Study of the Relationship between Initial Production Test Articles Used in aSystem Development Program and the Success of That Program

摘要

The research effort has as its prinicipal objective, the collection of data todetermine if there is a relationship between the number of Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) test articles used and the managerial success of that program within the EMD phase of a major system acquisition. Managerial success is largely measured in terms of a low schedule overrun during EMD. The research approach taken also gathered other aquisition related data discussed herein. This allowed comment on the current track record of Department of Defense (DoD) cost and schedule overruns during EMD, and some interesting data on six other variables that could affect program success. The conclusion is that there is a positive correlation between the number of test articles and program success. However, these conclusions may have been impacted by the nuances of the DoD Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) process and the basic design of the study.