Product Maturity Levels (PMLs)-New Tools for Quality Management of General Space Products

摘要

To support Quality Management (QM) and Quality Assurance (QA) of general space products, Product Maturity theory is created, which includes Product Maturity Levels (PMLs) and Product Maturity Assessments (PMAs). Product Maturity theory can extend the objects of maturity assessments from technologies to products. Furthermore, consensus of space product quality would be established by PMLs between customers and project managers. PMLs are defined to eight levels based on Chinese space general products' development phases. PMAs cover risk points of product development process, including three main areas-product designs, manufacturing and application-supporting. The PMLs and PMAs can be used to evaluate the quality of the space product before milestones, to support decision-making and investment tragedy-making.