industry corporation which has embarked on a journey towards creating a lean enterprise is presented.; (cont.) It highlights several challenges in the transformation from the perspective of performance measurement. The key challenges identified are: First, disconnect between the performance measurement for the lean practices and regular business practices hinder the adoption of lean practices. This disconnect exists due to the existence of both legacy performance measures and the new measures. Second, lack of understanding of the cause-effect relationship between performance measures across different enterprise levels poses difficulty evaluating the impact of lean related efforts. Third, use of non-uniform performance measures across various enterprise subsystems leads to non-lean behavior. The theory underlying performance measurement is reviewed including the widely-accepted performance measurement frameworks suggested for the design of enterprise performance measurement system. Analysis of these frameworks reveals that none of the existing frameworks completely capture the desired attributes for the lean enterprise performance measurement system.; (cont.) To design the lean enterprise performance measurement system, this research suggests a conceptual design that explicates the use of various tools and techniques to address the critical attributes. To identify stakeholder value measures this design demonstrates the use of stakeholder value analysis. Use of system dynamics modeling and structural equation modeling is suggested to establish, validate and evolve the cause-effect relationships between performance measures. And, to maintain the uniform set of measures the creation of measures dictionary is explained. Further, research is needed to empirically validate the model as a means for successful transformation and management of the lean enterprise. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-151).

An exploration of supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry and in Rolls-Royce

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

An exploration of supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry and in Rolls-Royce Tiwari, Mohit This thesis is a part of the Supply Chain 2020 research project which seeks to study best practices in supply chain management in multiple industries in order to develop a deeper understanding of key principles and practices characterizing the creation of excellent supply chains through a long-term research agenda. This thesis addresses the first phase of the research by concentrating on the aerospace industry and by focusing on Rolls-Royce through a case study. The objective of the thesis is to conduct an exploratory study of the best practices in supply chain management in the aircraft engine manufacturing industry, and how these practices impact the competitive positioning of an engine manufacturer within the industry. The analysis involves a broad review of the current state and future directions of the aerospace industry by tracing the key factors shaping its evolution and by identifying the major strategic forces that would influence its future. Within this general industry context, the thesis analyzes Rolls-Royce's position in the industry as a leading aircraft engine manufacturer and presents a focused study of Rolls-Royce's supply chain management practices.; (cont.) In particular, the thesis involves a deeper exploration of the aircraft engine manufacturing business segment of Rolls-Royce and strives to understand the company's supply chain management practices, by examining the role of major factors that have proven crucial to effective supply chain management within the company. The thesis also presents more specific case study examples that track the implementation and results of major supply chain management initiatives. Finally, the supply chain design and management practices are analyzed from the perspective of their role in the company's business strategy. This is accomplished by employing a number of business strategy frameworks to understand the key factors that determine the competitiveness of a tier one supplier in the aerospace industry, such as Rolls- Royce, and by examining how those factors have affected Rolls-Royce's supply chain management strategies and practices. Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96).

An examination of Boeing's supply chain management practices within the context of the global aerospace industry

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

An examination of Boeing's supply chain management practices within the context of the global aerospace industry Çizmeci, DaÄ lar This thesis examines the supply chain management practices of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company within the context of the global aerospace industry. The methodology used for this study includes a study of emerging supply chain management concepts and practices in the aerospace industry based on a review of the open literature, research performed on aerospace supply chain management issues by MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, and selected interviews with aerospace industry experts. The results show that there are significant changes in supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry. These changes include restructuring and closer integration of supplier networks to achieve efficiency gains, delegating greater design and production responsibility to major suppliers through strategic supplier partnerships along with having key suppliers evolve greater system and subsystem integration capabilities, emphasizing a lifecycle view supply chain design and management to reduce lifecycle cost of products and systems, and building supply chain capabilities supporting maintenance and aftermarket logistics services as a major new strategic thrust to provide improved customer satisfaction and retain long-term customer loyalty. The thesis focuses on Boeing's supply chain management practices through a case study to explore these developments in a more concrete enterprise context. Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-80).

The role of SCADA in developing a lean enterprise for municipal wastewater operations

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

The role of SCADA in developing a lean enterprise for municipal wastewater operations Prutz, Stanley J Central to optimizing a wastewater system's operations is the collection of alarm and operational data from various remote locations throughout a municipality, hence the basic need for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). The process of providing SCADA systems to municipal clients, from conception to implementation, is typically a cumbersome process involving a wide variety of stakeholders. Municipalities have historically been slow to change, often being among the last in adopting new processes and technologies. Municipal SCADA systems usually are deployed without considering how they will specifically create value for municipality end-users and without defining metrics to gauge their effectiveness. Lean enterprise principals suggest a focus on the value stream can reduce waste and improve the value municipality end-users derive from SCADA systems. The author performs a lean analysis of the process of implementing SCADA within a municipal wastewater operation. The municipality's current systems integrator-centric model for SCADA delivery is examined. An alternate lean vision is proposed for the integrator's operations and their relationship with the municipality. This vision reduces SCADA implementation time and costs while improving the effectiveness of the SCADA solution. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-116).

A new approach to risk analysis with a focus on organizational risk factors

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

A new approach to risk analysis with a focus on organizational risk factors Marais, Karen, 1973- Preventing accidents in complex socio-technical systems requires an approach to risk management that continuously monitors risk and identifies potential areas of concern before they lead to hazards, and constrains hazards before they lead to accidents. This research introduces the concept of continuous participative risk management, in which risks are continuously monitored throughout the lifetime of a system, and members from all levels of the organization are involved both in risk analysis and in risk mitigation. One aspect of effective risk management is accurate risk analysis that takes account of technical, human, and organizational factors. This research develops a new approach to risk analysis that improves on event-based models to include risks that do not depend only on component or subsystem failures, and incorporates both human and organizational factors. The approach enables the early identification of risk mitigation strategies, aids in the allocation of resources to best manage risk, and provides for the continuous monitoring of risk throughout the system lifecycle. Organizational factors have been identified as a significant aspect of accidents in complex socio-technical systems. Properly managing and assessing risk requires an understanding of the impact of organizational factors on risk. Three popular theories of organizational risk, normal accidents theory (NAT), high reliability organizations (HRO), and normalization of deviance, are reviewed. While these approaches do provide some useful insights, they all have significant limitations, particularly as a basis for assessing and managing risk. This research develops the understanding of organizational risk factors by focussing on the dynamics of organizational risk.; (cont.) A framework is developed to analyze the strategic trade-offs between short and long-term goals and understand the reasons why organizations tend to migrate to states of increasing risk. The apparent conflict between performance and safety is shown to result from the different time horizons applying to performance and safety. Performance is measured in the short term, while safety is indirectly observed over the long term. Expanding the time horizon attenuates the apparent tension between performance and safety. By increasing awareness of the often implicit trade-offs between safety and performance, organizations can avoid decisions that unwittingly increase risk. In addition to this general dynamic, several specific common patterns of problematic organizational behaviour in accidents in diverse industries are identified. While accidents usually differ in the technical aspects, the organizational behaviour accompanying the accident exhibits commonalities across industries. These patterns of behaviour, or archetypes, can be used to better understand how risk arises and how problematic organizational behaviours might be addressed in diverse settings such as the space industry and chemical manufacturing. NASA specific archetypes are developed based on historical accounts of NASA and investigations into the Challenger and Columbia accidents. The NASA archetypes illustrate several mechanisms by which the manned space program migrated towards high risk. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-255).

