https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80739 2026-04-12T12:22:21Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83630 PDSAT – A New Product Development Self-Assessment Tool Knoblinger, Christoph The successful execution of complex PD projects still poses major challenges for companies. One approach companies can use to improve their performance is self-assessment to optimize their organization and processes. This thesis summarizes the current literature on PD-related self-assessment tools and derives tool requirements from an industry focus group (US aerospace and defense industry) as well as from interviews at a major American defense contractor. A gap analysis comparing these requirements to the previously identified tools is performed. The thesis concludes with the presentation of a new holistic self-assessment framework to be used in PD organizations. The framework includes a self-assessment questionnaire with 91 metrics, a formalized 9-step implementation process, tool customization guidelines, and mappings between the structure of the questionnaire and relevant process improvement approaches such as CMMI, Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award, Lean Management, and Six Sigma. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82902 A simulation-based concurrent engineering approach for assembly system design Sweitzer, Timothy J. (Timothy James), 1972- Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82706 Institutionalizing change in aerospace process and product settings Kassin Deardorff, Sandra Jo, 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 138-139). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82705 The integrated concurrent enterprise Stagney, David B. (David Broderick), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-180). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82704 Product development strategies in evolutionary acquisition Ferdowsi, Bobak, 1979- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-196). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82703 Tools for evolutionary acquisition : a study of Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) applied to the Space Based Radar (SBR) Spaulding, Timothy J. (Timothy James), 1979- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Statement of responsibility on t.p. reads: 2nd Lieutenant Timothy J. Spaulding, USAF.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-142). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82702 Multi-attribute tradespace exploration and its application to evolutionary acquisition Derleth, Jason Edward, 1970- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 144). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82701 A lean transformation in low volume space manufacturing Sise, Lincoln J. (Lincoln James), 1974- Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, Thesis (S.M. in Ocean Systems Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Dept. of Ocean Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "June 2003."; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82700 Lean enterprise integration : a new framework for small businesses Seitz, Thomas A. (Thomas Anthony), 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-199). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82699 High-mix, low-volume lean manufacturing implementation and lot size optimization at an aerospace OEM Rheaume, Jonathan M. (Jonathan Michael), 1972- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-103). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82698 Improving the management of system development to produce more affordable military avionics systems Tondreault, Jeremy P. (Jeremy Peter), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "February 2003."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-127). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82696 Fostering innovation across aerospace supplier networks Kirtley, Aaron L. (Aaron Lloyd), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "June 2002." Page 187 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-184). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82695 System dynamics modeling for the exploration of manpower project staffing decisions in the context of a multi-project enterprise Herweg, Gregory M. (Gregory Michael), 1965-; Pilon, Karl E. 1962- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-298). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82694 Do modern tools utilized in the design and development of modern aircraft counteract the impact of lost intellectual capital within the aerospace industry Andrew, W. Geoffery (William Geoffrey), 1957- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82693 Utilization of dependency structure matrix analysis to assess implementation of NASA's complex technical projects Brady, Timothy Kevin, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82692 Multiple commodities optimization of lean technology infusion for automobile manufacturer Chou, Shui-Fang, 1956- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references. 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82691 A system engineering approach for implementation of a corporate growth strategy Mullooly, John F. (John Francis), 1963- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82690 A partitioning methodology for helicopter avionics system with a focus on life cycle cost Silva, Leon M. (Leon Manuel), 1968- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 111). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82689 Lean principles implementation in the program preparation phase Douglas, Freddie, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82688 Analysis and design of closed loop manufacturing systems Werner, Loren M. (Loren Michael), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82687 The e-World as an enabler to learn Mahoué, Frédéric, 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-132). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82686 Design and analysis of an enterprise metrics system Nicol, Robert A. (Robert Arthur), 1969- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82685 Manufacturing initiatives in a decentralised company Kennedy, Laura (Laura Lynn), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-53). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82684 Space launch operations and capacity modeling : a system dynamics methodology for advanced analysis of the U.S. eastern range Steare, David H. W., 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-128). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82683 Helicopter configuration optimization Sadownick, Ronald, 1960- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 102). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82682 The application of system engineering methodologies in support of the lean enterprise transformation Cocuzzo, David L. (David Lenard), 1959-; Millard, Brian W. 1962- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-111). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82681 Organizational characteristics for successful product line engineering Beckert, Michelle T., 1969- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82680 Lean aerospace initiative electronic sector study Roman, Marco Antonio, 1971- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 75). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82679 The impact of leadership on systematic organizational change Tonaszuck, David M. (David Michael), 1966- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82678 A scheduling policy experiment for lean implementation Deshpande, Sawan P. (Sawan Prashant), 1975- Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-184). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82677 Strategic technology investment decisions in research & development Lackner, David I. (David Isaac), 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-105). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82676 Building information systems to integrate the manufacturing supply chain Antonelli, Michelle M. (Michelle Marie), 1972- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-122). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82675 Design methods in the aerospace industry : looking for evidence of set-based practices Bernstein, Joshua I. (Joshua Ian), 1974- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-211). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82674 Open book management goes beyond the bottom line Charles Colleen K. (Colleen Kay); Negron, Angela Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82673 Cultural analysis case study : implementaiton of acquisition reform within the Department of Defense Doane, Donna R. (Donna Reed); Spencer, Susan D Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-103). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82672 Implementing a team-based organization in a unionized manufacturing company to improve operating efficiency Thomson, Paul Michael Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-117). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82671 Self-directed work teams at an aerospace company Sorenson, Eric C. (Eric Christopher) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79). 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82670 Self-directed work teams at Texas Instruments Defense Systems & Electronics Group Rosson, Richard D. (Richard Douglas) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 83). 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82231 Valuation techniques for complex space systems : an analysis of a potential satellite servicing market McVey, Michelle E. (Michelle Elizabeth), 1977- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-161). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82217 Value creation in the product development process Chase, James P. (James Patrick), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, February 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-110). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82209 An analysis method for conceptual design of complexity and autonomy in complex space system architectures Wood, Brandon C. (Brandon Charles), 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82208 Analyzing the Boeing 777 link the flow process for value stream flow reduction against the Lean Aerospace Initiative's enterprise level roadmap Wilhelmi, Julie Lynn, 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 67). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82196 Managing subsystem commonality Nuffort, Matthew R. (Matthew Richard), 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, February, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-209). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81770 The Lean Innovation Roadmap - A Systematic Approach to Introducing Lean in Product Development Processes and Establishing a Learning Organization Hoppmann, Joern The application of Lean principles in the field of product development is the subject of a growing number of publications. In the past, significant efforts have been undertaken to identify and describe the practices of a Lean Product Development (Lean PD) system. The important question of how these elements of Lean PD can be implemented in a company, however, remains underinvestigated. The thesis at hand examines the process of implementing Lean PD and gives recommendations for a successful introduction of Lean principles in product development. Following a systematic approach, at the beginning of this work the basics of Lean Thinking and product development systems are reviewed. Existing approaches to Lean PD in literature are discussed. Building upon this, a novel and coherent definition of a Lean PD system, consisting of eleven distinct Lean PD components, is derived. The components of Lean PD are described in detail and investigated with regard to their interdependencies. The findings of this analysis serve as a basis to derive five major hypotheses on the efficient introduction of Lean PD. 2009-06-26T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81766 Specification Risk Analysis: Avoiding Product Performance Deviations through an FMEA-Based Method Wagner, Claudia This thesis investigates the potential application of the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) as a method that facilitates risk management for product architectures. The process described by Pahl & Beitz and the Munich Procedural Model form the guiding frameworks to describe the process of product development in this thesis. Additionally, the perspective of Lean Product Development is taken into account. 2007-05-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81762 Approaches To Crisis Prevention In Lean Product Development By High Performance Teams And Through Risk Management Oehmen, Josef This thesis investigates crisis prevention in lean product development, focusing on high performance teams and risk management methods. Lean product development and the Munich Procedural Model (MPM) are the guiding frameworks for this thesis. From the MPM, team work and risk management are derived as important elements in crisis prevention, from lean product development, especially the notion of value is used to define basic types of crisis in product development and the failure modes of risks in product development. 2005-09-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81562 A framework for a strategy driven manufacturing system design in an aerospace environment : design beyond factory floor Fernandes, Pradeep, 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-135). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81561 Characterization of operator-reported discrepancies in unmanned on-orbit space systems Ferris, David L. (David Lee), 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-80). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81429 Lean Product Development: Making Waste Transparent Bauch, Christoph Lean manufacturing developed by Toyota is a production philosophy that focuses on streamlining of value added activities and eliminating waste within the process with the goal to better meet customer demand. It constitutes a production system that enables highest quality at minimal costs and reduced lead times. The reason for the high performance of the Toyota Production System (TPS) can primarily be seen in the underlying principles, rules and tools established, and how those work together. It is supposed that lean principles like focusing on value, eliminating waste, making processes flow, and continuous improvement facilitated by high levels of transparency, also apply to product development in anticipation of the same positive impacts known from manufacturing. This may not be that easy since product development is different from manufacturing. 2004-01-15T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81428 Information and Communication in Lean Product Development Graebsch, Martin In this thesis, the implications and influences that information and communication impose on lean product development in general, as well as the development of a lean Product Development Value Stream Display (lean PDVSD) in specific, are discussed theoretically, studied and analyzed. First, the concepts of information and communication are discussed theoretically from a lean perspective. Definitions are provided and aspects of importance to lean processes are deduced. Furthermore, requirements for an envisioned lean PDVSD are gathered systematically. Existing Value Stream Mapping tools are introduced and shortly discussed, and the current development of the envisioned lean PDVSD is briefly reported. A preliminary, paper-based version is provided. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81054 Stakeholder salience influence on bureaucratic program enterprise value creation Matty, Douglas Matthew In 2009, the Government Accountability Office reported that two-thirds of major weapon systems acquisition programs were required to report budget overruns and were almost two years behind schedule for delivery of capability to the warfighters. The Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States asked the same question: "How do we fix DOD acquisition?" The Acquisition system has been studied nearly continuously for more than forty years. Applying traditional system engineering methods have not improved performance, but developed a highly-complex bureaucracy that is viewed as inflexible, unscalable, unreliable, and (recently) unsustainable. With this seemingly intractable challenge, this work uses the synergy of integrating approaches based on engineering, management, and social sciences to develop a new framework to help understand the policy resistance of many previous unsuccessful initiatives. This research seeks to develop a dynamic enterprise engineering system framework using case study methodology to integrate three widely adopted but disparate frameworks by evaluating the influence relationships. Informed by the enterprise architecture, this new framework seeks to incorporate stakeholder salience and its dynamic influence on value creation as an endogenous factor in the context of the bureaucratic program enterprise of DOD acquisition. This work not only proposes an intermediate level theory but also provides insights for policy implications. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, February 2011.; "September 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references. 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80635 The effective use of process capability databases for design Tata, Melissa M., 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-166). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80615 The cost and cycle time implications of selected contractor and Air Force system program office management policies during the development phase of a major aircraft acquisition programs Morgan, Séan (Séan Padraig), 1961- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program; and (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80044 Design and analysis of production systems in aircraft assembly Wang, Andrew, 1973- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-128). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/79451 The informational content of new security issues. Elkus, William Steven Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1973. M.S.; MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY.; Bibliography: leaves 144-146. 