Program Management:

Dedicated Program Organization

Curtiss Wright Controls Defense Solutions is a program-centric organization. A complete set of management tools are employed to provide the necessary visibility into all areas of technical scope, schedule and budget to ensure program success. These tools include:

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
• Work Authorization
• Earned Value Management System (EVMS)
• Requirements Management
• Technical Performance Measurement
• Change Management
• Risk Management
• Data Management

Every program is assigned a Program Manager who is responsible for program performance. In all cases, the Program Manager has direct access to the highest levels of company management including the General Manager. The Program Manager acts as the focal point for interface with the customer and facilitates team communication.

Our responsive organizational structure provides for close management of all project activities and agile decision making. This allows us to react quickly to changes or problems and ensures that upper management is fully aware of key project activities. This is accomplished through both informal and formal processes. Our team approach ensures that project team members not only have full authority to accomplish their tasks but also interact with senior company management on a daily basis. This provides a level of communications and visibility that is not found in larger organizations. Additionally, it enables the team members to leverage the wealth of technical and business experience of our senior managers.

Integrated Master Plans/Schedules

The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) is an event-driven plan that describes the Events, Significant Accomplishments, and Accomplishment criteria needed to complete the tasks described in the Contract Work Breakdown Structure (CWBS) dictionary, the Request for Proposal (RFP), and the Statement of Work (SOW) for a particular program. Each accomplishment in the IMP is tied to a key program event.

Typical program events are:

1. Kickoff Meeting
2. System Requirements Review (SRR)
3. Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
4. Critical Design Review (CDR)
5. Engineering Development Hardware Deliveries
6. Production Hardware Deliveries

Each defined event represents the initiation or conclusion of an interval of major program activity. These events are also major decision-points in assessing the maturity of the product development and have specific accomplishments that must be achieved. The events defined cover the entire program, from contract award to final hardware acceptance and delivery.

The Program team develops an Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) which shows all of the detailed tasks required to execute the project. The IMS is tied to the SOW, WBS and IMP.

Unlike the event-based IMP, the time-based IMS uses a detailed schedule to demonstrate how work efforts will support tasks and events. The IMS is produced based on the IMP. In conjunction with the IMP, the IMS further helps the Program Manager understand the links and interrelationships among the various tasks and teams. Critical path analysis is performed on a monthly basis as part of the program management process. The IMS captures all of the baseline scope of work.

All tasks within the IMS are allocated to a specific Control Account Manager (CAM) or Technical Lead, who has full responsibility, authority and accountability for completion. CAMs and Team Leads are assigned to the Program and ensure adequate resources have been assigned to the teams, to ensure schedule performance.

Integral Risk Management

We have developed a systematic approach to risk management. This approach reflects standard industry practices and is overseen by the Program Manager. Risks and opportunities are rated based on their likelihood of occurrence and their potential impact. An “owner” is assigned to each assumption, risk and opportunity. This individual has singular responsibility for the validation, retirement or capture of his or her assigned risk or opportunity. Risk Mitigation Plans and Opportunity Capture Plans are developed for each risk and opportunity classified as medium or higher. The Risk Management Register (Assumptions, Risks and Opportunities) is maintained through the life of the program and is presented at all major project reviews and Technical Interface Meetings.

The status of the risk management activities is assessed at all internal program review meetings and external customer review meetings. Any significant variance from the last review is scrutinized for cause, with corrective actions being applied as needed. Customers are informed in real-time of changes to risk status, with formal reports submitted as required by contract.

Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS)

The Curtiss-Wright Controls Earned Value Management System (EVMS) meets the intent of the Industry Guidelines for Earned Value Management Systems ANSI/EIA-748-98. The EVMS system uses the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) as its foundation. The IMP provides the integration of SOW tasking, traceable to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), identifying the programs Accomplishment Criteria to the program’s Significant Accomplishments required to meet the program Significant Events.

The IMS provides all tasks (in WBS form) time-phased and resource-loaded. The schedule is electronically integrated with our costing tool, MPM, and yields the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).

With the establishment of this project baseline, the earned value (EV) method for each work package is established. Budgets are time-phased by task and by department with applicable earned value methods for each work package rolling up to Control Accounts, and then rolling to reporting elements in the Financial Report. A Control Account Manager (CAM) will be assigned at each Control Account level to ensure cost and schedule compliance. Microsoft Project is then utilized to update the IMS on a weekly basis with captured performance data. The use of EVMS provides for improved insight into the relationship between technical scope, cost and schedule performance and early warnings of potential issues.

The EVMS tool also allows management thresholds to be established, to easily bring visibility to significant changes or trends in performance. This in turn allows the Electronic Systems team to identify variances quickly and implement corrective actions, and maintain focus on cost and schedule performance.

On a weekly basis, each CAM provides updates to the IMS including percent complete and expected start and completion dates by task. Cost and schedule reporting is performed in compliance with the contractual SOW and SDRL requirements. Weekly reporting includes updates to planned effort (Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled - BCWS), effort performed (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed - (BCWP), and actual expenditures (Actual Cost of Work Performed - ACWP), as well as information for internal labor and major subcontractors. Our EVMS tool supports all the standard cost reporting format reports. EVMS reporting provides Cost and Schedule Performance Indices (CPI/SPI) as well as cost and schedule variance reports which illustrate performance variances for both the current reporting period, as well as the program cumulative to date.