Development of a process for continuous creation of lean value in product development organizations

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Development of a process for continuous creation of lean value in product development organizations Kato, Jin Ideas and methodologies of lean product development were developed into tools and processes that help product development organizations improve their performances. The definition of waste in product development processes was re-examined and developed into a frugal set to cover all types of waste in product development processes through preliminary case studies. Value stream mapping (VSM) was optimized for measuring the waste indicators in product development processes. Typical causes for low product development project performances were organized into a root-cause analysis diagram. Three case studies in product development companies were performed. The tools were tested and improved through intensive interviews with both project managers and engineers. VSM was effective for identifying and measuring waste indicators. The root-cause analysis diagram was effective for quickly identifying root causes for low product development project performances. Synchronized uses of these tools made it possible to measure each root cause's impact on project performances. The result of measurements revealed both problems shared by all the projects and the ones specific to the projects, indicating that the tools and processes developed in this research can provide suggestions for continuous improvement of product development processes. Some waste indicators were more prevalent than the others, implying that the number of waste indicators to be considered can be reduced. Inventory of information was prevalent in all the projects, and the analyses of it implied that Today's product development processes are as premature as those of manufacturing several decades ago.; (cont.) Wastefulness of information inventory was proved quantitatively. Time spent on one occurrence of rework was proved to take longer near the end of a project than at the beginning of it. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-206).

Identifying lean practices for deriving software requirements

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Identifying lean practices for deriving software requirements Ippolito, Brian J. (Brian James), 1970- Lean principles focus on employing value added activities to reduce product development cycle time, increase quality, and reduce cost. Lean originated in the automotive industry and has since been centered in the manufacturing domain. Lessons learned on implementing Lean initiatives have been captured by the in the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) and incorporated into the Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) (http://lean.mit.edu/public/index.html). To the author's knowledge, this is the first research effort specifically designed to apply the Lean principles and the Lean Enterprise Model to the aerospace software requirement derivation process. Data supporting this research is the result of a comprehensive two-year research effort involving three detailed case studies with 45 case study interviews, 125 stakeholder surveys collected from ten aerospace software upgrades, feedback from numerous aerospace industry practitioners and Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) faculty. Ten aerospace software upgrades were analyzed at both an enterprise level and an organizational level to identify the presence of Lean practices. At the enterprise level, metrics typically used to measure enterprise performance (Flow Time, Stakeholder Satisfaction, Quality Yield, and Resource Utilization) were found to be appropriate for the software requirement process but not adequately implemented. An organizational analysis observed five of the twelve Lean practices as effectively implemented and identified opportunities to implement four more Lean practices. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134).

Stakeholder collaboration in Air Force acquisition : adaptive design using system representations

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Stakeholder collaboration in Air Force acquisition : adaptive design using system representations Dare, Robert E. (Robert Ernest), 1961- Air Force development of new or evolutionary weapon systems is a complex endeavor due to the involvement of many stakeholders and the presence of considerable uncertainty in the acquisition environment. The ability to adapt a weapon system while it is still being designed affords a means to respond to this complexity. The fundamental motivation for this research is to discover how Air Force development programs, operating within established constraints, can improve their adaptability during the design phase to provide more value to the warfighter. The thesis of this research is that the quality and nature of collaboration between stakeholders during the design phase of weapon system development programs determines how effectively they share knowledge, which in turn drives the level of program adaptability. Eight case studies were conducted on Air Force development programs. Data were collected on collaborative practices and patterns of adaptability demonstrated during design. The research placed an emphasis on usage of "system representations" such as prototypes and beta software releases that acted as a form of boundary object to facilitate knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries. As programs used system representations to provide higher levels of knowledge sharing, they were found to be more adaptable. System representations were more effective at promoting adaptability when they represented the design with higher fidelity, providing system-level detail and covering stakeholder emphasis areas. Lastly, certain key stakeholder roles were found to contribute both flexibility and structure, facilitating a "zone of novelty" in which the stakeholders could exercise creativity and evaluate design options while still executing the program within established constraints.; (cont.) This research indicates that the pressing need for Air Force programs to be able to adapt in today's uncertain acquisition environment can be addressed to a significant degree through the usage of effective system representations in conjunction with supporting patterns of stakeholder interaction. Specific recommendations for Air Force acquisition policy makers and practitioners are provided. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-311).

Lean enterprise self-assessment as a leading indicator for accelerating transformation in the aerospace industry

Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Lean enterprise self-assessment as a leading indicator for accelerating transformation in the aerospace industry Hallam, Cory R. A The research contained in this thesis explores leading indicators of lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry, as part of the greater body of work associated with MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). Arguments from literature are made in support of the assumption that a lean enterprise can outperform a less lean enterprise, permitting the research to focus on identifying potential means for achieving and accelerating lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry. Senior enterprise leaders and their leadership committees from thirty-one enterprises in the US and UK aerospace industry utilized the LAI Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) as a means for measuring their current state of leanness in leadership/transformation processes, lifecycle processes, and enabling infrastructure. Cross-sectional LESAT data, two-period time series LESAT data, and directed interviews and site visits were utilized to formulate the conclusions drawn in this thesis. There are four primary empirical findings of this research. First, the aerospace industry as a whole exhibits lowest maturity in practices related to establishing and deploying a lean enterprise vision, even in the presence of high maturity in lean production. Second, enterprises exhibiting high lean enterprise maturity in leadership/transformation processes also exhibit high maturity in lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. Third, strong leadership commitment (LC) correlates highly with setting a lean enterprise change environment (CE), which then correlates highly with lean change activities in practice (CP).; (cont.) Finally, there is evidence that the highest lean maturity enterprises have established formal information feedback mechanisms that allow the enterprise to strategically build on the lean capabilities of the enterprise, while prioritizing lean improvement activities within the context of enterprise strategic needs. From the perspective of industry, this research suggests that there must be a formal decision to pursue the lean enterprise as an operational strategy in order to achieve successful transformation. This decision will be founded on strong leadership commitment, which if established, can help support the leadership/transformation practices as a means for improving lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. The LAI Transition-to-Lean (TTL) roadmap provides a logical sequencing of lean enterprise transformation activities, to which formal information feedback mechanisms should be added based on the model proposed in this thesis for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. Most importantly, this model suggests a new mode of operating, not a one-time improvement effort. Further research is needed to empirically validate the model as a means for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-322).

System dynamics analysis of an ordering system used for commercial aircraft manufacture

Fri, 01 Jan 1993 00:00:00 GMT

System dynamics analysis of an ordering system used for commercial aircraft manufacture Finan, Jeffrey John Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1993, Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1993.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-252).