1973-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73398 A network planning process and inventory strategy for high-mix low-volume markets Smith, Sally A. (Sally Amanda) From June to December 2011, the impact of rapid international expansion on the Global Supply Chain organization at Amgen - one of the world's leading human therapeutics companies in the biotechnology industry - was investigated and a strategy was developed to mitigate the major challenges associated with globalization. Amgen is transitioning from predominantly high-volume low-mix manufacturing and a "one size fits all" Operations mentality; the company is challenged to not only now effectively and efficiently accommodate high-mix low-volume markets, but to also increase its overall market responsiveness and flexibility. To mitigate the challenges, an end-to-end depiction of a specific product's supply chain was developed and an inventory supermarket strategy supported by an Excel macro was developed. We believe the strategy mitigates the challenges, specifically by decreasing manufacturing lead time, buffering against supply chain variability, improving demand signaling and sustaining on-time deliveries. The Excel macro described in this thesis serves as a stepping-stone for the development of a future, more sustainable solution for Amgen's enterprise-wide systems. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73384 Optimization of SKU creation process and adherence improvement through use of workflow management Gimlin, Richard James Over the past several years and into the foreseeable future, Amgen has been experiencing substantial SKU/DFU proliferation. Formerly, Amgen focused primarily on the North American and other developed markets (low to medium mix, high to medium volumes). However more recently, expansion into "emerging markets" has been a focus (high mix, low volumes). Consequently, the complexity of Amgen's product portfolio has substantially increased. Most of the international expansion efforts take place at the Breda packaging facility in the Netherlands (ABR). Here the International Operations team manages SKU launches, SKU refreshes (life cycle management) and SKU rationalization for European, Australian and Emerging Markets. Currently the International Operations Leads manually manage product launches using a combination of Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Project, along with various other tools and databases. All tools and processes used are manual or semi-manual, labor intensive and prone to error. The goal of this project was to begin streamlining these processes through the implementation of a Workflow Management Tool. Specifically, a proof of concept for the planning portion of the SKU creation process was the focus. The work studied here resulted in four outputs: 1. Detailed process map for the planning phase of the SKU creation process 2. URS document for Block 1 of workflow tool and draft documents for Block 2 and Block 3 3. Draft Commit-to-Launch process and associated checklist 4. Near and longer term plan for workflow tool implementation Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 46). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72970 Architecting the Future Enterprise : a framework for supporting decision making in the selection of future states Raby, Matias A. (Matias Andres) Enterprises that are successful over the long term are compelled to continuously transform in order to adapt to new contexts or economic environments. However, many of these transformation efforts fail to achieve their desired objectives. MIT Professors Nightingale and Rhodes have been developing an integrative approach that uses Enterprise Architecting as an instrument to support the planning of successful transformation. Although the approach has shown to be useful to guide transformations in various domains, feedback from previous users indicated the need for a more prescriptive and quantitative guidance in the process of moving an enterprise from the 'As-Is' to the desired 'To-Be' state. This thesis introduces a framework that provides a structure of reasoning about the process of architecting the future state of an enterprise in the context of a transformation. The 'Architecting the Future Enterprise' (AFE) Framework is an iterative method that incorporates a systems thinking approach to design future states and a multidimensional evaluation process that compares competing architectures in terms of effectiveness, effort and risk. It enables the generation of an output in the form of an Architecture Tradeoffs Matrix, a quantitative visual representation to assess tradeoffs among competing architectures. A case study is included to illustrate a real application of the AFE Framework. The implications of this research span across two areas. First, it aims to formalize enterprise transformation planning policies by providing practitioners a structure for reasoning that can help to minimize decision making errors. Second, by introducing quantification approaches to effectiveness, effort and risk, it improves the decision making process normally followed by enterprise leaders and architects to select the future architecture of their organizations. Finally, the framework leverages the use of simple engineering and management tools that lead to more informed decisions and to practical contributions to the practice of enterprise architecting and management decision making. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-106). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72897 Integration and the performance of large-scale health enterprises : field studies of psychological health delivery systems in the U.S. Military Kamin, Cody M. (Cody Meyer) Large-scale health enterprises comprise multiple organizations that provide programs and services for patients. Despite the interconnectedness of these systems there is a lack of empirical research documenting how these organizations work collectively - or integrate - and how this integration impacts enterprise performance measured through quality, efficiency, and access. In the case of psychological healthcare, patients often require a number of services that span multiple departments and programs within an enterprise, increasing the complexity of maintaining a continuum of care for these patients. This paper, which is part of a larger effort to examine psychological healthcare in the U.S. Military Health System, presents a series of qualitative observations and analyses of the integration of psychological health-related organizations at two large health enterprises within the military. These qualitative inquiries take a multilevel approach for examining integration within these enterprises and address the following areas of interest: 1) the mechanisms for integration; 2) the objects of integration; 3) the dimensions of integration; 4) the contextual factors that influence integration; and 5) the impacts of integration on enterprise performance. Using semi-structured interviews, qualitative data was collected and then examined using content analysis to identify the most frequent themes for each area of interest. This data was used to validate and refine a comprehensive framework for integration that was developed to pull together multiple, distinct strands of the integration literature. This data was also used to demonstrate the relationship between different dimensions of enterprise performance and to identify areas where, in the process of optimizing enterprise performance, there is a trade-off between these dimensions. The preliminary, qualitative results of this research are intended to provide a conceptual foundation and framework for future analytic studies. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-102). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70835 Leveraging enterprise architecture to enable integrated test and evaluation sustainability Sheets, Arlan C. (Arlan Christopher) An analysis was performed to investigate how enterprise architecting methods can be applied to an integrate test and evaluation enterprise and make it a more sustainable enterprise to provide continuous value in the face of an evolving DoD landscape. Enterprise sustainability is the ability of an enterprise to maintain economic viability through optimal resource management and preservation over an extended duration. Through the application of the eight lenses of enterprise architecting, it was found that a more holistic understanding of a Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB) enterprise's current state could be achieved. This approach also supported identifying gaps that exist between the ability of the current-state MRTFB to deliver value and the value delivery that is required by its key stakeholders. The importance of expanding the information view of enterprise architecting to encompass the entire enterprise infrastructure was also studied. Through the expansion of the information view to an infrastructure view, a more complete depiction of the MRTFB enterprise was achieved. The specific importance of the energy infrastructure to a sustainable enterprise was also explored. Through the application of enterprise architecting, the interrelations between the energy infrastructure and the other views, such as processes, services, and knowledge, and the other supporting infrastructure components, such as facilities, land, physical assets, communication networks, and IT networks, can be established. It was found that the energy infrastructure is a core enabler for our technology-based society, and coupled with the current societal focus on green and sustainable energy provides a focal point for enterprises to leverage and initiate transformation efforts to align the energy infrastructure with larger enterprise strategic objectives. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-64). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70832 The dynamics of circular migration in Southern Europe Marañón-Abreu, Rafael During economic crises, governments establish policies that facilitate the creation of jobs, goods and services that make their economies more resilient. Often this requires innovative social programs that match global migratory trends to local labor demand. The implementation of such programs requires a significant degree of innovation that requires models that can capture the complexity involved. To explore this phenomenon, we provide a multi-disciplinary view of innovative social programs that shed light on the dynamic characteristics of the political, social, technological and economic aspects of circular migration. Our focus is a case study of the European Union-funded circular migration program to support the strawberry harvest in the province of Huelva in Spain. Covering the time period of 2002-2011, this thesis provides a system dynamics model to represent the key elements that led to the success of circular migration from the standpoint of economic and labor supply management. The model helps explain the essential factors that make the program robust not only under recent economic crisis conditions but also under policy constraints. Based on a qualitative analytical approach, the model demonstrates how adaptive policies can enable macroeconomic equilibrium in environments where circular migration can be implemented. We also show that circular migration is not an impediment to economic recovery; in fact, it helps stabilize the labor supply in times of high uncertainty. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-101). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/70828 How do senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises? Zini, Francisco A. (Francisco Andrés) This research proposes enhancements to the Enterprise Architecture Method developed by Nightingale and Rhodes. By Enterprise Architecting we consider the following definition: "applying holistic thinking to design, valuate and select a preferred structure for a future state enterprise to realize its value proposition, and desired behaviors." (Nightingale & Rhodes, 2011) In this thesis we will focus on the steps needed to design the enterprise "To Be" Architecture. We try to find an answer to how senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises. We propose five prescriptive steps to follow in the pre-architecting stage of the enterprise, and four steps to follow in the design of the "To Be" alternatives. Those steps enable a systematic process that assures the architect that all the main issues of candidate generation are covered, as well as, it helps to bring new and fresh ideas in the design phase of the Enterprise. Those steps are included in a broader method called the Enterprise Architecting Method for Generating and Evaluating Potential Future States (EAMGE), a systematic technique to guide enterprise leaders to make better decisions when deciding a future architecture when employing an enterprise transformation process. The method follows a spiral model of design that leads to more refined architectures. It allows to understand alternatives as well as estimate effectiveness, effort and risk for different alternatives and analyzes tradeoffs among them, leading to a more informed decision making process. Future work (is undergoing) will provide the evaluations stages proposed by EAMGE and will complement the steps proposed in this thesis. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98). 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68447 The impact of individual-, unit-, and enterprise-level factors on psychological health outcomes : a system dynamics study of the U.S. military Wang, Judy Y. H Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological health issues have emerged as a signature pathology of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the full continuum of care in the U.S. military for PTSD and related disorders is reported to be insufficient to meet the current and future needs of service members and their beneficiaries. The influence of external factors such as pre-traumatic risk factors and the availability of unit-level and enterprise-level resilience resources on eventual mental health outcomes have been previously considered individually, but not together in an enterprise-wide context. Although systems thinking has been applied to transform general health care systems in the United States and recommended for the military health system, there has been limited application of such ideas to the military health care system at large. This thesis expands on previous systems thinking work to transform health care systems in the United States by building a multi-level, dynamic model of the military psychological health enterprise from accession and deployment to future psychological health screening and treatment. The model demonstrates the relationships between stress, resilience and external unit-level and enterprise-level resources, and the influence of pre-traumatic risk factors, effectiveness of predeployment resilience resources and the availability of psychological health treatment in theater are evaluated using sensitivity analyses in order to formulate recommendations for upstream initiatives to improve downstream health outcomes. Increasing participation in pre-deployment resilience training and increasing unit support would have the largest effect on decreasing the number of service members predicted to develop symptoms of PTSD. Thus, it is recommended that the military consider fitting potential at-risk service members to resilience training, developing concurrent strategic short-term and long-term operational policymaking processes, and linking accession data to health outcomes to inform future psychological health policy creation. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-141). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67565 An examination of the patterns of failure in defense acquisition programs McNew, Gregory J The history of acquisition reform dates back to the Revolutionary War era, and recommendations and actions to reform the Department of Defense's acquisition system continue today. Common themes emerge from the recommendations of countless Acts, Studies, Panels, and Commissions over the past 30 years, pointing to areas that appear to have the most impact on the system. Despite these actions and recommendations, issues remain at the program execution level, resulting in increased cost and delays in fielding needed capabilities. This work focuses on three areas. A comprehensive Literature Review of acquisition reform activities was conducted. This generated a list of common themes and focus areas that are associated with less than successful program outcomes. Following this, a series of ten patterns of behavior (acquisition archetypes) postulated for software programs developed by Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute were examined for applicability to the larger Department of Defense acquisition system and to determine their relationship to acquisition reform actions. As part of this effort, a survey of acquisition personnel was conducted to determine the relevance of these patterns of behavior. Based on these foundational works, the final step examined the results of the survey to answer four research questions. First, the survey results were analyzed to determine if the patterns of behavior were present with general and statistical relevance. The second question attempted to determine if the patterns of behavior led to measurable cost and/or schedule growth if they were present in the respondent's program. Third, the postulated root causes for the behaviors were compared to the common themes from acquisition reform activities to determine alignment. Finally, the survey results were analyzed to see if the patterns of behavior correlated to a particular program size, lead service, or "joint" program status. The findings show that the patterns of behavior are present in Department of Defense acquisition programs, and some do lead to measurable cost and/or schedule growth when identified. Acquisition Reform activities have been targeted at the areas that are reported as root causes of the behaviors, and one of the ten patterns of behavior does correlate with "joint" program status. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-217). