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

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

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

This paper highlights research characterizing the distribution and time impacts of spacecraft discrepancies found at the system level of integration and test. 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.Lean Aerospace Initiativ

Spacecraft system-level integration and test discrepancies : characterizing distributions and costs

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.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.by Annalisa L. Weigel.S.M

Innovation Pathways in Bureaucratic Organizations: A Process Study of Technology Infusion at NASA

This paper uses a longitudinal case study of the infusion of new infrared sensor technology at NASA to illustrate limitations of current conceptual models of the innovation process in large bureaucratic organizations. Based on in-depth interviews with key participants, supplemented by a review of project reports, contract archives, publications and press coverage, the paper constructs a detailed process history of the multi-decade "innovation pathway" taken by the new sensor as it was matured from initial demonstration of the relevant scientific phenomena (conceptualization) through implementation on an earth observation satellite (actualization). This case illustrates that maturity is not always a monotonically increasing attribute of the technology, as assumed in current practice; it also explains how informal mechanisms (e.g., personal relationships) can serve as important enablers of transitions among different phases of the formal technology development process. Implications of these findings are discussed and a strategy for a more targeted follow-on study is outlined

The Global Impact of ITAR on the For-Profit and Non-Profit Space Communities

Under the United States Arms Export Control Act, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) control the export of technologies that are specified as defense articles on the United States Munitions List (USML). The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) within the Department of State (DoS) interprets and enforces these regulations in an effort to safeguard national security by denying advanced military technology to potential competitors

Patterns of Complex Product Innovation in Government Organizations: Insights from NASA

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011This research uses data from six detailed longitudinal process studies of technology infusion at NASA to illustrate limitations of current conceptual models of the innovation process in large bureaucratic organizations. We construct an Epoch-Shock model of the system that better captures the observed dynamics and discuss implications for technology policy.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC

Stitching the Patchwork Quilt: Integrating the Diverse Literatures Relevant to Complex Product Innovation in a Government Monospony

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2009This presentation was part of the session : Roundtables on Organizations of Science and InnovationMIT Center for Aerospace System, Policy and Architecture Research (CASPAR); Cisco System

Bringing policy into space systems conceptual design : qualitative and quantitative methods

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-168).A change in government policy can send waves of crippling impacts through the design and development of publicly funded complex engineering systems. Thus it is important for system architects and designers to understand the interaction of policy with their systems, and to strive for policy robustness in their systems. To be policy robust is to successfully pass through policy changes that might arise during the course of system development in order to bring the system into operational use. The goal of this thesis research is to enable the creation of policy robust system architectures and designs through making policy an active consideration in the engineering systems architecting and design process. Qualitative and quantitative analysis methods are brought to bear on the problem using space systems as the application domain, and a process is set down through which policy can become an active consideration instead of a static constraint. Unique contributions of this thesis in the qualitative analysis of policy robust systems include new heuristics describing the interaction of policy and publicly funded engineering systems, as well as impact flow path diagrams for tracing policy interactions with technical engineering system parameters. Quantitative contributions include general relationships for the behavior of engineering system architecture sets under downward annual budget policy pressure, and the application of real options to measure the value of designing an engineering system to be policy robust to budget policy instabilities. Lastly, this research presents the first comprehensive quantification of U.S. space launch policy economic costs, and contributes relationships for estimating these costs on new space systems.(cont.) The analysis techniques presented in this thesis for assessing and insuring policy robustness can be applied as early as the conceptualization phase of system architecting and design, and the earlier they are applied in the process, the greater the benefits that can be derived. As the architecture and system design solidify, time and opportunities are lost to tailor a system for policy robustness.by Annalisa L. Weigel.Ph.D

Encouraging and Ensuring Successful Technology Transition in Civil Aviation. MIT ESD-WP-2006-07. http://esd.mit.edu/wps/esd-wp-2006-07.pdf MIT (2007). The Story of Mode S: An Air Traffic

Technology transitions are essential to transforming air traffic management to meet future capacity needs. Encouraging and obtaining equipage adoption is one crucial aspect of technology transitions. We propose an approach for developing appropriate strategies to persuade aviation stakeholders to transition to new technologies. Our approach uses cost, benefit, and value distribution across stakeholders and over time to determine which strategies are most appropriate to persuading aircraft operators to adopt new equipage. Equipage that may show an overall positive value can nevertheless fail to provide value to individual stakeholders. Such imbalances in value distribution between stakeholders or over time may lead to stakeholder intransigence and can stymie efforts to transform air traffic management systems. Leverage strategies that correct these imbalances and accelerate the realization of value for all stakeholders can enhance cooperation and increase the likelihood of a successful transition to the new technology. We demonstrate the application of the approach using the case of automatic dependent surveillancebroadcast (ADS-B). The approach is also applicable to a wide range of industries beyond aviation, such as the energy sector and telecommunications