Integrated Product and Process Development Program and Related Training Requirements: Formative Evaluation and Definition for Air Force Laboratory Science and Engineering Personnel

摘要

In recent years, the United States Department of Defense and, by extension, the Air Force have increased their emphasis on considerations of affordability in the weapons development cycle, particularly in the Science and Technology (S&T) phase. To help its members attain a better balance between performance, cost, and risk in their research and development efforts, the Air Force has encouraged the application of Integrated Process and Product Development (IPPD) principles. The approach involved selecting a group of pilot projects at several locations in the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) system and providing a training program, Affordable Technology Through IPPD (AT/IPPD), to key members of those pilot projects. The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) also funded the present effort to provide a formative evaluation of that IPPD training program. The objectives of this research were to gather and analyze data related to the effectiveness of the AT/IPPD training program, determine the extent to which the training participants were able to implement the IPPD procedures in their projects, and identify obstacles to implementation of IPPD in S&T programs.