Best practices in user needs/requirements generation

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Best practices in user needs/requirements generation Wirthlin, Joseph Robert, 1970- An idealized process framework for the front-end of product development was developed. The framework covers the process space from an initial need (or recognition of a need) to the decision for a product/development program launch. The framework focuses on the activities required for the development of requirements needed for a business case decision. The framework was developed through a thorough examination of the literature relating to product development and addresses not only the activities required to traverse the front-end of product development, but also metrics and a process maturity matrix by which an organization's process can be evaluated. Using case studies of the front-end processes of eight commercial organizations and eight military organizations in addition to the US Air Force, the applicability of the framework was tested. All of the organizations demonstrated the existence of the four fundamental activities contained in the framework but a discussion of the existing process enablers revealed various interpretations of required features. The maturity matrix was used to evaluate each of the organizations (commercial and military) relative to an idealized and mature front-end process. The analysis revealed a significant gap between commercial and military process performance. Additionally, the existence and application of the process enablers was significantly correlated with the organization's performance in the four process activities of the front-end framework. The implications of the research indicate that military organizations in general will need to reevaluate the current practices in the front-end and the application of process enablers within their organizations. Further, military organizations should reexamine if the current process structure for system development in the front-end needs significant changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-299).

A multi-attribute value assessment method for the early product development phase with application to the business airplane industry

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

A multi-attribute value assessment method for the early product development phase with application to the business airplane industry Downen, Troy Douglas (cont.) market. The method is also used to extract quantitative evidence indicating the existence of enterprise-related attributes for consumer value in products. Marking the first independent review of the loss function-based value method, this study finds that the Relative Value Index is superior to existing value methods at retaining simplicity of implementation and minimal data requirements while maintaining a firm grounding in economics and consumer choice theory. The method is shown to be useful for estimation, though robustness of the results is not certain when used in this manner, and may also be extended to the analysis of large-scale engineering systems and their value to society.; The early phase of product development, sometimes referred to as the fuzzy front-end, is critical to the success of enterprises and plays a dominant role in the formation and execution of corporate strategy. In addition, it has been argued that the concept of consumer value is central to effective product development. In this research, a new product value assessment method is established for the fuzzy front-end of business airplane development. Existing value assessment techniques used in the business aviation industry are found to poorly balance the theoretical rigor of the method with the ease of use and accuracy required by practitioners in early product development. A recently-developed multi-attribute value method, based on Taguchi's loss function approach to quality assessment, is modified and extended in this study and applied for the first time to the domain of business aviation. A comprehensive 40-year historical product database is developed for use in testing and evaluating the method, referred to as the Relative Value Index (RVI), enabling the scope of value method appraisal to be expanded to an industry-wide examination over a significant time span. A top-down approach is developed for calibrating value models to empirical market data via attribute weighting factors. Sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations are developed to test the RVI method's robustness and the reliability of the results, enabling a rigorous definition of the determinants of product competition in this industry. This methodology is a useful advance in the methods to extract objective findings from historical industry market activities. The RVI approach is used to develop evidence in support of a ratio theory of product price and value differentiation in the business airplane Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-339).

Learning strategies and performance in organizational teams

Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Learning strategies and performance in organizational teams Bresman, Henrik M (cont.) shows that vicarious learning is positively associated with performance. I argue that vicarious team learning is an under-explored dimension of what makes teams and organizations competitive. The chapter concludes by pointing toward a contingency theory of team learning in which the effectiveness of a team learning strategy depends on characteristics in the team's task environment.; This dissertation addresses the subject of team learning strategies and their performance effects in three independent but related chapters. A common theme is the notion that theorizing about team learning as constituted by a set of distinct strategies can improve our understanding of how teams learn, and how it influences performance. The first chapter explores team learning in an inductive study of six teams in one large pharmaceutical firm. I find that many of these teams engage in vicarious team learning--the activities by which a team learns key aspects of its task from the similar experiences of others outside the team--rather than experiential team learning. I detail the nature of vicarious team learning in a model including three component processes: identification, translation, and application. The second chapter reviews the literature on team learning and concludes that it has largely been treated as a uniform construct. Drawing on organizational learning theory, social learning theory, and the literature on the management of innovation and entrepreneurship, I propose that teams learn by deploying at least three different strategies: experiential learning, contextual learning, and vicarious learning. I use the example of a team facing a particularly difficult learning environment to illustrate the significance of viewing team learning as a multi-dimensional construct. The final chapter examines different team learning strategies, and vicarious learning in particular, as a means to understanding learning and performance differences across teams. Vicarious learning is conceptualized as an integral part of how teams learn. A field study of 43 teams in the pharmaceutical industry is used to develop and test the construct and Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, February 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103).

Methodology for sizing finished goods inventories for a vinyl siding extrusion plant

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Methodology for sizing finished goods inventories for a vinyl siding extrusion plant Milby, Michael Gary, 1965- Recently, many companies have begun to implement lean manufacturing principles as a way to improve their production systems. Alcoa has joined the movement to adopt lean manufacturing, and has named their effort the Alcoa Production System (APS), after the Toyota Production System which is, doubtless, the best known example of lean manufacturing implementation. The thrust of lean manufacturing is the removal of waste from the production system. For most companies the biggest reason for implementing lean manufacturing is that of reducing excess inventory. However, before inventory can be removed it is important that the reasons for holding inventory are understood. Only after these drivers of inventory are improved or removed, can companies safely reduce their inventories without losing their ability to satisfy customer demand. If implemented correctly, lean manufacturing is a great way to systematically reduce waste, especially inventory. However, most reference texts on lean manufacturing implementation have very little specific information on how much inventory is appropriate at any stage of improvement. On the other hand, practitioners of operations management have been dealing with these issues for years, and there exists a body of knowledge on sizing inventories. Many fail to realize that these two fields of study are compatible and that the base stock model is fully compatible with lean production methods. It is the objective of this thesis to show that the base stock model is compatible with lean manufacturing, and is an appropriate model for determining the correct levels of finished goods inventories at the Denison Alcoa plant. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61).

Analysis of variance impact on manufacturing flow time

Tue, 01 Jan 1991 00:00:00 GMT

Analysis of variance impact on manufacturing flow time Chao, Jackson Sheng-Kuang Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1991.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-120).

IT management in the aerospace industry

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

IT management in the aerospace industry Ferre, Gregoire, 1978- (cont.) payoff IT investments. When the North American Aerospace Industry invests less than any other industry in the high risk investments, its foreign counterpart invests more than any other industry. The second major finding is that the governance mechanisms in place are similar in the two Aerospace Industry segments, contrary to the IT Portfolios. IT decisions are made usually by IT executives or business executives, based on the information provided by Chief level executives and at least one other business group. Finally, the third major finding is that the Aerospace Industry gets above average returns from IT by being good at IT Business Planning, Top Management involvement and User Satisfaction. However, a major effort needs to be placed on improving user satisfaction as it is not always properly managed and hinders returns from IT. The lack of extensive communication also hinders the returns from IT by not guarantying top management involvement and awareness of the IT governance mechanisms.; This thesis originated by a need for the Lean Aerospace Industry to study in the Aerospace Industry what seems to be a troublesome domain for many other industries: Information Technologies (IT). Beforehand, there were two ways to do so: study how aerospace companies implement major systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Product Data Management (PDM). After a few short case studies, it seemed companies were puzzled by the true extent and the pervasiveness of IT. Therefore, we chose to not look at IT "locally" but try to understand the bigger picture. This thesis is largely based on the pioneering work done by Peter Weill and the Center for Information Systems Research of the MIT Sloan School of Management on IT Portfolio and IT governance. It rationalizes IT by setting it as a portfolio, just like financial investments. Balancing the IT portfolio will ensure anticipated alignment with the corporate strategies. However, the elaboration of proper IT governance mechanisms is necessary to ensure value and return from IT. Defining the governance is "specifying the decision rights and accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior on the use of IT". We therefore applied the IT Portfolio and IT governance frameworks defined by Peter Weill to the Aerospace Industry through the analysis of surveys available in Appendix D. We were able to get data from ten different companies spread out across the world. This allowed us to examine several IT profiles, and to make several significant findings, among which three are of major importance and are described below. The first major finding is that the North American IT portfolio is risk-averse, while the aggregated rest of the world is prone to invest heavily in high risk/high Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2004.; Leaf 95 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 68).

