Download or read book Military Airframe Costs written by Obaid Younossi and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2001 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, a number of attempts have been made to estimate the cost of future weapon systems toward the goal of optimizing acquisition policy. This report focuses specifically on the effects of material mix, manufacturing techniques, and geometric part complexity on the cost of military airframes. It begins by offering background information on those materials that are most critical to airframe manufacture and on the relative advantages of both traditional and evolving part fabrication techniques. It then proceeds to a quantitative analysis of the cost implications of various materials and manufacturing techniques on airframe production, drawing both from an industry survey and from analysis of industry data. The data thus derived are then integrated with those of a comprehensive historical database. The report concludes that composites, while offering a number of advantages over metals in airframe manufacture, are generally associated with higher costs across a range of categories. At the same time, it concludes that while new manufacturing technologies hold the potential to diminish airframe manufacturing costs, the increased airframe complexity of future fighter aircraft may well offset this advantage. The report recommends that cost analysts remain abreast of changes in industry practice so that they may more accurately gauge the potential effects of such changes on future airframe costs.
Download or read book Military Airframe Costs The Effects of Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Processes written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Good cost estimates can make important contributions to effective acquisition policy. RAND has a long history of producing cost-estimating methodologies. Two of its more recent studies are Hess and Romanoff (1987) and Resetar, Rogers, and Hess (1991). This report both updates and extends these earlier studies, focusing on the effects of material mix, manufacturing technique, and part geometric complexity on cost. We collected two types of information on these effects. First, we surveyed the military airframe industry for estimates of how aircraft production costs vary with airframe structure material mix. Second, we analyzed a large set of actual part data from recent aircraft manufacturing efforts that we collected from industry. We also estimated a set of airframe relationships (CERs) for labor hours based on MACDAR, a historical airframe database. We then integrated the effects of material mix into these estimates.
Download or read book Freightliner Progress written by and published by . This book was released on 196? with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Military Airframe Acquisition Costs written by Cynthia R. Cook and published by Minnesota Historical Society. This book was released on 2001 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the past couple of decades, many segments of U.S. industry have benefited from introducing new manufacturing techniques that save money by increasing efficiency and reducing overhead. Would U.S. military aircraft manufacturing benefit from these techniques as well? This report examines the package of new tools and techniques known as lean production to see if it would enable aircraft manufacturers to produce new weapon systems at costs below those predicted by historical cost estimating models. The authors give a broad overview of what lean is and what it can and cannot accomplish in cutting manufacturing costs. They also detail results of industry efforts in this regard, including specific examples and averages of claimed cost savings. The authors conclude by identifying areas where companies need to push harder in lean implementation and what the Defense Department can do to encourage this.
Download or read book The Effects of Advanced Materials on Airframe Operating and Support Costs written by Raj Raman and published by RAND Corporation. This book was released on 2003 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a methodology for forecasting operating and support costs for airframe parts made form advanced materials versus parts made from aluminum.
Download or read book Military Airframe Acquisition Costs The Effects of Lean Manufacturing written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is part of a project responding to a call by the U.S. Air Force to update cost estimating methodologies for new weapons systems-in particular, fighter aircraft. The Air Force was concerned that Cost Estimating Relationships (CERs) based on older aircraft did not adequately reflect the acquisition and manufacturing environment within which a new fighter, such as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) would be produced. This report is one of a series, all of which address some aspect of how to incorporate the new DoD acquisition and manufacturing environments into historical cost estimating relationships or methodologies (See Younossi, Graser, and Kennedy, 2001; Lorell and Graser, 2001). Using the CER methodology for example, the cost of a future aircraft is estimated as a function of its physical or characteristics or other program variables, using a series of equations wherein the performance and program variables are inputs, and cost or labor hours are the outputs. To create these equations, actual costs (or labor hours) to produce previous aircraft are collected and used as the dependent variables in statistical regression analysis. Explanatory variables typically include such factors as cumulative production quantity, annual production rate, such aircraft characteristics as weight and speed, and others. The resulting equations are referred to as "cost estimating relationships," or CERs. Obviously, the ability of these equations to forecast future systems costs hinges on how well past performance is a predictor of the future.
Download or read book The Effects of Advanced Materials on Airframe Operating and Support Costs written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advanced materials particularly polymer composites and titanium are increasingly being used in the airframes of high-performance military aircraft. With that in mind, this study concentrates on answering a fundamental question: Do advanced airframe materials cost more to maintain than aluminum, which has historically been the most common material used in airframe structures? Although considerable effort has been devoted to understanding the acquisition costs of advanced materials, very little is known about their operating and support (O & S) costs after an aircraft is fielded and fully operational. In an effort to gain a better understanding of advanced-material O & S costs, we produced a methodology for forecasting those costs, which we present in this documented briefing.
