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- Fortune 500 Defense Contracting Company
- Challenge:
- The customer was performing the second system software build on a major development program. Systems engineering had five months to develop approximately 60 use cases of significant size, including formal review of approximate 250 artifacts with all relevant stakeholders. UML visual-based modeling must be performed to support all 60 use cases.
- Solution:
- An agile approach to the software build was developed. Work was creatively scheduled over the five months available, moving as much as possible into collaborative and parallel tasks to save time. Existing tools (DOORS, Rose, ClearCase, ClearQuest) were implemented and new ones created to manage the high volume of work and allow visual representation of the remaining effort to be completed as a function of remaining time available. A formal software review process was created and implemented to include representatives from multiple project areas including systems engineering, software engineering, safety and hazard, human factors, modeling and simulation, configuration management, and others.
- Result:
- Milestone delivery dates were met and all 250 formal artifact reviews were successfully held. The agile development process created and implemented for this effort was the subject of a North American awards competition for this Fortune 500 defense contracting company. The process took second place in the competition and received special recognition as a runner-up for first.
- Fortune 500 Defense Contracting Company
- Challenge:
- The customer is overspent and behind schedule on crucial software builds with a critical program milestone for their completion approaching. If the milestone objectives are not met, there is a strong possibility that the contract will be cancelled for non-performance. The required deliverables are focused on the delivery of system, subsystem, and component-level requirements specifications and traceability. The project was in need of immediate rescue.
- Solution:
- A CMM/CMMI/ISO-compliant agile development process was created and implemented to produce the needed deliverables. Tasks without dependencies were moved from being performed in sequence to being performed in parallel wherever possible. Collaborative development with stakeholders was implemented, with products contributed to jointly by systems engineering, software engineering, safety and hazard, and human factors. DOORS was implemented to capture requirements management and traceability.
- Result:
- Software builds were successfully completed and program milestones met. Agile processes implemented were reused by the project team on following software builds. The newly developed processes and tools were used to support attaining CMM SEI Level 5 rankings. Recognition for achievements was provided at the division-level and in the company's annual report.
- Fortune 500 Defense Contracting Company
- Challenge:
- The customer had implemented a fractured and inefficient engineering development approach on a major program. Groups on the project team were generating products that were not used by other team members. While products may have met individual team goals, they did not contribute to improving the overall project. In addition, some products were redundant due to ill-defined group charters. The inefficiencies had contributed to the lack of a cohesive development approach, higher costs, and reduced remaining schedule time.
- Solution:
- A single engineering development process was defined for the project. Groups impacted included systems engineering, software engineering, safety and hazard, human factors, modeling and simulation, configuration management, hardware design, interface control, and others. All handoffs were defined for project internal and external customers. Handoff content was developed with customers, and included outputs from models and tools such as DOORS, Rose, ClearCase, and ClearQuest.
- Result:
- Definitive group charters were established with products and handoffs between groups identified. Artifacts that did not contribute to the project objectives were eliminated, including those that were not meaningful or were redundant. Project meetings were held to ensure team members understood the updated group charters and product content they were expected to produce in a larger program context.
- Fortune 500 Defense Contracting Company
- Challenge:
- Develop a specification for an airborne fire control system. The client was a subcontractor on an advanced rotary-wing aircraft who was responsible for developing a system for day/night navigation and fire control. The client's customer had provided a system-level specification which required analysis and decomposition to develop the configuration-item specification.
- Solution:
- The system specification was imported into DOORS, the requirements were partitioned into performance and environmental sections, and the requirements specific to the fire control system were determined. Requirement and link modules for the client's configuration items were developed and delivered, and detailed specifications sent out with for bid by the client's vendor base.
- Result:
- The configuration item specs were produced under a very aggressive schedule and met or exceeded the client's expectations. The client was able to show traceability from customer specification all the way to detail drawings and manage performance and environmental verification from their DOORS database.
- Fortune 500 Defense Contracting Company
- Challenge:
- Develop a Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF)-compliant Unified Modeling Language (UML) representation of an automated ammunition handling and fire control system. The client was under contract to develop an automated fire control system capable of handling multiple ammunition types and interfacing with a distributed electronic command and control system. Customer requirements included DODAF-compliant system architecture modeling.
- Solution:
- An integrated plan to meet the client's aggressive delivery schedule (six-month effort, start-to-finish) was developed. Processes and procedures to create the necessary model artifacts as well as procedures were developed to obtain stake-holder input and review the end product. A UML model was developed containing 75 use cases and approximately 2,500 individual requirements. Interfaces with subsystem integrated product development teams (IPTs) were negotiated in support of integration with the vehicle chassis.
- Result:
- The system model was completed well within the client's schedule window. The client surpassed customer expectations, becoming the model subsystem within the development effort. The delivered model provided the following benefits:
- A clear and concise method to determine sequencing and concurrency.
- Precise representations of the subsystem's interfaces with external subsystems.
- Representation of all hardware/software interactions.
- A visual mechanism to identify problems and inconsistencies within the requirement set.
- A simplified mechanism to trace developed requirements from the customer's requirements and documentation sources
- Fortune 500 Commercial Aircraft Navigation Systems Manufacturer
- Challenge:
- Develop the requirements specification and software for incorporating a Secondary Airdata Attitude Reference Unit (SAARU) capability for the Boeing Corporations 777 aircraft.
- Solution:
- Requirements were developed concurrently by systems engineering, software engineering, and software verification disciplines. Requirements traceability was inherent to this effort. Software was developed tested and delivered on time to the customer.
- Result:
- The results were very successful the product was delivered to the customer on time, tested well, and improved the company's position for more business from the Boeing Corporation.