A decomposition-based approach for the integration of product development and manufacturing system design

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A decomposition-based approach for the integration of product development and manufacturing system design Kim, Yong-Suk, 1975- Using a structured approach to understand the interaction between product design decisions and manufacturing system design is critical to reflect manufacturing system issues early in the product development process. Early consideration of manufacturing system issues prevents product design iterations due to manufacturing system constraints or unnecessary manufacturing system design modification to accommodate new product designs. However, in academia and industry, few frameworks are available to capture the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions. This thesis presents an approach to capture the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions, which is called manufacturability evaluation process. The manufacturability evaluation process aims to guide product development teams to see the effects of their design decisions on manufacturing systems and thus, to make the right decision from the early stage of product development. The manufacturability evaluation process satisfies four objectives: 1) to describe the objectives of manufacturing systems clearly separated from the means of achievement, 2) to present the impact of various design decisions on the achievement of the objectives of manufacturing systems, 3) to provide a common platform to effectively communicate the impact across the organization, and 4) to provide a framework to put existing tools together to integrate manufacturing system design and product design. The manufacturability evaluation process is based on a recently developed Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD).; (cont.) This thesis describes three groups of case studies to identify industry practices and provide application examples of the proposed manufacturability evaluation process. The manufacturability evaluation process has been successfully applied to the cases. In addition, the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions are discussed with industry case study examples in the automotive industry. An evaluation tool is developed to evaluate the general practices of a company ensuring the manufacturability of product designs. Furthermore, this thesis provides a basis for future research to extend the scope of the MSDD into product development areas. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-364).

Opportunities for lean thinking in aircraft flight testing and evaluation

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Opportunities for lean thinking in aircraft flight testing and evaluation Carreras, Carmen E. (Carmen Elena), 1978- The application of Lean principles and practices has been shown to help aerospace companies reduce waste and maximize value to help meet the changing demands of the market. The most visible area of influence has been manufacturing, where great strides have been made in cost and cycle time reduction. Recently, the flight testing community has been faced with similar challenges. This paper investigates whether Lean principles can be applied to aircraft flight testing and evaluation to help meet these goals. Specific objectives are to identify opportunities for the implementation of Lean thinking and establish a framework for structured implementation of Lean principles and practices. This study focuses on seven aircraft programs: 737-NG, 767-400, Hawker Horizon, F-22, F/A-18E/F, C-130J, and the T-6A. The programs are analyzed from a programmatic viewpoint to identify where lean practices are currently being used and how lean thinking could further improve the overall flight testing process. Additionally, a detailed examination is performed on the day-to-day activities to identify the daily sources of waste and their impact on the program. The detailed analysis focuses on flutter testing as a surrogate for the entire testing program. A total of 90 flights were analyzed. Data collected from the case studies fits well into the value-creation framework established in Lean Enterprise Value. Each of the phases of the framework - value identification, value proposition, and value delivery - are discussed as they relate to flight testing. Many examples of the application of lean principles and practices as well as opportunities for implementation are presented in the value delivery phase. Opportunities were identified in: coordination of the systems engineering value stream, coordination with other test aircraft and necessary support functions, and management of the daily test operations. This preliminary study indicates that Lean thinking can be applied to flight testing. The guiding principles of well-run testing programs paralleled those of Lean. Additionally, there are many instances where Lean thinking would provide an opportunity to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74).

Value stream analysis and mapping for product development

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Value stream analysis and mapping for product development Millard, Richard L. (Richard Luke), 1977- This thesis explores of Value Stream Analysis and Mapping (VSA/M) as applied to Product Development (PD) efforts. It contains three parts: the background and history of PD VSA/M, a report of the current PD VSA/M practices within the U.S. aerospace industry, and the proposal of a general VSA/M method for Product Development activities. Value Stream Analysis and Mapping is a method used for business process and product improvement, which originated with the development of the Lean business philosophy. The VSA/M background section includes a brief history of the method as described in foundational Lean literature. As with Lean practices in general, the application of VSA/M began in the manufacturing community, and has seen excellent results. However, the engineering and design efforts of Product Development provide a unique setting for the use of VSA/M. The report of current PD VSA/M practices within the U.S. aerospace industry focuses on the research results taken from site visits to nine major Product Development sites. The VSA/M tools used at the sites are characterized and ranked in sophistication. The business context surrounding the use of the tools is also characterized and ranked. The reduction of the research data and this analysis shows the importance of both tool sophistication and the surrounding context in the success of a PD VSA/M exercise. The proposal of a general VSA/M method for Product Development activities includes an outline for implementation. This outline is supported with a discussion of associated principles and the application of selected tools. The proposed method follows a pattern of analyzing and mapping the Current State of a process, and using heuristics to analyze and map an improved Future State. The tools used to accomplish this analysis and mapping include (1) a high-level Gantt chart or Ward/LEI map, (2) a detailed-level Process Flow map, and (3) a detailed-level Design Structure Matrix. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; "June 2001."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-107).

Effect of control frequency on the performance of manufacturing systems with controllable production rates

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Effect of control frequency on the performance of manufacturing systems with controllable production rates Castañeda Vega, José Israel Flow-line manufacturing systems represent the most prevalent process structure in industry for the repetitive production of discrete items. Machine breakdowns, however, limit their reliability and efficiency. The control of flow-line manufacturing systems, as a way to compensate for limited reliability, is about the frequent regeneration of production parameters so that the system output conforms to demand requirements in an acceptable manner. The influence of such regeneration frequency -or control frequency- on the system performance as well as its relevance with respect to other control parameters is, nevertheless, currently not well understood. So far, a continuous control action has been widely assumed in the performance analysis of unreliable manufacturing systems. This assumption follows naturally, given that most of the research work on shop floor control has been focused on job shop environments, such as flexible manufacturing systems. The reason for this emphasis on job shop environments could be the lack of flexibility in production rate of traditional repetitive manufacturing systems. This research work, on the other hand, was motivated by the realization that flow-line repetitive manufacturing systems can be designed for short term production rate control. Current implementations of lean manufacturing are cases of such systems.; (cont.) The intended contribution of this work is a better understanding of the influence of control frequency on the time behavior of flow-line manufacturing systems. The development of pertinent simulation and analytical models for performance assessment is presented. From the simulation results, one effect of control frequency on system behavior motivating further research is evident. An analytical model resembling the simulation one is elaborated. The occurrence of control actions is modeled as homogeneous Markov processes. From system stability considerations -or convergence of the analytic solution- a closed expression involving control frequency is derived. According to simulation results, the analytical model predicts very well the limit of controllability of the system (lowest control frequency required for stable behavior) as well as all the steady-state parameters of interest. Additionally, the closed form of the solution allows a direct study of the complementary effect of control frequency with inventory, capacity and availability on system behavior. These results permit fast assessment of system-wide effects of operational control issues during the design of manufacturing systems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121).

