Description
Organization: NAVSEA, PMS-403, NUWC Division Newport
Team Name: Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS) Project Team
Related Acquisition Topic(s): Acquisition Practices Streamlining, Cycle Time Reduction (CTR), Integrated Digital Environment (IDE), Integrated Product Teams (IPT), Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD), Knowledge Management, Paperless Program Office, Partnering, Performance Specs and Standards
Description:
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport is the lead laboratory for the Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS), a technologically advanced unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) system. Scheduled for delivery in FY03, the LMRS will be used for clandestine minefield reconnaissance and survey by SSN 688 Class and NSSN Class submarines. Consisting of two SSN-launched and recovered autonomous UUVs and necessary support equipment, the LMRS will bring a critical warfighting capability to the fleet that will give our Navy the capability to locate and classify mine-like objects in enemy waters while greatly minimizing risk to our personnel and ships.
The LMRS is scheduled to be the Fleet's first fully organic mine reconnaissance system. For this project, Division Newport created the LMRS Project Team, which reports to the Navy Program Management Office for Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (PMS 403). Following a favorable combined Milestone I/II decision in 1996, this multidisciplinary team was established to provide the core expertise needed to support PMS403 objectives. A major thrust in the team's tasking was to seek out efficiencies by questioning traditional acquisition methods and applying new acquisition strategies.
From the onset, the LMRS Project team drew its talents from a wide spectrum of backgrounds in order to provide technical oversight for three competing contractors during a one-year Preliminary Design Phase. As competing concepts were formulated, the LMRS Project Team provided early technical and cost evaluation to PMS403, and subsequently assisted in the down selection process to two contractors. To streamline the review and evaluation process, all information was provided to the team via one electronic deliverable, thereby making the entire Government-Contractor technical interface process completely paperless.
The team continued its oversight role for the subsequent two-year Detailed Design phase, which concluded on 31 August 1999. Drawing upon its talents in the areas of UUV design, submarine interface, cost accounting, fleet supportability, and test and evaluation, the LMRS Project Team continued the process of supporting Program Office goals while laying the foundation for future program development. Although still a competitive environment where open discussion with contractors was not permitted, this team reinvented its role as technical design agent by becoming an active partner in the execution of the contract without directly influencing either design. Team members compared contractor results against Government-approved models and other projects. Personnel supported contractor risk mitigation testing in several critical areas. This phase culminated in two professionally developed, highly detailed reports that clearly articulated how each contractor design addressed the Navy's desire for a "best blend" of state-of-the-art technical performance with minimum schedule and cost risk.
The results are impressive. The team recognized the need for a streamlined, less expensive, and more efficacious approach throughout the entire planning, design, integration, and testing process. Costs have been reduced, schedules have been compressed, and technical issues are being better served through stronger commitment to personnel empowerment. Significant cost was saved by reducing by 50% the amount of contract deliverable documentation required in more traditional design and development contracts. Electronic submission, "groupware" review tools and collaboration software, and significant cross-pollination of ideas have reduced document review cycle time by >75%. Independent reviews followed by the typical "throw it over the fence" mentality have been replaced by a continual exchange of ideas among cohesive, focused team members. Project team experts determined early the need for key prototype and risk mitigation tests, thus allowing for early risk reduction with resultant long-term cost savings. The team directly influenced industry's application of internal research and development (IRAD) funds to mitigate risks associated with the evolving design of the LMRS. A true sense of program "ownership" was fostered.
At Division Newport, the LMRS team's efforts have served as a benchmark for implementation of innovative contracting and system development processes. As program budget continue to evolve and as technology undergoes rapid advancement, the LMRS team developed a performance-based specification for the LMRS. Preliminary versions of the Navy's Request for Proposal (RFP) were openly discussed with competing contractors to solicit their feedback. Team members determined the best methods of getting a good Fleet product without imposing antiquated or unnecessary specifications and standards.
With the selection of Boeing North America as the contractor that will ultimately fabricate and deliver the LMRS, the program entered its four-year Development Phase with continued emphasis on acquisition streamlining and Government-Contractor partnering. The LMRS Project Team has been kept intact and will now participate in all aspects of system engineering, testing, and logistics support. Open communication allows experts from the Government and Boeing to mesh into one, unified team with a common purpose. Distancing themselves from the traditional contract-monitoring role, LMRS team members will work closely with the contractor to devise more effective solutions to programmatic challenges that tend to extend development times.
To achieve common program goals, the LMRS team will establish and implement a structured array of processes based on the Department of Defense's Acquisition Reform tenets. The LMRS team has and will continue to implement proven integrated product and process development (IPPD) and integrated product team (IPT) concepts to approach development tasks. Joint Government/Contractor IPTs have been cooperatively chartered in the areas of program management, system engineering, test and evaluation, and supportability engineering to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of all parties. These integrated teams are given the authority to determine the most cost-effective processes to reach program goals with minimal upper-management oversight or interference. The majority of decisions are to be made at the lowest appropriate level, thus reducing inefficient review and approval cycles while reducing program cost.
Already at the start of the Development Phase, the team is leveraging off of past successes to make greater "team-oriented" contributions in the future. A focal point to this future effort is the expanded use of the Electronic Information System (EIS). The EIS, a tool used to make information immediately available to team members, will be enhanced through web-based collaborative exchanges, video teleconferencing, and continuous information sharing between all LMRS team members. Team members at NUWC are now working with their counterparts at Boeing, and with other Fleet, laboratory and academic experts throughout the country in the same "virtual facility". In cultivating these relationships, the integrated LMRS team exploits the combined strengths of all organizations.
The LMRS team's determination to bust the paradigm of "business as usual" and to embrace acquisition reform initiatives provides indisputable evidence of outstanding leadership, technical expertise, dedication and commitment to excellence. By completely reinventing the approach to designing and fielding important new military systems, this team attained remarkable achievements in reducing the expenditures and time needed to mature a complex system, and is well suited for the challenges facing it in the future.
