TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) CONTROL CRITERIA APPLIED TO LONG TERM TEST PROGRAMS

THIS PROPOSAL BRINGS TOGETHER, IN A SMALL COMPANY ENVIRONMENT, A COMPREHENSIVE TEAM OF EXPERTS TO DIRECTLY APPLY TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) PRINCIPLES TO TOMAHAWK OPERATIONAL TEST LAUNCH (OTL) PROCESSES. IT PROVIDES FOR STRUCTURING TEST PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE TESTING QUALITY, PROVIDE FOR MORE EFFECTIVE RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND INCREASE TEST PROCESS COST EFFECTIVENESS. WE APPLY STRUCTURED ANALYTICAL MECHANISMS TO DESCRIBE THE CONCEPTUAL TOMAHAWK OPERATIONAL TEST LAUNCH (OTL) PROCESS. SPECIFIC PHASE I SUB-OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ENSURE OUR PROCESS ACCOMMODATES REQUIREMENTS GENERATION AND PRIORITY, SEQUENTIAL EVENTS, EVALUATION OR DECISION POINTS, AND FEEDBACK TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LESSONS LEARNED. SOME TQM TOOLS TO BE APPLIED INCLUDE INPUT/OUTPUT ANALYSIS, AND CONTROL CHARTS. CRITICAL PATHS (AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIPS) IN EXISTING OTL PROCESSES WILL BE INVESTIGATED. A PROCESS-ORIENTED APPROACH ENSURES MARGINAL BENEFIT OF CHANGES IN EACH PROCESS SEGMENT ARE CONSIDERED TO MAXIMIZE OVERALL BENEFITS. INITIAL SELECTION OF EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES FOR TRADE-OFF ANALYSES, NEEDED FOR DETAILED PHASE II MODEL DEVELOPMENT, WILL ALSO BE ADDRESSED. A PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF CANDIDATE MODELS SUCH AS THE IDEF FAMILY AND PETRI-NET MODELS WILL ALSO BE INITIATED; THEREBY REDUCING RISK FOR THE PHASE II EFFORT.