Multidisciplinary design problem solving on product development teams

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Multidisciplinary design problem solving on product development teams Bernstein, Joshua I. (Joshua Ian), 1974- This investigation, conducted under the auspices of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), studied how engineers from different specialties interpret and communicate about technical design problems while working on product development teams. Data was collected on 98 cases via interviews with engineers at LAI member companies. For approximately one-third of the cases, two engineers with different backgrounds were interviewed, allowing comparisons to be made between their descriptions of the problems under study. For the remaining cases, one interview was conducted per case. The most important finding of this study was that engineers from different specialties do interpret the same problem differently. Specifically, two engineers were likely to evaluate the benefits or drawbacks of a potential solution using different sets of criteria. Thus, some design disputes were the result not of mutually exclusive needs but of a failure to recognize the different ways in which engineers were evaluating solutions to the problem. Furthermore, data collected during this study illustrated that in some cases these differences were the result of engineers addressing related, but unique problems. Therefore, a solution to one engineer's problem often created a new problem for another engineer on the team.; (cont.) A second conclusion of this study was that how design tools were used had a greater impact on a team's problem solving abilities than what tool was used. In this context, design tools included objects such as real or "virtual" prototypes as well as processes like simulations and tests. The results of this investigation suggested that such tools offered their greatest benefits when they were used in a participatory fashion in which a large fraction of a team shared in their use. Additionally, the more elements of a problem's context that were captured in a design tool, the greater its utility. Under such conditions, team members were able to create a shared evaluation system to judge potential solutions to the problem they were confronting, thereby facilitating problem resolution. Based on these results, the traditional model of engineering communication derived from the information processing framework requires modification. The information processing model assumes that individuals have a shared understanding of meaning when they communicate. This study, however, suggests that such shared understandings do not exist in advance, but are instead ... Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-216).

Application of lean manufacturing technique for the design of the aircraft assembly line

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Application of lean manufacturing technique for the design of the aircraft assembly line Gastelum, Victoria Elena, 1973- The final assembly line for the Boeing Commercial Airplanes 717 Program is currently implementing "The 9 Tactics", a methodology based on the lean manufacturing principles to transform the current processes to continuous moving lines. The first two tactics, Value Stream Mapping and Balancing the Line define the manufacturing system configuration (the quantity of airplanes to load in the conveyor, headcount and workload per workstation) and the process to develop the production execution plans. Understanding of the tradeoffs in the allocation of resources when selecting the most profitable manufacturing system configuration is a complex task for the Industrial Engineering department. The preparation of these plans is iterative and time-consuming, complicated by constraints such as assembly sequences and space limitations. The problem solved during the internship was to propose a methodology or framework for the implementation of the Value Stream Mapping and Balancing the Line tactics, considering the economics involved and the frequent production fluctuations in the production rate. The framework proposed is based on lean techniques and economic analysis, and is the main product delivered to the sponsor company. The economic analysis of the assembly line configuration alternatives is supported by the application of the Economic Profit financial metric (also known as Economic Value Added). Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002.; "June 2002."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-104).

A decomposition-based approach for manufacturing system design

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

A decomposition-based approach for manufacturing system design Linck, Joachim, 1966- The design of manufacturing systems is a complex task that requires many people to cooperate and communicate at various organizational levels. Companies often change the design of their manufacturing systems by using "off-the-shelf' solutions, such as Uformed manufacturing cells, without relating those solutions to overall system objectives. These ad hoc changes seldom have a formal process to guide them. This thesis contributes to the development of a manufacturing system design framework that satisfies five objectives: (1) it clearly separates objectives from means of achievement, (2) it relates low-level activities and decisions to high-level goals and requirements, (3) it states interrelationships among different elements of a system design, (4) it provides a common platform to effectively communicate this information across the organization, (5) it guides the designers through all stages of the system design. The framework is based on a recently developed Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD). This thesis reports on a multiple case-study research program that validates and modifies the MSDD. This research program led to the creation of a questionnaire that guides the systematic investigation and critical analysis of manufacturing systems. The reliability of this questionnaire has been tested successfully with Cronbach's Alpha factor. The thesis describes four groups of case studies that show how the MSDD provides a powerful tool to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing manufacturing systems. In addition, the thesis uses the MSDD to derive new manufacturing system designs. It shows that the MSDD is equally applicable across industry, manufacturing processes, production volume, and company size. The research in this thesis proves theoretical and literal replication of the premises stated in the MSDD. A database is developed to provide a graphical interface for the use of the MSDD, for documenting system design projects, and for analyzing the questionnaire. Modifications to the MSDD are recommended, based on the case studies. The thesis provides a basis for future research to integrate existing manufacturing system design methodologies with the MSDD. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-321).

Knowledge organization and content generation in knowledgemediaries

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Knowledge organization and content generation in knowledgemediaries Taneja, Abhinav, 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-116).

Concurrent design for optimal quality and cycle time

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Concurrent design for optimal quality and cycle time Wei, Yu-Feng, 1970- Product and manufacturing system design are the core issues in product development and dominate the profitability of a company. In order to assess and optimize the product and manufacturing system design, an objective evaluation framework is needed. Despite the many existing tools for product and manufacturing system design, there is a missing link between the product design and the production performances under system variability. The goal of the thesis is to explore and understand the interactions among part design and tolerancing, processes and system variability, and system control decision, then provide an integrated model to assess the total cost in a system. This model will be used to aid part design, tolerancing, batching, as well as strategy analysis in process improvement. A two-stage modeling approach is used to tackle the problem: quality prediction and production prediction. The quality prediction model projects the process variations into the output quality variations at each manufacturing stage, then predict the yield rate from the stochastic behavior of the variations and the tolerance. The production prediction model projects the demand rate and variability, processing times and variability, yield rates and batch-sizes into the manufacturing cycle time and inventories. After the performances are predicted through the previous two models, concurrent optimization of part design, tolerance, and batch-sizes are achieved by varying them to find the minimum cost. A case study at Boeing Tube shop is used to illustrate this approach. The result shows that the costless decisions in part design, tolerancing, and batch- sizes can significantly improve the system performance. In addition, conducting them separately or without using the system performance as the evaluation criteria may only lead to the local optima. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-116).