Download or read book Historical Cost Growth of Completed Weapon System Programs written by Mark V. Arena and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2006 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is one of a series from a RAND Project AIR FORCE project, "The Cost of Future Military Aircraft: Historical Cost Estimating Relationships and Cost Reduction Initiatives." The purpose of the project is to improve the tools used to estimate the costs of future weapon systems. It focuses on how recent technical, management, and government policy changes affect cost. This report focuses on the accuracy of cost estimates. For our analysis, we used a very specific sample of Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) data, namely only programs that are complete or are nearly so. The analysis indicates a systematic bias toward underestimating the costs and substantial uncertainty in estimating the final cost of a weapon system. In contrast to the previous literature, the cost growth was higher than previously observed. We also found few correlations with cost growth, but observed that programs with longer duration had greater cost growth and electronics programs tended to have lower cost growth. Although there were some differences in the mean cost growth factors among the military departments, the differences were not statistically significant. While newer programs appear to have lower cost growth, this trend appears to be due to factors other than acquisition policies.
Download or read book Sources of Weapon System Cost Growth written by Joseph G. Bolten and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2008-06-19 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This analysis uses data from Selected Acquisition Reports to determine the causes of cost growth in 35 mature major defense acquisition programs. Four major sources of growth are identified: (1) errors in estimation and scheduling, (2) decisions by the government, (3) financial matters, and (4) miscellaneous. The analysis shows that more than two-thirds of cost growth (measured as simple averages) is caused by decisions, most of which involve quantity changes, requirements growth, and schedule changes.
Download or read book Evolutionary Acquisition written by Mark A. Lorell and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2006 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "So far, EA implementation of military space programs has produced mixed results. The capabilities and requirements definition and management processes are major challenges in all EA programs. EA programs require an evolutionary costing approach; most cost analysts interviewed expressed generally positive views about EA."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Impossible Certainty written by and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2006 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is one of a series from a RAND Project AIR FORCE project, "The Cost of Future Military Aircraft: Historical Cost Estimating Relationships and Cost Reduction Initiatives."
Download or read book Titanium written by Somi Seong and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2009 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 2003 and 2006, the price of titanium more than doubled. The authors attempt to answer four primary questions: What triggered this price surge? What are titanium's future market prospects and emerging technologies? What are the implications for the production cost of future military airframes? How might the Department of Defense mitigate the economic risks involved in the titanium market?
Download or read book Proceedings of the 13th World Conference on Titanium written by Vasisht Venkatesh and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 2004 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the Proceedings of the 13th World Conference on Titanium.
Download or read book Software Cost Estimation and Sizing Methods written by Shari Lawrence Pfleeger and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2005 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recommends an approach to improving the utility and accuracy of software cost estimates by exposing uncertainty (in understanding the project) and reducing the risks associated with developing the estimates. The approach focuses on characteristics of the estimation process (such as which methods and models are most appropriate for a given situation) and the nature of the data used (such as software size), describing symptoms and warning signs of risk in each factor, and risk-mitigation strategies.
Download or read book Systems Engineering and Program Management written by David E. Stem and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2006 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systems engineering and program management (SE/PM) constitute a large portion of the acquisition cost of military aircraft and guided weapons systems. The goal of this study was the development of a set of cost-estimating relationships that can be used to estimate the SE/PM cost element for development and production of aircraft and weapons programs. The authors canvassed government and industry personnel to learn about current techniques for estimating SE/PM costs, and they collected historical data from several aircraft and weapons programs to investigate trends in SE/PM costs over time and to generate methods that cost analysts can use early in the life cycle of a program when little cost information is available. The authors also investigated the effects on SE/PM costs from acquisition reform, including the reduction in the number of military specifications and standards, the use of integrated product and process teams, and the trend toward "evolutionary acquisition." This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. Book jacket.
Download or read book Air Force Journal of Logistics written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Is Weapon System Cost Growth Increasing written by Obaid Younossi and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2007 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, there have been numerous attempts to rein in the cost growth of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition programs. Cost growth is the ratio of the cost estimate reported in a program's final Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) and the cost-estimate baseline reported in a prior SAR issued at a particular milestone. Drawing on prior RAND research, new analyses of completed and ongoing weapon system programs, and data drawn from SARs, this study addresses the following questions: What is the cost growth of DoD weapon systems? What has been the trend of cost growth over the past three decades? To address the magnitude of cost growth, it examines cost growth in completed programs; to evaluate the cost growth trend over time, it provides additional analysis of a selection of ongoing programs. This sample of ongoing programs permits a look at growth trends in the more recent past. Changes in the mix of system types over time and dollar-weighted analysis were also considered because earlier studies have suggested that cost growth varies by program type and the cost of the program. The findings suggest that development cost growth over the past three decades has remained high and without any significant improvement.
