2 System Design to Affordability in a Collaborative Systems Engineering Environment

Abstract

AbstractThe Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) concept requires establishing aggressive but realistic total system ownership cost objectives and goals very early during system development. A balanced set of goals are identified through cost, schedule, and performance tradeoffs and the management of associated risk. Subsequently, these ownership cost objectives guide the strategic system architecture, design and technology decisions.The relationships and dependencies between different design views, schedules, and correlating infrastructure need to be rationalized in estimating the system cost of ownership. Furthermore, this has to be done within an environment of continuous flux. This becomes even more of a challenge in a Commercial‐Off‐The‐Shelf (COTS)‐intensive open system environment, with development, production, and system supportability being executed concurrently. The team can exploit a number of synergies that result from such a scenario. However, a prerequisite is the ability and infrastructure for timely and reliable information exchange between the disciplines contributing to design decisions. Effective execution of the CAIV methodology is dependent upon strong integration of multi‐disciplinary processes, methods, information and domain specific toolsets.This paper describes an initiative to integrate a CAIV methodology for COTS‐intensive combat systems engineering into a collaborative systems engineering environment. A pilot effort to implement a common information model within a COTS Product Data Management (PDM) system, CAIV processes, and engineering tools supporting the execution of COTS‐based combat systems design is described. Future extensions to the information model, the systems engineering processes, and the collaborative engineering environment supporting combat systems design, development, and life cycle engineering activities are presented.