A decomposition-based approach to linking strategy, performance measurement, and manufacturing system design

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

A decomposition-based approach to linking strategy, performance measurement, and manufacturing system design Duda, James Wallace The ability to understand the impact of lower-level design decisions on the achievement of higher-level strategic objectives is critical for the effective design of manufacturing systems. Furthermore, the development of a set of performance measures in alignment with these strategic objectives is necessary to ensure that ongoing design improvement activities result in better manufacturing system performance with respect to the goals of the firm. This thesis investigates how manufacturing systems can be designed to achieve the unique high-level strategic objectives of an organization and how performance measures can be derived to ensure that future system improvements support the firm's manufacturing strategy. A model of the manufacturing system design process is developed using the principles of systems engineering. This system design process begins with the identification and prioritization of relevant dimensions of manufacturing performance (cost, quality, delivery performance, etc.). Next, performance measures are developed concurrently with various possible models of system behavior and structure (i.e., design alternatives). Trade-offs among these design alternatives are examined, enabling designers to select the most appropriate feasible alternative and to identify opportunities for improvements. A structured process for trade-off analysis is developed to aid designers in identifying and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of alternative system designs. An axiomatic design decomposition of a general set of functional requirements (FR's) and design parameters (DP's) for a manufacturing system is used to guide designers through this trade-off analysis as well as through the development of a preliminary set of performance measures. Matrices are formed to express the relationships between strategic objectives, FR's and DP's, and the design alternatives. Combination of these matrices results in the generation of a comparison matrix showing the relative strengths and weaknesses of each design alternative. A software tool is developed to assist designers in managing, visualizing, and communicating the information required for this trade-off analysis. Examples of the application of this process to the design of manufacturing systems at an automotive component supplier are reviewed. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-239).

Avionics life-cycle forecasting model

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Avionics life-cycle forecasting model Czerwonka, Stephen P. (Stephen Paul), 1976- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage .; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-119).

Spacecraft system-level integration and test discrepancies : characterizing distributions and costs

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Spacecraft system-level integration and test discrepancies : characterizing distributions and costs Weigel, Annalisa L. (Annalisa Lynn), 1972- The goal of this research is to characterize the distribution and costs of spacecraft discrepancies found at the system level of integration and test, as well as understand the implications of those distributions and costs for the spacecraft enterprise as a whole. If discrepancies can be better understood, they can potentially be reduced or even eliminated. Reducing discrepancies will result in cycle time reduction and cost savings, as well as increased product quality and reliability. All of these potential outcomes are indications of successful progress toward becoming a lean organization. Data on discrepancies at the system level of integration were gathered from spacecraft vendor databases, while interviews with key program managers and engineers provided perspective and insight into the data. Results are based on 224 spacecraft representing at least 20 different programs or product lines, and encompassing 23,124 discrepancies. The spacecraft date from 1973-1999, and represent different vendors as well as a mix of commercial and government spacecraft. Spacecraft discrepancies are analyzed in this work on the basis of ten categories: the spacecraft mission, the spacecraft subsystem where the discrepancy occurred, the date of the discrepancy occurrence, the discrepancy report open duration, the immediate action taken to fix the discrepancy (disposition), the root cause of the discrepancy, the long-term corrective action prescribed to prevent the discrepancy from happening again on future spacecraft, the labor time spent on the discrepancy, and the cycle time lost due to the discrepancy. Statistical measures of central tendency, correlation and normality are presented for each category. This statistical analysis forms the basis for research findings at the enterprise level in the areas of quality yield, resource utilization, stakeholder satisfaction and flow time. Recommendations to enterprise stakeholders for increasing the value derived from system-level integration and test follow from the enterprise-level findings. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage .; Includes bibliographical references.

Modeling and analyzing cost, schedule, and performance in complex system product development

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Modeling and analyzing cost, schedule, and performance in complex system product development Browning, Tyson R In the future, it is unlikely that complex system products will compete solely on the basis of technical performance. What will differentiate such systems and their developers is the ability to balance all the dimensions of product performance, including product pricing and timing (which are functions inclusive of development cost and cycle time). Furthermore, this balance must be congruent with customers' perceptions of value. Once this value is ascertained or approximated, complex system developers will require the capability to adjust the design process to meet these expectations. The required amount and sophistication of project planning, control, information, and flexibility is unprecedented. The primary goal of this work is a method to help managers integrate process and design information in a way that supports making decisions that yield products congruent with customer desires and strategic business goals. This work consists of three parts. Part one contains two exploratory studies that further understanding of complex system product development processes. One study explores process iteration and seeks to explain why some aircraft development programs do not address iteration with existing project planning and control methods. The other study examines sources of risk, classifying these into six categories (cost, schedule, performance, technology, business, and market risks) and building causal frameworks to represent their relationships. Both studies point to avenues for improving existing process '·models and in some cases reveal process characteristics requiring new methods. These results, while derived from projects in the aerospace industry, are highly applicable across a variety of complex system development projects. Part two entails an effort to model some of the characteristics observed in part one. After a review of four types of dependency structure matrices (DSMs), notably the activity-based or schedule DSM, extensive data are collected from an uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) design process. Part two thus describes how to build a DSM model and provides data for example applications of the detailed models developed in part three. Based on the foundational work of parts one and two, part three develops a new methodology and models for understanding product development process cost, schedule, and performance. The methodology complements activity-centric schedule models such as DSM in that activities provide direct contributions to process cost and schedule and design performance. This approach sets the stage for integrated cost, schedule, and performance analyses. A cost and schedule model is presented first, and it is extended to account for the effects of activities on product performance. The stochastic, simulation model generates distributions of possible cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. These distributions represent uncertainty and are analyzed in relation to impact functions and targets to determine levels of risk. The model outputs enable the exploration of the costs and benefits of several management options and yield interesting insights. The goal is to improve product development planning and control though the capability to balance cost, schedule, and performance appropriately. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 1999.; Includes bibliographical references.

Achieving supplier integration through implementation of supplier managed inventory programs

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Achieving supplier integration through implementation of supplier managed inventory programs Bravo, Michael H., 1959- Competitive market pressures and new dynamics in manufacturer-supplier relationships have led to the development of collaborative initiatives between manufacturers and suppliers that result in improved inventory management and material ordering practices. While these types of initiatives are known by different names in different industries, "vendor managed inventory'' (VMI) and "supplier managed inventory" (SMI) are designations typically used in traditional industrial settings. Similar programs have been successful in retail and grocery environments. This research seeks to determine the appropriateness of supplier managed inventory programs for use in industrial settings and the conditions under which their use offers significant benefits. A review of current literature regarding collaborative manufacturer-supplier initiatives is conducted as well as interviews with fifteen industrial companies regarding their experience with supplier managed inventory programs. Just-in-time (JIT) production and change management emerge as key supporting elements of an SMI initiative and are also discussed. The results from this research show that supplier managed inventory programs are being utilized in many different industrial settings with positive results. These results include improved inventory turns, higher service levels, reduced operating costs and mutually beneficial manufacturer-supplier partnerships. Benefits may vary between manufacturer and supplier companies. This research documents significant benefits associated with the implementation of SMI programs. A framework for implementing an SMI program is also provided. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 1999.; "February 1999."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-118).

Production system design and its implementation in the automotive and aircraft industry

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Production system design and its implementation in the automotive and aircraft industry Reynal, Vicente A., 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-198).

Analysis of key characteristic methods and enablers used in variation risk management

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Analysis of key characteristic methods and enablers used in variation risk management Ertan, Basak Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-91).

Organizational structures for technology transition : rethinking information flow in the integrated product team

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Organizational structures for technology transition : rethinking information flow in the integrated product team Pomponi, Renata Alma Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-259).

Offsets and the aerospace industry

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Offsets and the aerospace industry Falco, James A. (James Anthony), 1955- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80).

Managing the defense industry transition to performance-based practices and supply chain integration

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Managing the defense industry transition to performance-based practices and supply chain integration Campbell, Ernest B. (Ernest Bowling), 1966- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-107).

