MORE BANG FOR GOVERNMENT BUCKS


FIGURE 1


Integration (CMMI) High Maturity processes. Because ARDEC provides engineering


support to many Army


armament systems and has the domain knowledge for those systems, we can look for opportunities for technology refresh using developmental technologies across the domain of systems we support. For those systems that are in sustainment, we can incorporate technologies that are in development at a much lower cost and shorter time frame than just maintaining the current configuration through obso- lescence management techniques.


$53.2 MILLION, 354 MONTHS IN COST AND SCHEDULE AVOIDANCE Grouping weapon systems into families at the design stage can help reduce costs by ensuring that reusability is baked into the original product. (SOURCE: ARDEC)


CMMI is another enabler for ARDEC’s Weapons and Software Engineering Center. We became the first DOD organi- zation to receive a Maturity Level (ML) 5 rating in June 2006 and were reappraised at ML5 in CMMI V1.3 for development in May 2013. CMMI in general is about optimizing and improving processes, and Maturity Level 5 specifically is about learning from past performances; we applied this ML 5 principle to reduce the number of defects cropping up later in development, when they require more rework to fix. We leveraged mature code from past projects—code that has already been tested and successful—and optimized “within phase” verification to catch defects early.


ARDEC’s success with reuse and in- house development started with a failure. A project manager (PM) at ARDEC put out a contract for a mortar fire-control system (MFCS), with ARDEC engineers helping out as part of the integrated prod- uct team (IPT). But after the contractor missed multiple milestones and was over budget and behind schedule, the PM ter- minated the contractor for default and handed all of the work to ARDEC.


54


KNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT Two key factors enabled RDECOM’s success with MFCS and other in-house development projects: the domain knowledge built up over years of provid- ing support


to many Army armament


systems (even when a contractor builds a given system, RDECOM engineers might provide assistance as part of the IPT), and Capability Maturity Model


Army AL&T Magazine October-December 2015


As a result, we went from catching only 26 percent of defects in the phase they originated in, to catching 91 percent in the originating phase. Since 2005, ARDEC has fielded every system defect- free; CMMI processes allow us to deliver this quality at lower cost.


CONSISTENT DELIVERY CMMI best practices have enabled sev- eral programs at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, to consistently develop and deliver high- quality products that stay within cost and schedule estimates. Te associated


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