Cost Modeling Interoperability & Integration within the Model-Based Enterprise

Defense acquisition programs have difficulty estimating manufacturing costs during development. This is particularly acute for MDA because their systems use leading edge technologies that push the envelope for performance reasons. In addition, MDA is developing new technologies for spiral upgrades, so the total lifecycle cost for the portfolio of systems must be managed, along with the cost of engineering changes. The cost modeling software integrated with the other business and engineering tools developed under this program will increase the ease of use and speed of estimation, which will allow a wider range of trade-offs to be performed and increase accuracy. Using the interoperability standards and enterprise mash-up technology CostVision is developing along with its partners will lower the total cost of software deployment and maintenance, and ensure that the software will be adaptable to multiple contractors’ legacy and future software infrastructure investments. At the end of Phase II, CostVision will demonstrate at leading MDA manufacturers a prototype cost modeling framework that integrates with the engineering and business software infrastructure, such as manufacturing planning and cost estimating applications. The demonstration will prove the benefits of the approach by showing cost reductions/avoidance on critical MDA programs, and gather important feedback to refine the software for wide-scale implementation in Phase III.