Assembly oriented design : concepts algorithms and computational tools

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Assembly oriented design : concepts algorithms and computational tools Mantripragada, Ramakrishna, 1971- Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-182).

Chains of function delivery : a role for product architecture in concept design

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Chains of function delivery : a role for product architecture in concept design Cunningham, Timothy Wayne, 1968- Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-258).

Economic incentives in aerospace weapon systems procurement

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

Economic incentives in aerospace weapon systems procurement Cowap, Stacey A. (Stacy Ann) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Make-buy decisions in the U.S. aircraft industry

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Make-buy decisions in the U.S. aircraft industry Perrons, Robert K. (Robert Kirby), 1972- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-143).

Technology development and business strategy : a changing environment impacts practices

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Technology development and business strategy : a changing environment impacts practices Garbo, Samuel P. (Samuel Paul) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-92).

A study of the federal government's experiences with commercial procurement practices in major defense acquisitions

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

A study of the federal government's experiences with commercial procurement practices in major defense acquisitions Anderson, Michael H. (Michael Hansford) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-70).

Lean manufacturing principles : a comprehensive framework for improving production efficiency

Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT

Lean manufacturing principles : a comprehensive framework for improving production efficiency Kilpatrick, Auston Marmaduke Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-125).

Supplier management practices of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Program

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Supplier management practices of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Program Lucas, Malee V. (Malee Vidhyaphum) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-169) and index.

Application of the lean aircraft initiative factory operations model to case studies in the defense aircraft industry

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Application of the lean aircraft initiative factory operations model to case studies in the defense aircraft industry Pozsar, Michael John Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-122).

Precision stretch forming of metal for precision assembly

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Precision stretch forming of metal for precision assembly Parris, Andrew Nicholas Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 360-377).

Systematic IPT integration in lean development programs

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 GMT

Systematic IPT integration in lean development programs Browning, Tyson R Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-182).

Reduction of front-end loading of inventory : making the airframe industry lean through better inventory management

Sat, 01 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT

Reduction of front-end loading of inventory : making the airframe industry lean through better inventory management Houlahan, Christina Jampoler Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves ).

Control of manufacturing processes with MRP II : benefits and barriers in the defense aerospace industry

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Control of manufacturing processes with MRP II : benefits and barriers in the defense aerospace industry Pomponi, Renata Alma Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134).

Challenges and benefits to the implementation of integrated product teams on large military procurements

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Challenges and benefits to the implementation of integrated product teams on large military procurements Hernandez, Christopher M Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-113).

Implementation of supplier management in a defense subcontractor

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Implementation of supplier management in a defense subcontractor Rubin, Hope E. (Hope Ellen) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45).

Lean manufacturing practices in the defense aircraft industry

Sun, 01 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT

Lean manufacturing practices in the defense aircraft industry Hoppes, John Christian Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145).

Implementing precision assembly techniques in the commercial aircraft industry

Sat, 01 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT

Implementing precision assembly techniques in the commercial aircraft industry Koonmen, James P. (James Patrick) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133).

Critical examination of a complex and critical major acquisition for the Department of Defense : the advanced medium range air-to-air missle (AMRAAM)

Sat, 01 Jan 1994 00:00:00 GMT

Critical examination of a complex and critical major acquisition for the Department of Defense : the advanced medium range air-to-air missle (AMRAAM) Robbins, James F. (James Franklin) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-253).

Applicability of Toyota production system to commercial airplane manufacturing

Wed, 01 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT

Applicability of Toyota production system to commercial airplane manufacturing Raymond, Arthur James Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1992, and Thesis (M.S.)--Sloan School of Management, 1992.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 199).

Beyond mass production--flexible production systems and manufacturing performance in thw world auto industry

Tue, 01 Jan 1991 00:00:00 GMT

Beyond mass production--flexible production systems and manufacturing performance in thw world auto industry Macduffie, John Paul Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-346).

ACE vs. Six Sigma

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

ACE vs. Six Sigma Hutton, Thomas C., 1965- In the early 1980's and 1990's, companies began to build upon the principles of Total Quality Management and developed there own unique quality systems. The most popular and well known of these systems is Six Sigma that was developed by Motorola and successfully adopted by others such as Allied Signal (now Honeywell) and most notably, General Electric. Six Sigma can be characterized as a highly formalized, process oriented improvement tool that is data focused. The Six Sigma process is normally performed by a diverse team, who attack a quality/process problem by analyzing process variation or in statistical terms, sigma. The foundations of Six Sigma are commitment from upper management, detailed training and a regimented diagnostic approach. Another quality operating system is the less known, but very successful, Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) operating system. This system was developed and is practiced by United Technologies Corporation (UTC). The ACE system is broader based than the Six-Sigma approach, however, ACE is not as data oriented as the Six Sigma approach. ACE revolves around the three principle categories of process improvement and waste elimination tools, decision-making tools, and problem solving tools. These tools impact issues as diverse, but not limited to, factory floor cleanliness, market feedback analysis, machine tool preventative maintenance and set up reduction. ACE is a combination of lean manufacturing and quality improvement philosophies. This paper provides an analysis of both the Six Sigma and ACE Quality Operating Systems. In the paper the systems are compared and contrasted. Further, strengths and weaknesses of each system are discussed. In particular, the analysis focuses on how ACE can leverage elements; (cont.) and aspects of Six Sigma. The analysis concludes that there are elements of Six Sigma that would benefit ACE. The paper identifies that the strength of Six Sigma's statistical approach and its positive impact on process certification could be beneficially applied to the ACE system. Further, there are recommendations for UTC to place more of an emphasis on ACE training and to accelerate its current efforts to better link quality and lean improvement to product engineering and design. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 68).

Modularity as an enabler for evolutionary acquisition

Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Modularity as an enabler for evolutionary acquisition Shah, Nirav Bharat, 1979- The end of the cold war witnessed several significant changes in the defense acquisition environment. Budgets declined and the scope of mission expanded. At first, the DoD did not respond well to these pressures resulting in cost overruns and schedule delays becoming the norm. In an effort to change this situation, national security officials decided to fundamentally change the way systems were acquired, shifting the focus to systems that could evolve/adapt to changing resources and needs. To operationalize this shift they recommended implementing an evolutionary acquisition strategy using a spiral development process. The fundamental characteristic of the evolutionary acquisition strategy is a focus on delivering a minimum capability early and then building upon that capability as risks are resolved. This imposes requirements on the acquisition process and the system architecture. From a process perspective, since needs and resources are changing involving all relevant stakeholders is key to successful evolutionary acquisition. Since the objective was to prevent cost overruns and schedule slips, understanding and mitigating key risks is central to success. From an architectural perspective, the ability to update the system to allow for enhanced capability is important. The MATE-CON process can be used to satisfy the process related requirements of evolutionary acquisition. MATE-CON uses a multi-attribute utility theory to capture the diverse and changing needs of decision makers. Then tradespace exploration is used fully reveal the impact of design decision on decision maker perceived value. By representing both value and expense in terms of metrics that all stakeholders can understand, MATE-CON facilitates effective collaboration between stakeholders.; (cont.) A modular architecture provides the architectural flexibility required when using evolutionary acquisition. By separating system components into a few decoupled modules, the modular architecture allows enhancements to be made to the modules without adversely affecting the rest of the system. Changes can be made to accommodate new needs or incorporate new capabilities. This flexibility in-service come at the price of a possible loss of performance and/or design efficiency. Thus valuation of the flexibility gained is crucial. An options framework that incorporates risk identified by the stakeholders should be used. The Space Based Radar is good a example of a system that demonstrates that challenges faced by defense acquisition identified above. The most recent attempt at an actual hardware demonstration was canceled because of cost overruns and schedule slip. Using the MATE-CON approach and a modular constellation architecture, evolutionary strategies for space-based radar can be found. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112).

