INTEGRATING SET-BASED DESIGN INTO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS SYSTEM TO INFORM PROGRAMMATIC DECISIONS

摘要

Over the years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has implemented several significant modifications to its acquisition process with the goal of producing timely and cost-effective systems. These changes, however, have done little to curb major design problems, delays and cost overruns to programs. Many DoD acquisition programs use Point-Based Design (PBD) approaches in system development, frequently resulting in premature design decisions resulting in subsequent schedule delays, and cost overruns. Delays and increased costs are a result of the time-consuming activities undertaken to fix the selected PBD solution prior to the resolution of key technology and budget uncertainties. Set-Based Design (SBD) is a concurrent system design and analysis alternative to PBD, which systematically resolves program uncertainties early in the design phase, potentially reducing the need for costly and inefficient redesign activities. In application. SBD concurrently evaluates multiple system and sub-system design concepts, while simultaneously resolving requirements and design uncertainties. Commercial manufacturing and defense related industries have successfully employed SBD in product development (PD). This success suggests that a DoD feasibility and integration assessment of an SBD process for PD of a large-scale DoD acquisition programs is required. This research reviews current DoD acquisition processes, provides a strategic framework for SBD integration into these processes, and identifies critical integration challenges for future research. This paper concludes that integration of SBD into major DoD acquisition processes is both feasible and economical, as well as a credible and defensible methodology for making complex design decisions under uncertainty.