Valuation techniques for commercial aircraft program design

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

Valuation techniques for commercial aircraft program design Markish, Jacob, 1978- This research considers the commercial aircraft design process from the perspective of program value. Whereas traditionally, the conceptual design of aircraft has often focused on minimum weight, or sometimes minimum cost, this approach demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of design based on maximum value to the aircraft manufacturer. A program valuation tool is developed and demonstrated that measures the overall program value associated with a set of either one or two new aircraft concepts. The tool is based on a combination of a performance model; a development and manufacturing cost model; a revenue model; and a dynamic programming-based algorithm that accounts for uncertainty in future market conditions and the program's ability to cope with such uncertainty through real-time decision-making. The cost model, using a component-based representation of the aircraft, allows for the consideration of the effects of part commonality on development and production costs. The revenue model, based on an analysis of existing commercial aircraft, estimates a market price and demand forecast for a new aircraft based on several key characteristics. The dynamic programming algorithm, used to find program value, treats annual aircraft quantity demanded as a stochastic process, evolving unpredictably with time. The algorithm borrows from Real Options theory to discount future cash flows using risk-neutral expectations and models the aircraft program as an actively managed project with real-time decision-making to maximize expected program value. Several examples are drawn from the Blended-Wing-Body aircraft concept to demonstrate the operation of the program valuation tool. The results suggest that the value of part commonality between aircraft may be strongly sensitive to the weight penalty and increased fuel burn resulting from a common derivative design. More generally, the example results illustrate the usefulness of the explicit consideration of flexibility in program valuation and the feasibility of a conceptual aircraft design tool based on the metric of program value. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-149).; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.

Applying the Lessons of “Lean Now” to Transform the US Aerospace Enterprise

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Applying the Lessons of “Lean Now” to Transform the US Aerospace Enterprise Jobo, Major Ronald S. Lean is common sense and good business sense. As organizations grow and become more successful, they begin to lose insight into the basic truths of what made them successful. Organizations have to deal with more and more issues that may not have anything to do with directly providing products or services to their customers. Lean is a holistic management approach that brings the focus of the organization back to providing value to the customer. In August 2002, Mrs. Darleen Druyun, the Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and government co-chairperson of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), decided it was time for Air Force acquisitions to embrace the concepts of lean. At her request, the LAI Executive Board developed a concept and methodology to employ lean into the Air Force’s acquisition culture and processes. This was the birth of the “Lean Now” initiative. An enterprise-wide approach was used, involving Air Force System Program Offices (SPOs), aerospace industry, and several Department of Defense agencies. The aim of Lean Now was to focus on the process interfaces between these “enterprise” stakeholders to eliminate barriers that impede progress. Any best practices developed would be institutionalized throughout the Air Force and the Department of Defense (DoD). The industry members of LAI agreed to help accelerate the government-industry transformation by donating lean Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to mentor, train, and facilitate the lean events of each enterprise. Currently, the industry SMEs and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working together to help the Air Force develop its own lean infrastructure of training courses and Air Force lean SMEs. The first Lean Now programs were the F/A-22, Global Hawk, and F-16. Each program focused on specific acquisition processes. The F/A-22 focused on the Test and Evaluation process; the Global Hawk focused on Evolutionary Acquisitions; and the F-16 focused on improving the Contract Closeout process. Through lean, each enterprise made many significant improvements. The F/A-22 was able to reduce its Operational Flight Plan (OFP) Preparation and Load process time of 2 to 3 months down to 7 hours. The Global Hawk developed a new production plan that increases the annual production of its Integrated Sensor Suite from 3 per year to 6 per year. The F-16 enterprise generated and is working 12 initiatives that could result in a contract closeout cycle time reduction of 3 to 7 years. Each enterprise continues to generate more lean initiatives that focus on other areas and processes within their respective enterprises.

A Holistic Approach to Manufacturing System Design in the Defense Aerospace Industry

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A Holistic Approach to Manufacturing System Design in the Defense Aerospace Industry Vaughn, Amanda; Shields, J. Thomas Manufacturing has evolved to become a critical element of the competitive skill set of defense aerospace firms. Given the changes in the acquisition environment and culture; traditional “thrown over the wall” means of developing and manufacturing products are insufficient. Also, manufacturing systems are complex systems that need to be carefully designed in a holistic manner and there are shortcomings with available tools and methods to assist in the design of these systems. This paper outlines the generation and validation of a framework to guide this manufacturing system design process.

A FRAMEWORK FOR ACHIEVING LIFECYCLE VALUE IN AEROSPACE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

A FRAMEWORK FOR ACHIEVING LIFECYCLE VALUE IN AEROSPACE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Stanke, Alexis Creation of lifecycle value - a balance of performance with cost and other attributes - represents a challenge for the development of aerospace products in the twenty-first century. This paper examines the concept of lifecycle value that stems from existing approaches of value management and analysis, lifecycle costing, and systems engineering. To ascertain common characteristics of lifecycle value creation, case studies were done for four aircraft programs: F/A- 18E/F, JAS 39 Gripen, F-16C/D, and B-777. A lifecycle value creation framework is introduced, comprised of three phases: value identification, value proposition, value delivery. Based upon observed practices in the four case studies, six value creation attributes were identified. Capability maturity models for the six attributes and three value creation phases are presented. The resulting framework represents a starting point for programs seeking to create lifecycle value for aerospace products. Delivered at ICAS 2002 Congress.

Improving the Software Upgrade Value Stream

Sat, 01 Sep 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Improving the Software Upgrade Value Stream Ippolito, Brian This paper reports findings from a two-year study to identify Lean practices for deriving software requirements from aerospace system level requirements, with a goal towards improving the software upgrade value stream.

Employing Activity Based Costing and Management Practices within the Aerospace Industry: Sustaining the Drive for Lean. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Wichita Division/IAM, Wichita, Kansas, 1999 and 2000.

Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

Employing Activity Based Costing and Management Practices within the Aerospace Industry: Sustaining the Drive for Lean. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Wichita Division/IAM, Wichita, Kansas, 1999 and 2000. Barrett, Betty; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; Paduano, Rocco ABCM is an accounting tool that can help companies recognize true costs and make critical choices. ABCM is designed to help firms shift their priorities from individual products to the overall manufacturing environment. BCAG is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes. It is crucial to move the corporate financial department from account role to that of business partner. The ABCM model organizes activities in terms of their relationship to final cost objects. Looking at two pilot studies, this case study shows the benefits that can be reaped from ABCM implementation. The IAM has supported the adoption of ABCM as a way to get at the true costs of production. There is caution, however, that ABCM is not a panacea.