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67564 Portfolio management in the Air Force : current status and opportunities Morgan, Dave B There are hundreds of weapons programs, under the management of the United States Air Force worth billions of dollars. These programs are being developed to fulfill a need in the U.S. defense strategy. Bringing these weapon systems to operational status is not an easy process. It takes communication and coordination of many stakeholders and development of state-of the-art technology. More often than not, weapons programs are developed with the final cost and schedule being much higher that forecasted. Inherently weapons systems are expensive, however the costs of these systems continue to rise with no apparent end in sight. The Government Accountability Office, RAND, Congressional studies and the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment have has criticized the Department of Defense for escalating costs. These studies point to poor requirement definition, errors in cost and scheduling forecasts, poor oversight, bad decisions by the government, and failure to adopt recommendations from reform policies as the main causes. One way ameliorate cost escalation is to employ portfolio management technique. The Air Force groups their weapon systems into 20 portfolios. Some form of portfolio management has been employed for the last decade. Portfolio management cannot solve the issues above but it can offer a solution that can potentially save millions and perhaps billions of dollars This thesis examines the Air Force's current use of Portfolio Management theory and what opportunities we can do to improve it in the acquisition community. The thesis poses three research questions: 1) How can the Air Force better employ portfolio management to curb cost overruns and schedule delays in their weapon acquisition programs? 2) What can the Air Force do to empower portfolio managers for success? 3) What barriers can the Air Force eliminate or streamline to help portfolio managers execute their portfolios more effectively and efficiently. Acquisition professionals were interviewed to glean their perspectives and opinions. More specifically acquisition personnel were asked how portfolio management was being executed and how can the Air Force improve this technique to better execute weapon systems programs. From these interviews and the research conducted, the following recommendations were made: 1) Program Executive Officers should be given more authority with respect to utilizing funds and hiring of specialized personnel 2) The Air Force needs to streamline the process for reallocating funds and, 3) The Air Force needs to modify number of reporting requirements and policy changes to make the process more efficient and effective. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67562 Feature performance metrics in a service as a software offering Latner, Avi Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model has become widespread. This deployment model changes the economics of software delivery but also has an impact on development. Releasing updates to customers is immediate and the development, product and marketing teams have access to customer usage information. These dynamics create a fast feedback loop between developments to customers. To fully leverage this feedback loop the right metrics need to be set. Typically SaaS applications are a collection of features. The product is divided between development teams according to features and customers access the service through features. Thus a framework that measure feature performance is valuable. This thesis provides a framework for measuring the performance of software as a service (SaaS) product features in order to prioritize development efforts. The case is based on empirical data from HubSpot and it is generalized to provide a framework applicable to other companies with large scale software offerings and distributed development. Firstly, relative value is measured by the impact that each feature has on customer acquisition and retention. Secondly, feature value is compared to feature cost and specifically development investment to determine feature profitability. Thirdly, feature sensitivity is measured. Feature sensitivity is defined as the effect a fixed amount of development investment has on value in a given time. Fourthly, features are segmented according to their location relative to the value to cost trend line into: most valuable features, outperforming, under-performing and fledglings. Finally, results are analyzed to determine future action. Maintenance and bug fixes are prioritized according to feature value. Product enhancements are prioritized according to sensitivity with special attention to fledglings. Under-performing features are either put on "life-support", terminated or overhauled. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-47). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67551 Predictors of successful outcomes of U.S. Coast Guard construction contracts Evans, Dennis C. (Dennis Christopher) The U. S. federal government contracts over five hundred billion dollars in goods and services each year. Traditionally, these contracts are awarded on the basis of a combination of a contractor's proposed cost, quality, technical capability and demonstrated past performance. While all valid and important comparators, the overall quality and customer satisfaction achieved at the completion of contracts awarded on these bases remains highly variable from contract-to-contract. This thesis examines potential reasons for the variability of these results and further proposes additional factors for contract evaluation and award that should improve the chances for successful contract outcomes. Twenty four randomly selected and recently completed U. S. Coast Guard construction contracts were used as the basis for study. The documented performance information for each contract was compared against contract demographic information in a search for correlations that are predictive of the likelihood of a high level of contract satisfaction. Contract performance ratings, contract timeliness and contract on-budget performance were compared to overall contractor annual revenue, total contractor employees, the relative contract size and a contractor's revenue per employee. The main finding is that total contractor revenue, relative contract size (higher is better) and contractor revenue per employee (higher is better) are reliable predictors of performance and should be considered as relevant source selection factors for negotiated contracts. Capable small contractors should be selected not simply as a matter of conformance to a social program, but because the expected results are higher. In addition, the following recommendations apply in order to maximize the probability of positive performance outcomes on U. S. Coast Guard construction contracts: 1) Improve the collection and utilization of past performance data. 2) Minimize sealed-low bid contracting. 3) Maximize contracts by negotiation. 4) Maximize the usage of small businesses, above the "micro-small" level. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-118). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67218 Transforming the DoD test and evaluation enterprise to enable unmanned autonomous systems of systems Cowart, Karl K., 1975- Many US Department of Defense (DoD) systems operate within a systems of systems construct, which present many challenges and will be ever increasing for test and evaluation of unmanned autonomous systems of systems. Challenges include emergent behaviors along with resource limitations that will cause test planners to balance tradeoffs in order to effectively plan test missions. The current test and evaluation enterprise will have to change in order to address such challenges. This thesis investigates how a decision support system can be utilized by DoD test and evaluation stakeholders to adequately plan missions for unmanned autonomous systems of systems testing. Research was conducted to serve dual strategic and tactical purposes. Strategically, this research served to identify potential gaps in the test and evaluation enterprise, which create challenges for unmanned autonomous systems of systems testing. Tactically, this research investigated how a decision support system can deliver value to the stakeholders of the enterprise. This effort was guided by five research focus areas. First, focus was on differentiating testing at the system and systems of systems levels. Second, test and evaluation stakeholders were identified and their saliency was determined. Third, stakeholder values for testing of unmanned systems were gathered via stakeholder interviews. Fourth, challenges of testing unmanned autonomous systems of systems were determined. Lastly, a use case example was utilized to demonstrate how stakeholder value is generated by the use of a decision support system. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-121). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67211 Prediction markets for cost and risk assessment Aggarwal, Taroon Several temporal and political factors can sometimes limit the effectiveness of traditional methods of project tracking and cost estimation. A large organization is susceptible to internal and external risks that are difficult to predict by a single person. Use of collective intelligence tools can help gather inputs from a crowd of people and help provide insight into future events with their collective wisdom. A prediction market is one such tool that provides an environment for traders to buy and sell contracts, whose values are tied to uncertain future events. Efficient prediction markets have been shown to outperform available polls and other forecasting mechanisms. This thesis focuses mainly on the features of a prediction market, its use in the context of a large organization and the steps needed for its implementation. We believe that prediction markets can be a useful supplementary tool along with the existing cost estimation and project management tools in a large organization. They can help aggregate information and identify any direct or indirect factors that can impact cost, or schedule estimates, or create risk for the completion of a project. Major design principles for implementation of prediction markets have been identified by the author based on seven mini case studies from different industries. The author also conducted three pilot studies at MIT and the observations from these have been used to identify best practices related to design and implementations of markets. We found increased involvement of participants and increased awareness in the projects to be one of the major benefits of prediction markets. From the case studies, research and data collected from simulations, we found positive evidence that prediction markets can supplement the use of current estimation and risk assessment methodologies when deployed correctly, and help keep a check on the pulse of an organization by preparing it for any future events or outcomes. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-99). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66078 A case study : creating momentum and self-sustaining change in product development through continuous improvement efforts Lee, Steven (Steven SangHeon) Traditionally, in Raytheon's Integrated Defense System Product Development Engineering Group, lean initiatives have not been fully adopted. Though the lean tools are useful, the engineering group is looking for more effective deployment methods to implement lean. The conventional push approach is to have management communicate some strategic objective which generates a project. Historically, a useful lean tool is developed and introduced, but is under-utilized months later. We focused on implementing a push-pull hybrid approach. The purpose is to merge the strategic objectives with stakeholder values to generate a project that addresses needs from both ends. Organizations (such as Toyota) that are effective with change management typically spend 80 percent of their time and resources on people engagement and organizational architecture. The remaining 20 percent is spent on lean tool utilization. Raytheon emulated this model and generated initial people engagement. We discovered that successful change management embodies three factors: 1) Engaging Stakeholders 2) Engaging Leaders 3) and Ensuring Alignment of Organizational Architecture. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-80). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66076 Performance measurement system design for supply chain organizations Hwang, David Delchi, 1975- This thesis proposes a methodology to create an effective performance measurement system for an interconnected organization. The performance measurement system is composed of three components: a metrics set, a metrics review business process, and a dashboard visualization technique to display the data. If designed according to the proposed methodology, the combination of these three elements produces a performance measurement system which drives behavior, creates accountability, and fosters continuous organizational improvement. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated by its application to a supply planning organization within a major technology manufacturing company. Specifically, the performance measurement system of this supply planning organization was redesigned using the proposed methodology and pilot-tested over the course of a six-month period. First, the metrics set was redesigned based on alignment to strategic objectives and grounded in metrics design fundamentals. Second, the business process to review the organization's metrics and spur action was streamlined and redesigned for maximum impact and engagement. Finally, a visualization dashboard was created to communicate key metrics clearly to all members of the organization. The resulting performance measurement system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and has been adopted as the system-on-record for the organization. Broadly speaking, the principles of performance measurement design provided in this thesis can be applied to other interconnected organizations. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66058 A process for improving long-term production planning McIntosh, Timothy, Jr. (Timothy P.) This project presents improvements to the business process used to generate the Sikorsky five-year production scheduling plan that is a central coordinating process for company operations. Recommendations will improve the speed and quality of the planning process. The current production planning method leaves Sikorsky at risk of reserving too little capacity to satisfy demand for its most important customers. Additionally, the current method can lead to overproduction of rotorcraft. Both scenarios are very costly to Sikorsky. In the absence of a more data-driven planning approach, shortcomings of the current planning method will only be exacerbated as Sikorsky continues to pursue new customers in emerging markets. Sikorsky may struggle to continue applying judgment-based planning methods to a customer base for which there is little historical information. To investigate the problem, we used interviews, surveys, and lean techniques to study the current state of the five-year planning process. As part of the solution, we developed and applied statistical demand forecasting methods and a more formal process definition. We documented and communicated the new planning process using standard work templates and instructions. New methods were disseminated to stakeholders through a variety of showcase exercises that featured demonstrations and hands-on exercises. In general, Sikorsky production planning stakeholders were receptive to a more formal and datadriven planning process. We expect that the new methods will enable an overall planning process time of two weeks, compared to current process time of several months. Furthermore, the new methods improve forecasting accuracy by integrating and synthesizing previously unused forward-looking sales and marketing data. Going forward, a small pilot team will continue to apply and improve new planning methods. The team will engage in a preliminary pilot exercise during an upcoming revision to the five-year plan, which will occur in early 2011. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 67). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66041 Reducing enterprise IT fragmentation through standard metrics and decision tools : a case study in the aerospace and defense industry Wheeler, Benjamin (Benjamin Ray) Over the last several decades, manufacturing companies around the world have embraced new and powerful business tools made possible with Information Technology. Major investments are frequently made in enterprise-wide systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to take advantage of cost saving opportunities. While promising in concept, system implementations can grow to be expensive and complicated during execution, commonly resulting in project de-scoping and sacrifices in functionality and integration. If not carefully managed, this can ultimately lead to an environment of costly custom workaround solutions for years to follow, subverting the central goal of the original investment. This thesis presents a case study examining Raytheon's initiative to launch an enterprise ERP system (SAP PRISM) in an effort to standardize and modernize supply chain operations. Within the SAP implementation, the repair and retrofit, or depot, business had major integration components de-scoped due to cost constraints. As a result numerous systems have been developed to manage the business, leading to difficulties in process alignment across manufacturing programs. This work introduces a pilot project with the objective of re-aligning business processes by delivering a portal of common metrics and decision tools to the manufacturing and operations community. With the common portal, the user community gains access to existing centralized data, reducing the need for isolated application development and enabling richer capability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-61). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65433 An abridged enterprise assessment model to promote consistent reassessment : model development, assessment process and results analysis Perkins, L. Nathan (Lewis Nathan) Enterprise assessment is increasingly important, both as a cross-time and cross-industry measurement and as a guiding force in enterprise transformation. Assessments provide crucial information about strengths, areas for improvement and potential investment strategies for achieving performance benefits. As performance is being recognized as a complex and multifaceted construct, assessment tools seek to incorporate and reflect a holistic measurement of performance across multiple dimensions such as stakeholder value, leadership, culture and quality. The Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) is one such enterprise assessment tool that closely ties into a clearly defined enterprise transformation framework and roadmap. Ideal use of assessment involves regular reassessment of 54 practices and continual feedback, but due to the resource and time commitment required to perform assessment, this iterative process is deprioritized. In order to facilitate and promote regular reassessment, we demonstrate a methodology for creating an abridged assessment tool. By creating a predictive model based on the unidemnsionality of LESAT, a small selection of highly indicative practices is used to predict the remaining practices. Based on these predictions, respondents assess follow-up practices selected to target high-priority areas for improvement. Using this approach, we are able to create an abridged LESAT that assesses six of the original 54 practices for the predictive model and an additional twelve dynamically selected practices to target high-priority areas. Based on training data and novel testing data (271 respondents from 24 companies), we validate the accuracy of the predictive model and show that high-priority areas are correctly identified over 90% of the time. The abridged LESAT shows promise as a way to reassess, with significantly lower time and resource commitment normally required. We review the practical applications of the abridged LESAT and present a revised recommended process for assessment and for evaluation of results. The revised process seeks to articulate how the new assessment tool can be practically applied in the context of an ongoing enterprise transformation. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-140). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/63037 A cost model for testing unmanned and autonomous systems of systems Deonandan, Indira D. (Indira Devi) The evolutionary nature of Unmanned and Autonomous Systems of Systems (UASoS) acquisition needs to be matched by equally evolutionary test capabilities in the future. There is currently no standard method to determine what is required to make programs safe for deployment, nor is there the ability to make effective contingency plans should testing requirements change. Spending too much effort designing goals when causal understandings are still in flux is inefficient. As such, policy making and enforcing policies on the deployment of UASoS becomes very problematic. Testing is required especially for UASoS to identify risk, improve capabilities and minimize unpleasant surprises. It needs to be effective and focused, determining the issues and working towards ensuring the risks of the UASoS are known. It is important to have adequate feedback loops, a culture of information sharing and learning from best practices, as well as the development of metrics and/or performance indicators that adequately reflect the effectiveness of the test process. This thesis describes a model that is part of a larger Prescriptive and Adaptive Testing Framework (PATFrame), which uses knowledge acquisition to minimize risk through a decision support system. This work presents the cost and risk considerations for UASoS T&E and provides the preliminary parameters to conduct trade-off analyses for T&E. It also provides guidance on how the DoD can adopt such tools to transform the DoD T&E enterprise. The model is a combination of information collected from various normative and descriptive views of testing based on literature review, surveys, and interviews with members of the Department of Defense (DoD) T&E community A cost estimation model can have significant impacts on how the DoD currently does testing and would help maximize the use of the resources available. It is a model based method for calculating effort for test and evaluation and forms a baseline for strategic decision making in DoD acquisition programs. The intent is to predict within a certain probability that a test program can be completed within a certain budget given the assumptions used in characterizing the UASoS and the T&E process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.; Vita. Page 124 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-114). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62768 Adapting the Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool for health care Hernandez, Cynthia Lynn The Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool (LESAT) is a product of the Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This tool has been applied by many organizations to gage their progress toward lean enterprise management, however applying this tool in health care organizations has been inhibited by language and underlying assumptions from product manufacturing. An adaptation of the LESAT specifically for health care is proposed. Review of the literature and special reports on health care are used in determining the recommended changes. "Product life cycle" is reinterpreted as a health care service cycle and context specific enterprise level processes and practices are presented. Comparison to other industry measures shows the content the LESAT for health care to cover all key issues and practices for high quality health care delivery. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-63). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62764 Organizational assessment processes for enterprise transformation Abdimomunova, Leyla (Leyla M.) Enterprise transformation is a dynamic process that builds upon and affects organizational processes. Organizational assessment plays critical role in planning and execution of enterprise transformation. It allows the assessment of an enterprise's current capabilities as well as for identification and prioritization of improvements needed to drive the enterprise transformation process. Despite the benefits that organizational assessment has to offer, many organizations fail to exploit them due to unfavorable organizational culture, unsatisfactory assessment processes or mismatch between assessment tool and broader transformation approach. This thesis focuses mainly on a model of organizational assessment and how it can be improved to better support enterprise transformation. We argue that the assessment process spans beyond performing the assessment itself. For the assessment to provide the expected benefit, organizations must first of all create an environment ensuring a clear understanding of the role assessment plays in the enterprise transformation process. To this end they must promote open and frequent discussion about the current state of the enterprise and future goals. The assessment process must be carefully planned to ensure it runs effectively and efficiently and that assessment results are accurate and reliable. Assessment results must be analyzed and turned into specific recommendations and action plans. At the same time, the assessment process itself must be evaluated and adjusted, if necessary, for the next assessment cycle. Based on literature review and case studies of five large aerospace companies, we recommend a five-phase assessment process model that includes mechanisms to change organizational behavior through pre-assessment phases. It also allows for adjustment of the assessment process itself based on the results and experience of participants so that it better suits the organization's needs and practices. Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62758 Individuals in product development : interactions with teams and products Castro, João Nuno Lopes This dissertation focuses on how individuals involved in complex product development operate and interact with other people in the project and how they perceive and modify the product. Complex product development requires the collaboration of multiple individuals who are specialists in different disciplines. One of the challenges with the execution of design and development projects is coordinating the contributions of each individual to guarantee an aligned, seamless fit. I review a selection of the literature on team frameworks, coordination methods and empirical product development studies which address teams, individuals and product architectures and structures. I then conduct two studies. One focuses on individual to individual communication requirement stability and the other on individual interaction with product structure over the development period. In the first, I examine how the most important communication channels between individuals in multifunctional teams compare across thirteen different projects. In this study I found a direct correlation between functionally similar projects and their network of important communication links between individuals. This indicates that when faced with a problem of similar nature the profile of connections between individuals - which ones are more or less important - will also be similar. In the second, I study how individuals interact with the structure of a product in four software development projects. I found that most individual work is localized and consists of internal improvement work. When work is done that requires simultaneous modifications of several components, I found that the associations made between components does not follow the existing structural dependencies as indicated by the function calls between components. This behavior is consistent throughout the development of the projects and is not dependent on the design state of the product. The associations made between components are also not a good indicator of future structural dependencies. These observations do not follow the indications from previous work on team interactions and product structure, revealing that individuals make associations beyond those suggested by just the structural connections. It was also observed that individuals are able to identify and work on the most important components in a product and that work is conducted on components irrespective of their age in the system. Finally, a real-time observation of project execution method is proposed based on the several analysis steps developed within this thesis. The use of this method can be advantageous for practitioners to verify the progress of project and control deviations from plan. This thesis contributes directly to the stream of research of coordination in product development and contributes to the practice with new methods to help those involved in large-scale complex product development filter the extensive work done by many individuals and find areas of possible intervention. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-116). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59698 Assessing stakeholder salience through the view of lean enterprise transformation Sisto, Gwendolyn A Aerospace enterprises tend to take a strategic approach to managing their enterprise. This thesis posits that stakeholder theory presents another way of looking at the enterprise, as it incorporates elements of both structure and behavior. Using a Lean enterprise thinking framework, this thesis employs stakeholder theory to explain enterprise dynamics and decision making. The thesis uses Enterprise Architecture (EA) theory, developed at MIT's Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI), for the Lean thinking enterprise framework. The thesis proposes that an enterprise's core ideology drives its business model and enterprise architecture spaces, which in turn drives stakeholder networks. Stakeholder saliency and identification is based on the relevance of their values exchanges to the enterprise business model and capabilities contributed to the EA. Finally, this system evolves over Epochs, which are a function of time. These ideas are applied to architecting future states of an enterprise. Quantitative models of stakeholder saliency, stakeholder network control structures, Design Structure Matrix, ESAT, and system dynamics are investigated. The thesis finds that stakeholder networks are context dependent with enterprise Epochs. Enterprise core ideology and leadership saliency are the only constants in the system. The thesis adds to insights on stakeholder salience, in a Lean enterprise context, that may be generalized to the aerospace and defense industry. The findings are significant to the aerospace industry's ability to optimize value creation. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-146). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59659 Improving enterprise decision-making : the benefits of metric commonality Friedman, Alissa H. (Alissa Heather) The objective of this research is to identify a new approach in managing, and making internal program-level decisions from, externally tracked performance metrics. Industry observations indicate the increasing challenge for program managers and internal development teams to identify performance improvement opportunities for products, services, organizations, etc., in an effective and efficient manner based on tracked performance metrics by external customers. Literature on metrics; performance measurement selection, systems, and frameworks; the concept of commonality; and designing across a life cycle is assessed and helps generate a new concept of commonalizing metrics across an operating life cycle to address this issue. It is hypothesized that despite the uniqueness of each external stakeholder, the tracking of a small set of common performance metrics at different operating life cycle phases across all external stakeholders would result in more accurate decision-making in identifying the most value-added performance improvement opportunities, increased enterprise-level communication, and lower incurred costs. A detailed case study of a technical product with multiple customers whose external data drives internal program decisions is presented to address (1) if metric commonality is plausible, (2) what the expected benefits are of implementing this new decision-making tool, and (3) how these common metrics would change over the course of the product's operating life cycle. A historical data analysis and initial customer interviews established the architecture of the program's current state. Internal development team expert interviews and a second round of customer interviews were performed in an effort to identify an optimal set of common metrics the external stakeholders could track for this program. Also identified were proper adoption attributes that would need to be considered to not only drive this new decision-making tool through this enterprise, but also to address some of the barriers that influenced the program's current state. The triangulation of the historical, developer, and customer data sets produced a list of less than a dozen common, value-added metrics for this program, with most of these metrics consistently measured throughout the operating life cycle, supporting the plausibility of this new decision-making tool. Having all stakeholders recording the same metrics also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of making the right product improvement decisions, as well as increases communication within the product community. The study also provides insight into the importance of the voice of the customer, the relationship between metrics and strategic planning, the connection to lean thinking, and a new performance measurement framework; and is considered an excellent starting point for future detailed studies in this area. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-97). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59264 The economics of investing in green buildings Rizk, Charbel Maroun This thesis discusses economics of green buildings. The need to reduce greenhouse gases emissions became clear. Buildings account for a large part of the greenhouse gases emissions, changing the atmosphere's composition. Climate changes will be unevenly distributed between regions; in early stages they might be beneficial for few but will eventually end up being costly for all. Several worldwide rating systems were established with a common objective to determine metrics for measuring a building's performance and minimizing environmental footprint. In this research we selected LEED-NC version 2.2 by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for our analysis. V-2.2 consists of a set of credits distributed in categories. We identified credit's requirements and analyzed their impact on cost and environment. We supported our analysis by looking into cost and benefit studies performed by different organizations, and summarized our findings in providing heuristics on green buildings. Finally, a major take away from this research project is that there are numerous factors affecting difficulty of achieving, cost, and benefits of LEED credits. In addition to that, the correlation between credits and the large number of combinations to qualify for LEED certification levels, make it unreasonable to generalize about the incremental cost for any certification level. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 144-147). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59261 On developing business architectures : a multi-framework evaluation of an early-stage enterprise Montoya, Mario, 1978- Early-stage enterprises are characterized by leveraging limited resources during periods of accelerating industry growth and relatively high uncertainty. This thesis is an examination of an early-stage enterprise within the medical technology industry using multiple frameworks. In addition to the standard Lean Advancement Initiative (LAI) suite of tools, the enterprise will be evaluated using Nightingale and Rhodes' eight Enterprise Architecture (EA) views, Kaplan's Balanced Scorecard (BSC), McKinsey's 7S framework, and Grave's Spiral Dynamics. Moreover, this thesis includes a practical examination of the current state using the framework developed by Piepenbrock's doctoral thesis that introduced the notion of modular versus integral enterprise architectures. A transformation plan is proposed based on the firm's current state and preferred future state based on insights from the various self-assessments and prevailing corporate strategy. The transformation plan is also informed by the author's perceived receptivity, commitment and need for change of the organization. The case organization's current state is described in general terms to protect the company's identity since the material presented includes portions of their corporate strategy and source of competitive advantage. Recognizing that all competitive advantage is temporary, considerable care has been exercised to balance the relevance of the research with the privacy needs of the organization. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-196). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59258 The evolution of business ecosystems : interspecies competition in the steel industry Mathur, Akshat This thesis contributes toward the building of a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems by exploring the applicability of Piepenbrock's' theoretical framework to a commodity industrial setting, namely the U.S. steel industry from 1860-2010. As the evolution of business ecosystems framework posits the emergence of symbiotic inter-species competition between heterogeneous inter-organizational architectures, this thesis builds grounded theory by expanding Piepenbrock's original theoretical sample to include the following dominant firms in the U.S. steel industry: United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel, representing incumbents and Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal, representing late-entrants. Comparative historical analyses are performed to determine the evolution of the firms' form, function and fitness: specifically their inter-organizational architectures, their strategic choices in both market quantity and technological quality, and the maturity of the steel industry environment in both market quantity and technology quality. The U.S. steel industry is demonstrated to currently be in a mature state, with slowing rates of growth in terms of both market quantity and technology quality (i.e. performance improvement trajectories of products and production processes). During the growth and maturing of this market environment, the inter-organizational architectures of the dominant incumbent firms of United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel appear to have evolved from integral to modular forms. As the market became mature, late-entrant firms of Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal appear to have entered with integral inter-organizational architectures, in which they compete on quality, cost and delivery dimensions enabled through stable long-term growth. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that the evolution of business ecosystems appears to be a reasonably robust theoretical framework, which is useful in explaining why firms in the same industry vary systematically in performance over time. The investigation of inter-species competition in the U.S. steel industry expands the external validity or generalizability of the framework to include commodity industrial settings. The framework captures the evolution of dominant designs in enterprise architectures that oscillate between modular and integral states throughout an industry's life-cycle. Architectural innovation at the extended enterprise level in Nucor and Arcelor-Mittal is demonstrated to contribute to the failure of established firms United States Steel and Bethlehem Steel. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-104). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59239 A new glide path: re-architecting the Flight School XXI Enterprise at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence Enos, James R. (James Robert) This thesis utilizes eight Enterprise Architecture views to analyze the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence's Flight School XXI Enterprise and provides recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of training aviators. The Enterprise Strategic Analysis and Transformation tool provides a guide for understanding the current state of the enterprise and identifying potential areas for improvement. Surveys of the enterprise stakeholders provided an analysis of the stakeholder values and the current enterprise value delivery. Historical data from the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence provided the remaining data for the analysis. A System Dynamics model applied the research to understand the dynamics of the AH-64 training process and conducted an analysis of potential courses of action to stabilize the process. By adding weather days to the Program of Instruction and increasing the daily flight window from 3 to 3.5 hours the enterprise can stabilize the training process. The principles of lean thinking provided a guide for the remaining recommended actions to improve the performance of the enterprise. These recommendations included reducing the batch size of students per course, achieving continuous flow by canceling initial course, and achieving customer pull by aligning aviator production to the aviation force structure. The thesis provides the leadership of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence with a glide path to transform Flight School XXI into a lean enterprise and achieve the Army's current and future training requirements for aviators. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, June 2010.; "May 2010." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-144). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59229 Starbucks cups : trash or treasure? : an example of facilitated systems thinking assisting stakeholders in designing their own system to recycle take-away cups Czaika, Ellen Gail A mixed methods, action-research study was conducted to assess the efficacy and usefulness of Facilitated Systems Thinking as an intervention for system design in complex, multi-stakeholder systems, especially where the stakeholders themselves design the system. This research is contextualized within and provides a case study on the Starbuck's Coffee Company's efforts to collaborate with stakeholders throughout food packaging value chain to create a system for recycling hot (poly-coated paper) and cold (plastic) take-away beverage cups. Comparative interview results indicate an increase in interviewee awareness of others in the value chain, increase in discussion of prototyping and pilots, and increase in their awareness of their own responsibilities and leverage points within the system. Preliminary results from the most recent intervention are nine stakeholder-designed pilot tests. This study supplements a larger investigation of the emerging system to recycle take-away cups. Results from this study, as well as suggestions for investigation design changes will contribute to and be incorporated in the larger study. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-97). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59225 Value based analysis of acquisition portfolios Burgess, Cheri Nicole Markt Currently, program-funding allocation is based on program performance. Funding cuts commonly lead to a poor reflection on the program management assigned to the given program. If additional factors such as program risk and benefit are objectively factored in, this may lead to a more effective exit strategy for program capabilities, which are no longer required. An enterprise architecture analysis and applied framework case study were carried out to develop a methodology to quantify system-level value for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Research, Development, Test and Evaluation portfolio. Portfolio value is quantified in order to transition from a single program, single stakeholder value analysis to a program portfolio and stakeholder system composite analysis. This methodology is developed based on interviews, official organization literature, and a case study. The results of the applied framework case study on a portfolio of seven programs showed a positive correlation between quantitative capability, execution and risk data at the portfolio level and access to a more informed and objective identification of programs of greatest interest and concern as compared to a qualitative program-by-program analysis when allocating Air Force Acquisition resources. This system includes 17 stakeholder categories, which significantly influence the allocation of resources for a portfolio worth roughly 0.4% of the US GDP. Interviews include high-ranking leadership, including two 3-Star Generals in the US Air Force. Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.; Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-119). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59171 Enterprise design for services : a systems approach for the Boeing next generation corporate travel system architecture Silva, Hector E Typically a company's second largest controllable expense, corporate travel affects many employees at Boeing. A challenge when implementing improvements in the travel and expense system, which is actually comprised of a system of systems, is the coordination of various solutions to ensure improvements in one area do not adversely affect the efficiency of other areas. Various systems along with the people, policies, and processes used to provide services to travelers must be coordinated both inside and outside Boeing in order for overall travel operations to function properly. The intent of this project is to establish a systems-based architecture for Boeing's Next Generation Travel System. This thesis proposes re-designing the Boeing travel system using an enterprise architecting framework to select a future state architecture for a service organization. The analysis recommends a supplier integrated "off-the-shelf' software solution, employing the software as a service business model. Under this model the supplier is paid per transaction completed in the system; adoption of this metric aligns the system to reduce re-work costs, increase first-time pass quality, and improve usability. Additionally, new supplier software tools will allow the Boeing travel organization to transition from a process-focused to a more knowledge-focused service team. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59167 Simulation modeling to predict drug pipeline throughput in early pharmaceutical R&D Heyman, Jeffrey B. (Jeffrey Brian) With high costs and growing concern about research and development (R&D) productivity, the pharmaceutical industry is under pressure to efficiently allocate R&D funds. Nonetheless, pharmaceutical R&D involves considerable uncertainty, including high project attrition, high project-to-project variability in required time and resources, and long time for a project to progress from a biological concept to commercial drug. Despite this uncertainty, senior leaders must make decisions today about R&D portfolio size and balance, the impact of which will not be observable for many years. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of simulation modeling to add clarity in this uncertain environment. Specifically, performing research at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, we aim to design a process for developing a portfolio forecasting model, develop the model itself, and evaluate its utility in aiding R&D portfolio decision-making. The model will serve as a tool to bridge strategy and execution by anticipating whether future goals for drug pipeline throughput are likely to be achievable given the current project portfolio, or whether adjustments to the portfolio are warranted. The modeling process has successfully delivered a pipeline model that outputs probabilistic forecasts of key portfolio metrics, including portfolio size, positive clinical readouts, and research phase transitions. The model utilizes historical data to construct probability distributions to stochastically represent key input parameters, and Monte Carlo simulation to capture the uncertainty of these parameters in pipeline forecasts. Model validation shows good accuracy for aggregate metrics, and preliminary user feedback suggests strong initial buy-in within the organization. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-73). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59165 Enterprise transformation & lean implementation in a globally dispersed organization Katyal, Abhishek In July 2007, the Supply Planning Organization (SPO) decided to begin its Lean journey. Through some analysis the decision was made to take a culture first approach and then follow with the use of Lean tools. The time had come to use Lean tools to help facilitate in the process of both driving business results and Lean culture acceptance. This thesis and research study set to prove the hypothesis that "Lean tools can be as effective in a non-traditional globally dispersed information environment as they are in the traditional plant floor environment". In addition, this research study set out to show that Lean training and implementation can be successfully completed virtually through simple tools such as a PowerPoint presentation, Microsoft Live Meeting, and a telephone. The research study also shows how two mutually exclusive enterprise tools, X-matrix analysis and Value Stream Mapping, point to the same conclusion around effectiveness of metrics within an organization. The core project within this research study is focused on designing the 2010 organizational improvement strategy and structure of Initech's supply planning division through rigorous analysis of existing configurations and opportunities for process improvement and waste elimination. Initech's Supply Planning division is an 800-person group that is globally dispersed across 23 sites. The supply planning organization is responsible for planning the quantity, timing, and location for product build. The current state analysis was completed through the use of direct observation, 1:1 interviews, and value stream mapping tools. This analysis is focused on identifying non-value added activity and identifying opportunities for improvement through simplified connections and streamlined processes. In addition, this process will also drive improvement and help eliminate the current silo's that exist within the divisions. The enterprise focus around process improvement, waste elimination, Lean cultural adoption, and metric effectiveness will help create a more robust and high performing organization. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-83). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59151 Intrapreneurship as a tool for lean transformation : case study of VBS, intrapreneurship in IT space by Oladapo E. Bakare. Bakare, Oladapo E. (Oladapo Ehigie) Lean is heralded as the driving methodology for successful organizations ranging from defense to consumer industries. Its approach to reduction of waste and continuous process improvement allows a company to reduce cost, meet customer needs, and sustain growth. As companies embark on transforming their organizations into more efficient, nimble, and high velocity organizations through integration of lean they face severe inertia. The process of lean transformation and integrating lean is an arduous task at which most companies falter on for a number of reasons. These reasons are strategic (costs and time to implement changes), political (decision making process delays), and cultural (company norms and employee motivation). Promoting intrapreneurship in organizations can serve as a driving mechanism to ensure change goals and objectives are met and are sustainable. Intrapreneurial entities are able to cut through silos within an organization and meet the needs of its direct customers. The survival of an intrapreneurial organization is solely dependent on meeting customer needs. Therefore, the cost and time delay to meet the needs of its customers for an intrapreneurial organization is much less than other established functional and support groups within the organization. The hypothesis was that incorporating intrapreneurship into a transformation plan will aid in successful integration of lean in the organization. VBS, an intrapreneurial group within Raytheon IDS, is used as a case example of the impact of intrapreneurship on lean transformation. VBS has played a key role in monitoring and promoting lean culture at IADC (Integrated Air Defense Center and manufacturing site for IDS) at Raytheon. Using real-time metrics, the group has implemented many essential performance and behavioral feedback loops. These real-time metrics and behavioral results continuously drive operations to converge on lean behavior. This has resulted in a 20 % reduction in operating costs for four years running from its lean transformation. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2010.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64). 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58866 Reduced DoD product development time : the role of the schedule development process McNutt, Ross Theodore According to the Packard Commission, "Unreasonably long acquisition cycles -- ten to fifteen years for major weapon systems is a central problem from which most other acquisition Problems stem." Since the commission issued its report in 1986, the time required to develop new military systems has only grown. This research and its recommendations are intended to identify and eliminate the causes of those long development times for military systems. This report addresses a key factor in determining the development time for military projects: the project's initial schedule. Part 1 outlines the current situation, previous efforts to reduce development time, and experiences with cutting development time in the commercial sector. It also documents the military product development process. Part 2 identifies a key area--the schedule development process, and its impact on development time--for in-depth research. Through understanding what is driving the initial project schedule and the impact of the initial project schedule on the eventual development time, the author identifies key drivers of development time. Part 3 presents the results of three surveys and analyzes the processes used to develop a project's initial schedule, the process used to develop a contracted schedule, and the impact of these schedules on actual development time. Part 4 presents observations, draws conclusions, and makes specific recommendations for remedial action. The key barriers to reducing development time for military systems are the lack of importance placed on project schedules; the lack of effective schedule-based information and tools; the lack of schedule-based incentives; and the overriding impact of the funding-based limitations on defense projects. The steps necessary to establish a focus on reducing development time are: 1) recognizing the impact of development time, 2) providing the necessary information for decision makers, 3) providing proper incentives at each organizational level, and finally providing a structure to effectively managce the set of all development projects to ensure that each project can be funded based on its development related requirements. Implementing the recommendations and focusing on reducing development time will force other changes in the acquisition process. The focus on reducing the time to develop and field systems will drive the acquisition system to better meet the needs of our warfighters, more rapidly, and at lower cost. Better, Faster, and Cheaper. Even more importantly, shortening development times is critical to develop and produce with limited resources, the right weapons at the right time to deter or to defeat any potential enemy at any time with the minimum cost to our warfighters. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 539-544). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58525 Disciplined agility for process control & automation Tibazarwa, Augustine Process automation vendors must consider agility as a basis to gain a competitive edge in innovation. Process Automation systems can impact the operating cost of manufacturing equipment, the safe control of large quantities of energy and the safety of dangerous substances used during manufacturing. The manufacturing segment expects greater automation of larger processes, increased capability of process automation systems, and higher quality of those systems. At the same time, business requirements for process automation vendors demand shorter time to market, and greater market return for each dollar invested in product development. Therefore, process automation vendors must determine how to preserve discipline in development processes while adopting process agility necessary to meet dynamic business conditions. Interviews with 9 leaders from 6 companies (2 manufacturers, 2 process automation vendors and 2 automation consulting firms), survey feedback from development personnel and research of literature on state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice, yielded over 90 findings and observations on process automation business needs, development of automation offerings, and on suitability of agile practices to process automation product development. Agile methods may require changes to manufacturer work processes, but would enable an automation vendor to unlock more of the manufacturer's production value.; (cont.) Disciplined adoption of agile methods is crucial for agility to take hold throughout an automation vendor's organization, and to meet the concerns of process automation stakeholders. Rather than dismiss the suitability of agile development to process automation, a prescriptive guidance is provided that integrates an opportunistic risk-based assessment of how much agility is appropriate. The four values and twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto are a good basis for 8 additional agile practices for process automation: transitioning to agile, investing in agile capability, managing critical system parameters, engineering system-robustness, balancing project risk, continuous system validation, assuring domain expertise and clarifying ecosystem role. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-115). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/57976 Toward a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems : enterprise architectures, competitive dynamics, firm performance & industrial co-evolution Piepenbrock, Theodore F. (Theodore Frederick), 1965- This dissertation contributes toward the building of a theory of the evolution of business ecosystems. In the process, it addresses a question that has been posed by evolutionary theorists in the economics and sociology literatures for decades: "Why do firms in the same industry vary systematically in performance over time?" Seeking a systematic explanation of a longitudinal phenomenon inevitably requires characterizing the evolution of the industrial ecosystem, as both the organization (firm) and its environment (industry, markets and institutions) are co-evolving. This question is therefore explored via a theoretical sample in three industrial ecosystems covering manufacturing and service sectors, with competitors from the US, Europe and Japan: commercial airplanes, motor vehicles and airlines. The research is based primarily on an in depth seven-year, multi-level, multi-method, field-based case study of both firms in the large commercial airplanes industry mixed duopoly as well as the key stakeholders in their extended enterprises (i.e. customers, suppliers, investors and employees). This field work is supplemented with historical comparative analysis in all three industries, as well as nonlinear dynamic simulation models developed to capture the essential mechanisms governing the evolution of business ecosystems.; (cont.) A theoretical framework is developed which endogenously traces the co-evolution of firms and their industrial environments using their highest-level system properties of form, function and fitness (as reflected in the system sciences of morphology, physiology and ecology), and which embraces the evolutionary processes of variation, selection and retention. The framework captures the path-dependent evolution of heterogeneous populations of enterprise architectures engaged in symbiotic inter-species competition and posits the evolution of dominant designs in enterprise architectures that oscillate deterministically and chaotically between modular and integral states throughout an industry's life-cycle. Architectural innovation - at the extended enterprise level - is demonstrated to contribute to the failure of established firms, with causal mechanisms developed to explain tipping points. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (v. 4, p. 698-745). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/55246 Major system acquisition reform in the United States Coast Guard : a case for the application of Lean Enterprise principles Tiongson, Andrew J. (Andrew Joseph) During any time of reorganization, it is important to look to processes and practices that have been used and proven effective by other organizations whether those organizations are similar in structure or similar in the transitory environment in which they are operating. For this reason, applying Lean Enterprise principles and practices that have been proven in both industry and governmental organizations can be of great benefit to the Acquisition Directorate of the United States Coast Guard as it reorganizes to improve mission execution. Notwithstanding that when most people hear the words "Lean Enterprise" they immediately think of enterprises involved in manufacturing or supply chain effectiveness, the principles of Lean Enterprise thinking can also be applied in the service and support environments. Therefore, the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, a service enterprise, can apply these same principles and practices in an effort to transform the directorate into a Lean Enterprise. In this thesis, the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 project was used as an example for the entire Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate. The Rescue 21 project consists of the acquisition of a new advanced command, control and communications system to replace the antiquated National Distress and Response System (NDRS). From the application of Lean Enterprise evaluation approaches to the Rescue 21 project, it was evident that:; (cont.) * The Rescue 21 project provides low value to its various stakeholders; * This low value is a direct result of cost overruns and schedule delays; * Misalignment exists among Strategic Objectives, Stakeholder Values, Key Processes and Metrics; * The Rescue 21 enterprise architecture has a solid foundation to improve value delivery; * The Rescue 21 project leadership desires to improve in the area of value delivery to stakeholders. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/55171 Understanding enterprise behavior using hybrid simulation of enterprise architecture Glazner, Christopher G Today, the design of business enterprises is much more art than science. The complex structure and behavior of enterprises makes it difficult to untangle cause and effect amidst its components and their relationships. In order for managers to understand how an enterprise's architecture affects its behavior, they need tools and techniques to help them to manage the complexity of the enterprise. The practice of enterprise architecting continues to make advances in this area with reference frameworks that can be used to guide the decomposition and communication of enterprise architectures, but it does not provide tools to analyze the potential behavior of a proposed enterprise architecture. This research seeks to extend the practice of enterprise architecting by developing an approach for creating simulation models of enterprise architectures that can be used for analyzing the architectural factors affecting enterprise behavior and performance. This approach matches the content of each of the "views" of an enterprise architecture framework with a suitable simulation methodology such as discrete event modeling, agent based modeling, or system dynamics, and then integrates these individual simulations into a single hybrid simulation model. The resulting model is a powerful analysis tool that can be used for "what-if" behavioral analysis of enterprise architectures. This approach was applied to create a hybrid simulation model of the enterprise architecture of a real-world, large-scale aerospace enterprise.; (cont.) Simulation model analysis revealed potential misalignments between the current enterprise architecture and the established strategy of the enterprise. The simulation model was used to analyze enterprise behavior and suggest relatively minor changes to the enterprise architecture that could produce up to a 20% improvement in enterprise profitability without increasing resources to the enterprise. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-314). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54850 Identifying enterprise leverage points in Defense Acquisition Program performance Wirthlin, Joseph Robert, 1970- Large, complex systems development programs in the Department of Defense are finding it more difficult to deliver desired capabilities to the end user on time and on budget than ever before. Evidence exists that almost all developmental programs on record are over cost and schedule, costing the Department and ultimately the U.S. taxpayer billions of dollars more than anticipated. Numerous studies over many decades have addressed various aspects of the problems plaguing these efforts with many recommendations. Unfortunately, most of these recommendations have been ignored or poorly implemented with limited success. This work embodies an exploratory systems approach to characterize the system of acquiring large, complex, socio-technological systems for the Department of Defense. Through a series of qualitative studies and in-depth interviews with individuals working in the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System (JCIDS), the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, and the Acquisition system, a model of the larger "enterprise of acquisition" or Acquisition System was developed. The model has a scope ranging from the very early beginnings of any program through the conclusion of developmental activities. The methodology used consisted of stringing together the individual pieces of the system defined by probabilistic distributions of time and corresponding probabilistic decision points into a model ideal for discrete-event simulation. An extensive program of verification and validation of the model was carried out to increase confidence in the model and its simulation outcomes.; (cont.) Experimental system interventions, designed to mimic potential policy interventions and/or system changes, were introduced into the model and the corresponding outcomes analyzed. Results show several interventions have varying degrees of influence and suggest no single antidote exists for solving the problems related to Acquisition. Furthermore, many of the outcomes of the system can be described as emergent behaviors versus problems stemming from poor program management, program risk management, or requirements management. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-223). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54657 Metrics for enterprise transformation Blackburn, Craig D. (Craig David), S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The objective of this thesis is to depict the role of metrics in the evolving journey of enterprise transformation. To this end, three propositions are explored: (i) metrics and measurement systems drive transformation, (ii) employee engagement is a proxy to gauge transformation progress; and (iii) metric considerations enable enterprise transformation when systematically executed as part of a transformation roadmap. To explore this problem, the aerospace measurement community was consulted to help grasp a better understanding of the context in which transformation is currently defined and measured. Once the problem space was defined, the environment of doing research with the enterprise as the unit of analysis was described with the intent of exploring the role of metrics and transformation. In particular, the performance measurement literature helped identify tools and methods used to select metrics to enable decision making at the enterprise level. After this review, two case studies were performed, considering: (1) the implementation of a bottom-up measurement system to drive transformation and (2) the effect of a top-down corporate measurement system on the enterprise. The first case study revealed insights regarding the benefits and challenges of implementing measurement systems and highlighted the use of employee engagement as a proxy to measure enterprise transformation. In the second case study, contemporary measurement issues were discussed and mapped to an Eight Views of the Enterprise analysis to identify critical enterprise interactions.; (cont.) Ultimately, the Lean Advancement Initiative's Enterprise Transformation Roadmap was used as a method for depicting how performance measurement can help enable enterprise transformation. The implications of research in metrics for enterprise transformation span across thee areas: (1) the extensive literature reviews provide an academic contribution for performing enterprise and measurement research; (2) a common language and framework for exploring measurement problems is depicted for practitioners through the case study analysis; and (3) a connection between enterprise measurement and enterprise transformation is established to drive future transformation success. Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-161). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54602 Collaborative systems thinking : an exploration of the mechanisms enabling team systems thinking Lamb, Caroline Marie Aerospace systems are among the most complex anthropogenic systems and require large quantities of systems knowledge to design successfully. Within the aerospace industry, an aging workforce places those with the most systems experience near retirement at a time when fewer new programs exist to provide systems experience to the incoming generation of aerospace engineers and leaders. The resulting population will be a set of individuals who by themselves may lack sufficient systems knowledge. It is therefore important to look at teams of aerospace engineers as a new unit of systems knowledge and thinking. By understanding more about how teams engage in collaborative systems thinking (CST), organizations can better determine which types of training and intervention will lead to greater exchanges of systems-level knowledge within teams. Following a broad literature search, the constructs of team traits, technical process, and culture were identified as important for exploring CST. Using the literature and a set of 8 pilot interviews as guidance, 26 case studies (10 full and 16 abbreviated) were conducted to gather empirical data on CST enablers and barriers. These case studies incorporated data from 94 surveys and 65 interviews. From these data, a regression model was developed to identify the five strongest predictors of CST and facilitate validation. Eight additional abbreviated case studies were used to test the model and demonstrate the results are generalizable beyond the initial sample set. To summarize the results, CST teams are differentiable from non-CST teams.; (cont.) Among the most prevalent differentiators is a team's self-reported balance between individual and consensus decision making. Teams that engage in consensus decision making reported stronger engagement in collaborative systems thinking. Another differentiator is the median number of past program experiences on a team. Teams whose members reported more past similar program experiences also reported more engagement in collaborative systems thinking. Data show the number of past similar programs worked is a better predictor than years of industry experience. The apparent enabling effects of qualitative team traits are also discussed. The conclusions of this document propose ways in which these findings may be used to improve training and team intervention within industry, academia, and government. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-214). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53215 Mission emphasis and the determination of needs for new weapon systems Gillespie, Daniel Mark Efforts to understand the determination of needs of new weapon systems must take into account inputs and actions beyond the formally documented requirements generation process. This study analyzes three recent historical cases of fighter aircraft development to identify decisions made independently from the documented requirements process, about the need for new systems. The primary inputs to those decisions are identified, and a qualitative model for understanding the undocumented inputs, and their role in determining weapon system needs, is presented. By analyzing data across the cases, which span a period of significant change in fighter design, the concept of a Dominant Mission Emphasis (DME) is introduced. The DME is defined as that mission which receives the most emphasis from the majority of participants in the needs determination process, and which the majority of other missions support, either directly or indirectly. It emerges when enough participants become convinced that it is appropriate to address the military, economic, political, social, and other needs that exist, and it serves as a means for bounding the intractable array of possibilities for weapon system needs. The convincing of participants occurs primarily through a social process, not a technical or an authoritative one. Over time, as conditions change, the appropriateness of the DME will decrease. The appropriateness over time can be modeled with a bell-shaped curve. Cues are identified which suggest the need to re-examine the DME.; (cont.) The strength of a DME can be measured by qualitative and quantitative indicators, including such things as verbal statements, military doctrine, intellectual and academic writings, organization within the military, resources committed, and promotion decisions. These indicators can also be used as controls to strengthen or weaken a DME in response to the perception of its appropriateness for existing conditions. The DME is constantly being questioned and challenged by individuals who seek to convince others that its appropriateness is not sufficient for existing conditions. Alternative missions are proposed and advocated as new DMEs. The roles of the primary means for convincing participants of the appropriateness of a DME are presented. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53212 Globally distributed product development : role of complexity in the what, where and how Makumbe, Pedzisayi O This dissertation presents findings on four elements of the relationship between Global Product Development or Globally distributed Product Development (GPD) and product complexity. I examine this relationship in the context of medical, industrial and electronic equipment developed for American companies outside each development program's home-country. In the first study, I use multinomial logistics models and find that product complexity, specificity, strategic importance and designing firm's capability are directly related to the modes of global product development. These modes are namely global partnerships, captive offshoring and global outsourcing. The more complex products are developed through global partnerships or captive offshores, while the less complex products are globally outsourced. However, the difference in complexity among the three modes varies by region when I divide the world into emerging and mature regions. It is largest in emerging regions and statistically non-significant in mature regions. In the second study, I investigate factors that drive product development to different countries around the world. Using negative binomial models, I find that market size, national capability and number of engineering graduates are directly related to the amount of product development in a particular country, while market growth rate and labor cost are not. I also find that as product complexity increases, the importance of the national capability as a location advantage increases, and that national and firm capability are statistically related to each other.; (cont.) In the third study on host national culture, I find that national culture influences the internal team dynamics, but not necessarily where product development is eventually located. Finally, I qualitatively characterize the global product development strategy, organization structure, processes and people, and gather some recommended coordination practices. These include modularizing, not only the product, but the process as well to allow closed-loop monitoring in order to ensure that design expectations were perceived as intended. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-177). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53209 Commonality in complex product families : implications of divergence and lifecycle offsets Boas, Ryan C Commonality, or the sharing of components, processes, technologies, interfaces and/or infrastructure across a product family, represents one of many potential tools for increasing corporate profitability. Industrial interest in commonality is strong, but results appear to be mixed. A rich stream of academic research has examined commonality (typically under terms such as "product platforms" and "platform-based development") but has not emphasized the benefits and penalties of commonality, a topic that is critical to effective product family planning and lifecycle management, and ultimately, to improving corporate profitability. This dissertation leverages field research and a simple cost model to examine commonality in the context of complex product families. The core research effort was focused on conducting seven case studies of complex product families (aircraft, automobiles, satellites, and capital equipment). While the case studies provided a wealth of general insights, the studies were focused on examining divergence and lifecycle offsets, two critical topics that influence the benefits and penalties of commonality, yet appear to be inadequately addressed by the literature. Divergence refers to the tendency for commonality to reduce with time, for both beneficial and non-beneficial reasons. Lifecycle offsets refer to temporal differences between the lifecycle phases of product family members. Lifecycle offsets alter the potential benefits and penalties of commonality and their apportionment to individual products.; (cont.) Additionally, key factors identified during the literature review and case studies were translated into a simple two-product cost model of development and production in order to demonstrate key research insights in a more analytical manner. The case studies provide a refined view of commonality that reflects the realities of industrial practice. The cases indicate that complex product families are developed in a mostly sequential manner; that commonality is highest during the product family planning phase and then declines significantly throughout the lifecycle; and that development focuses more on reusing prior product baselines than on enabling future, potential commonality. The case studies also identified challenges in the evaluation of commonality and its lifecycle management. The case findings and simple cost model contribute to an improved understanding of commonality, while the recommendations offer potential paths to improved corporate profitability. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 220-224). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53091 Standardizing and improving test wafer processes : inventory optimization and a days of inventory pull system Johnson, David W. (David William), S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Over the past few years, the Intel Fab-17 facility has aggressively pursued lean methodology to reduce the manufacturing costs associated with its aging 200mm diameter wafer process. One area ripe with improvement opportunities is the processes supplying and managing Test Wafers, which are non-production wafers used to verify production tools and operations. With four test wafer types, hundreds of different sequences of operations (defined as routes), and varying consumption trends, thousands of decisions must be made daily to ensure Test Wafers are available on time and with the proper base characteristics. To further illustrate the magnitude and importance of Test Wafer systems, roughly the same number of Test Wafers are introduced each time period into the fab as production wafers. Through direct observation and process mapping techniques, I identified two system level projects, each containing enormous cost and performance improvements to the entire facility. Project One: Reallocating excess inventory In analyzing the Test Wafer inventory quantity and consumption rates in primary stockroom, I noticed that certain routes had excess inventory while others were deficient, thus leading to significantly more expensive Test Wafers types to be used instead. In order to maximize realized cost savings, I developed a linear optimization program which distributed excess Test Wafer inventory to areas of need. Different re-allocation costs, initial material specifications, and forecasted consumption needs constrained the quantity and location for this redistribution.; (cont.) Per the optimization program's recommendations, I led a team to re-allocate the largest excess Test Wafer inventory area to twelve different locations. The savings for this project correspond to over a year's worth of test wafer inventory now available for these routes and banks. Project Two: Determining supply decisions from a Days of Inventory (DOI) metric The previous process for supplying Test Wafers into the fab was complicated, lacked standardization, required significant human intervention, and led to tool performance impacts despite high operating costs. To address these issues, I designed, developed, and implemented a program which prioritized and calculated thousands of test wafer decisions based upon a Days of Inventory (DOI) metric. By prioritizing actions based on the time until stock out, cost-effective decisions were made while ensuring Test Wafers are available at a tool when needed. The program forecasted short term consumption using an Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EMWA) and pulled real-time inventory and available Test Wafer material to support the calculations and decision logic. After a successful fab-wide pilot, the "DOI Scheduler" program has now replaced the previous test wafer supply process. As a result, internal fab test wafer inventory will decrease by approximately 35% (as of March 2009, inventory has dropped by 15% and continues downward), Test Wafer availability will improve by approximately 75%, and 4 to 5 hrs a week of labor resources have been saved.; (cont.) Equally important, the prior non-standard process is now standardized, enabling future Test Wafer improvement projects and allowing root cause analysis on previously unsolvable problems. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52785 Operational flexibility on complex enterprises : case studies from recent military operations Dickmann, John Q An emerging requirement for 21st century enterprises is operational flexibility, a requirement particularly important for the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD). To achieve flexibility, most practice and research emphasizes process improvement, robust collaboration and "flattened" or "networked" organizations. Lateral alignment has also been proposed as a means to enable flexibility. Missing from these approaches is an appreciation and understanding of the role of architecture and hierarchy as well how to apply these ideas at the enterprise level of organization. The DoD has embraced information technology as one means to achieve flexibility via these methods. Within DoD the Air Force is a uniquely flexible combat arm, but it has proven particularly difficult to integrate air power at the level of inter-service (Joint) military operations in order to leverage this flexibility. Kometer (ESD Ph.D., 2005) used a complex, large-scale, interconnected, open, socio-technical (CLIOS) systems analysis to examine command and control of the Combat Air Operations System (CAOS), proposing new command and control concepts to gain flexibility. This thesis extends Kometer's research by using a qualitative architectural analysis to explore the twin ideas of hierarchy and laterality in enabling flexibility. We define lateral interactions as those within the same layer of an enterprise hierarchy. Lateral interactions enable formalized collaboration among peer entities, which can enable more operational alternatives and make these alternatives executable on more responsive timelines than possible with classic hierarchical structures.; (cont.) We identify previously unexamined trends in the operational architecture of combat air operations that are related to flexibility and examine the trade-offs between flexibility and other enterprise properties. We find a pattern of increasing enterprise laterality from beginning to end of the case studies and an association between upper- and lower-echelon laterality, overall system flexibility and strategic coherence. To enrich the analytical framework, an analogous example of flexibility in the New England Patriots football team is developed and presented. We find that our architecture framework provides a rich addition to existing empirical research on combat air power and addresses difficult socio-technical analysis issues in a way that complements other approaches. We also find that traditional perspectives on flexibility, efficiency and effectiveness trade-offs are strongly dependent on hierarchical level of analysis. Our framework lays a foundation for rigorous holistic enterprise design efforts in the area of military operations and other socio-technical enterprises such as health care, disaster relief and large-scale defense acquisition. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, June 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; "May 2009." Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51676 An Integrated Real options Framework for model-based identification and valuation of options under uncertainty Mikaelian, Tsoline Complex systems and enterprises, such as those typical in the aerospace industry, are subject to uncertainties that may lead to suboptimal performance or even catastrophic failures if unmanaged. This work focuses on flexibility as an important means of managing uncertainties and leverages real options analysis that provides a theoretical foundation for quantifying the value of flexibility. Real options analysis has traditionally been applied to the valuation of capital investment decisions by considering managerial flexibility. More recently, real options have been applied to the valuation of flexibility in system design decisions. However, different applications of real options are often considered in isolation. This thesis introduces an Integrated Real options Framework (IRF) that supports holistic decision making under uncertainty by considering a spectrum of real options across an enterprise. In the context of the IRF, enterprise architecture is described in terms of eight views and their dependencies and modeled using a coupled dependency structure matrix (C-DSM). The objective of the IRF is to leverage the C-DSM model in order to identify and value real options for uncertainty management. The contributions of this thesis are as follows. First, a new characterization of a real option as a mechanism and type is introduced. This characterization disambiguates among 1) patterns of mechanisms that enable flexibility and 2) types of flexibility in a system or enterprise. Second, it is shown that a classical C-DSM model cannot represent flexibility and options.; (cont.) The logical C-DSM model is introduced to enable the representation of flexibility by specifying logical relations among dependencies. Third, it is shown that in addition to flexibility, two new properties, optionability and realizability, are relevant to the identification and analysis of real options. Fourth, the logical C-DSM is used to estimate flexibility, optionability and realizability metrics. Methods that leverage these metrics are developed to identify mechanisms and types of real options to manage uncertainties. The options are then valued using standard real options valuation techniques. The framework is demonstrated through examples from an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) project and management of uncertainty in surveillance missions. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-231). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50541 Identifying the impact of modeling and simulation in the generation of system level requirements Walton, Myles Alexander, 1975- Requirements generation is an influential time in the evolution of the program. It allocates 70% of the life-cycle cost of a program and is responsible for a large percentage of the system errors and cost overruns. This project lays the framework of the current state of requirements generation and then focuses on the use of modeling and simulation within the process. It is shown that although modeling and simulation tools are being used extensively in requirements generation in many programs throughout the DoD, their effectiveness is largely undocumented and areas of high leverage are unknown. Research results also indicate that the more effective use of M&S within requirements generation could be achieved with increased tool interoperability and easier tool validation and verification. Finally, the ability to perform more iteration early and M&S use as a boundary object for communication are set forth as the two main benefits of M&S. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50530 Engine production system in the US defense aircraft industry Ramirez-de-Arellano, Luis G. (Luis Guillermo), 1970- A study was conducted, under the auspices of the Lean Aerospace Initiative, to determine the causes of increment in the production throughput time of engines in the US defense aircraft industry. Three sites were included. The study was based on data gathered through interviews and review of engine build records at the sites. Besides engine characteristics, specifications and applications, emphasis was put on collecting data related to engine build spans, records of perturbations, factory floor layouts, and part flow paths. Particular attention was paid to the production scheduling systems used at the sites. Supply chain management and worker training and cross-training were also covered. Finally, a comparison was made between the policies implemented at the sites and the enabling practices of the Lean Enterprise Model Results show how one of the studied sites achieves much better performance in terms of reduced build span variability and schedule conformance. Future improvement for the industry is also suggested. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 89). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50301 Building software factories in the aerospace industry Menendez, Jose K Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50097 Enabling cultural shifts : an enterprise approach toward lean thinking Olschewsky, Scott (Scott Michael) The Supply Planning Operations team, in a large manufacturing firm, faced a future where their complexity of scope was increasing without an increase in resource levels. As an effort to improve both efficiency and effectively within the organization, they chose to adopt Lean Thinking as a method to streamline and simplify activities, connections and flows. Lean Thinking, while often viewed as a set of tools (value stream mapping, andon cords, kanbans, and others), involves the harmony between principles, culture and the appropriate application of tools. SPO has taken an approach focused on culture and deep understanding of Lean Principles before deploying the tools of Lean. It was important to examine why artifacts succeeded or failed in influencing cultural change. One common theme for successful artifacts was their portability. With a geographically diverse team, it was important that any artifact could be transported electronically. Although not all the actions have been successful in influencing the organization's culture, many actions have had a profound impact. Seeing members of the organization write about their personal experiences is just one example of how Lean Thinking has been adopted. By committing to "Rules before Tools," the group embarked upon a journey to change culture. This thesis used an Enacted Systems Analysis to identify Artifacts, Habits of Thought and Habits of Action. Several organizational barriers emerged along with possible levers to promote change. Even though the revolution is only in its infancy, SPO appears to be on a sustainable path toward a Lean Thinking transformation. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49791 Identifying system-wide contact center cost reduction opportunities through lean, customer-focused IT metrics Sen, Avijit Dell's long-term success depends on its customers' future buying patterns. These patterns are largely determined by customers' satisfaction with the after-sales service they receive. Previously, Dell has been able to deliver high customer satisfaction but has done so at a high expense, further reducing the low margins on their consumer product line. Dell's Global Consumer Services and Support organization (GCSS) is constantly innovating to lower its operating costs while maintaining customer satisfaction. Their task is difficult to achieve in part because of the broad scope of problems that Dell's customer service agents (CSAs) tackle and the grey areas of support boundaries. In order to identify and correct the root-causes of these contact-center costs, Dell needs the ability to measure the specific cost of supporting individual customers. Yet, no such customer-centric data framework exists at Dell, or indeed in the contact center industry. However, it is possible to create just such a customer focused data framework by applying an automated value stream mapping (VSM) analysis to a large sample of contact-center activity data from Dell's data warehouse. The resulting data set is a collection of digital value stream maps representing the end-to-end customer service experience of each contact-center customer. After performing the proposed data transformations, these customer-focused metrics (CustFM) are shown to yield significant insights into previously unidentifiable cost reduction opportunities available across Dell's global contact-center network. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49787 Lean principle application in an automotive product development process with special emphasis on peer reviews Boren, Michael S. (Michael Stuart) Global Automotive, a large US based, global manufacturer of automobiles, has made significant gains in manufacturing competitiveness, in part through application of a lean manufacturing approach to high volume assembly. A similar approach applied to product development can result in significant improvements in product design throughput, speed, cost, design quality, and innovation. With major product programs taking in excess of 36 months and a billion dollars to complete, the potential impact of process improvements is substantial. This thesis examines elements of Global Automotive Product Development Process. Some general guiding principles for Lean product development are also reviewed from the existing literature. Special attention is given to metrics for measuring product development performance at Global Automotive. The thesis focuses on the role of peer reviews in the development process. The analysis is performed using a work order data set for two automotive development programs. Score cards from Peer Review and a survey of the component engineering community are also used to assess the effectiveness and current state of the peer review process. The study found evidence that high scores on peer reviews do not guarantee that late changes will occur, if anything component groups with average lower scoring peer reviews generated led to consistent levels of late stage changes. The objective of peer reviews should clearly be to find as many problems as possible and participants should be encouraged to delivery "low scoring" reviews. Keywords: Product Development, Lean, Peer Reviews, Design Defects. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49781 Accelerating value capture of SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system : governance model and process Shih, Ting-Chih Raytheon produces a diverse range of defense products using a wide range of business systems and tools that are not currently integrated. To achieve the corporate vision of "one company", in 2005, Raytheon began to deploy its SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, called "PRISM", focused on planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery processes. After a few single-site PRISM deployments, in 2009, Raytheon launched its biggest deployment yet, to 7,000 users and two business units in California and Texas. This thesis explores effective governance models and post-deployment governance processes necessary to mitigate the anticipated performance dip and accelerate return on investment (ROI) of the SAP system. The desired governance model for multi-business unit SAP ERP system includes comprehensive representation of stakeholders from business functional areas, information technology (IT) areas, user support groups, and SAP system experts. The governance structure consists of integration points among users, system experts, process owners, management, and corporate leadership team to ensure development of corporate system and solutions to address business unit needs. The governance process involves reviewing change requests, assessing changes needed, and deciding on final resolution. The governance structure and its linkages among different groups facilitate the process by involving the stakeholders with the appropriate knowledge and experience to contribute to decision making. The result is a governance structure capable of making just-in-time decisions to implement the "one-company" vision. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-115). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49780 Understanding, modeling and improving the development of complex products : method and study Rogers, Bradley W. (Bradley Warren) Development of new aerostructure designs frequently occurs through a complex process that is difficult to understand and control. Tight requirements for weight, cost, strength, and aerodynamic behavior create many interdependencies in the product design, which translate through to the design process. An increasing fragmentation of the commercial aerospace industry has also added a dimension of complexity to the process - outsourced component designs are often interdependent with in-house component designs, resulting in frequently changing requirements for supplier components during the design process. This thesis offers an analysis of the product development processes of a first-tier aerostructures supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. Although this host company provides the context for analysis, the method is meant to be generally applicable to the development of any complex product. The Design Structure Matrix (DSM) methodology is used to capture the required interaction between tasks of the development of a propulsion structure for commercial aircraft. The task times, time variations, work loads, interdependencies, likelihoods of rework, and learning curves are then quantified and applied to a discrete-event Monte Carlo simulation model which outputs probabilistic completion time and workload of the project. The model is then used to show how changing the customer requirements at different points in the development cycle affect the cost and schedule of development.; (cont.) The failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is applied to quantify risks and ensure proper control of their likelihoods and consequences A holistic industry-level analysis provides insight into the complexities of developing an interdependent product across multiple organizations. Potential recommendations to improve the development process are outlined. Finally, the "Three Lens" methodology is applied to identify implementation obstacles. This paper builds upon product development process simulation theory by introducing process independent externalities into the model to show how changing customer requirements may impact the cost and schedule of development. It also proposes a new framework for optimal staffing based upon the maturity of the customer requirements. Finally this paper shows that a disintegrated, sections-based design process architecture, like that used for the Boeing 787, is sub-optimal for product development, and it proposes a new architecture for developing aircraft. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 90). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49778 Lean visual management in an ERP/MES-controlled production cell Kisby, Brian M. (Brian Matthew) As a company grows, more and more effort is needed to control and coordinate operations. Typically, this is accomplished through an evolving collection of systems and processes, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, but such systems also influence how a company does business, reviews performance, and communicates results. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are often used in conjunction with ERP systems to streamline and enable actual manufacturing processes. A third type of system, the visual management system, is used to take production out of the closed, computerized realm and make it open, intuitive, and efficient. Visual Management, as a lean concept, can be a simple and effective means to efficiently regulate inventory levels and production activities. However, when visual management systems are to be embedded within a broader ERP/MES system, certain conditions and support systems are requisite, the absence of which will render the visual management system ineffective, at best, or destructive, at worst. Furthermore, there are fundamental issues around implementing visual management, be it high-tech or low-tech. This thesis will describe a case study of the process to manage the design and implementation of a visual management system, while addressing various stakeholders' needs and refined business objectives. Theories and frameworks of Enterprise Architecting and Change Management are utilized to analyze which functions the visual management system should perform and how to achieve operator buy-in. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 94). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49777 Mitigating the risk of a new workforce by reducing rework and rightsizing on hand inventory Larson, David (David William) Dramatically increasing the hourly workforce at a rapid pace to support accelerated product demand in an aircraft manufacturing facility in a short amount of time resulted in: (1) increased rework, and (2) increased part damage during assembly. The majority of rework results from simple workmanship mistakes from the new workforce. The approach used in this thesis to combat the increase in rework involves the design and implementation of a feedback loop on the shop floor of a leading aircraft manufacturer. The loop consists of providing each worker with a list of their discrepant work from the day before and the opportunity for them to perform their own rework. The thesis shows that the percent of discrepancies reworked by the original mechanic increases from 27% to 41%. Paired data is analyzed to show (on average) a 20% decrease in rework when the feedback loop is utilized. Included is qualitative advice on implementing change on the shop floor. During final testing, damaged parts (typically as a result of out of sequence work or workmanship mistakes) are discovered and require immediate replacement. Frequently, there are no replacement parts available at the test site, since the original part was installed by a subcontractor. To meet the immediate replacement need, test personnel remove an already installed part from an aircraft upstream in final assembly at the same location. The thesis includes a case study to demonstrate a binomial demand model to estimate the amount of on hand safety stock required to prevent the unnecessary labor from the redundant part removal and replacement from upstream aircraft.; (cont.) The case study estimates demand based on the probability of finding a damaged part, the takt time of the particular model, the leadtime and delivery quantity of replacement parts. A cost tradeoff is calculated to justify the additional capital investment in inventory. The thesis closes with a leadership case study on whom and how to hand off a shop floor Tip of the Day system for the new workforce to ensure its continued success. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 56). 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47898 Causes and impacts of Class One engineering changes : an exploratory study based on three defense aircraft acquisition programs Hsu, Teng-Cheng, 1973- Past studies on engineering changes have focused on products other than defense aerospace products, and have concentrated primarily on the design-manufacturing interface within single companies. Thus, engineering changes in the context of US defense aerospace product development - where the user community, the acquisition community, and the contractors share the responsibility for developing a product - remain largely unexplored. This research focused on three defense aircraft acquisition program case studies, referred to hereafter as Programs A, B, and C. The primary goal of these studies was to develop a better understanding of the causes and impacts of Class I engineering changes in the US defense aerospace product development context. Class I engineering changes, simply referred to as engineering changes below, are those that fundamentally modify the form, fit, and/or function of a product such that the results before and after the engineering changes are different, and are visible to all communities involved with developing the product. In addition, this research sought to identify ways in which contractors and customers may help to reduce the number of undesirable engineering changes. For the three case-study programs, requirements definition issues, changes in user needs, the need to fix deficiencies, and technological changes were found to be the four dominant causes of engineering changes. It was also found that program characteristics determined the dominant causes in each of the programs. Engineering changes due to the four dominant causes across the three case-study programs were found to be most likely of high-impact. The scope of impact of engineering changes remained relatively constant with respect to time, and engineering changes rarely led to subsequent, unanticipated engineering changes. Thorough requirements definition facilitated by the use of integrated product teams (IPTs), prioritization on program schedule, and the use of mature technologies combined to allow Program C to make frequent engineering changes to accommodate evolving user needs and changes in technology without any program schedule delay. It was also found that had IPTs been used during the development phases of Programs A and B, the prime contractors and their suppliers might have been able to avoid some engineering changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology and Policy Program, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-173). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47871 Context characterization for synthesis of process architectures LaFon, Christian (Christian Phillip) Analysis steps are proposed as an aid for establishing Lean Product Development (LPD) activities in an organization. The proposal is offered as an aid to engineering managers and process designers for coping with the unique challenges of implementing processes from their inception - for example, at a new enterprise. As such, the thesis focuses on the creation of LPD, as opposed to traditional Lean improvement activities which benefit from the perspective of hindsight of a legacy process. Without established product development processes to improve upon, the implementation of product development activities at a new venture relies on the use of foresight to instance a LPD environment in new organizations. Therefore, the paper stresses stakeholder value delivery within the specific context that an enterprise operates and competes. A generic framework for context characterization is proposed and discussed. The framework is then evaluated for its usefulness in process design activities. The analysis steps are based on literature review and case study interviews. The proposed analysis steps include: * a comprehensive definition of the business context in which the enterprise operates and competes, * a statement of goals and objectives for the product development organization based on this context, and, * a determination of appropriate behaviors to meet these goals. Traditional Lean research has typically been approached from a large-scale, complex systems, for-profit perspective.; (cont.) Unique insights are gained from the perspective of small, privately funded, new ventures. The benefits include foresight-only value objectives for product development (process creation) and uniqueness of context (i.e. resource limited, mindshare-driven). The analysis method was validated by examining process design case studies within three contexts: large-scale aerospace, industrial process monitoring, and high-technology start-up. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-118). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47863 Integrating military unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system : an application of value-focused thinking and enterprise architecting Cropsey, Luke C. G. (Luke Christopher Grant) The research presented in this thesis presents a methodology compatible with the Department of Defense (DoD) Capability-Based Assessment (CBA) process for analyzing and recommending appropriate enterprise architectures for the challenge of integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the national airspace system (NAS). Thesis organization is sub-divided into four sections. Section I provides the introduction, context, and recent efforts of the UAS airspace integration challenge and the underlying motivations driving the increased desire to see UAS better integrated into the NAS. Section II details the methodology used in the analysis by extending various value-focused, lean enterprise constructs using rigorous object process methodology (OPM) to describe and build alternative enterprise architectures. Section III applies the methodology to the UAS airspace integration problem specifically with the development and selection of a preferred enterprise architecture and a recommended transformation plan. Section IV concludes with a discussion on extending the methodology for specific application back into the CBA process, the issues involved in creating an executable model for enterprise architecting, and final thoughts on the iterative nature of the methodology and the need to further refine the initial results with the UAS airspace integration enterprise decision makers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-318). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47560 A system dynamics analysis of the interaction between the U.S. government and the defense aerospace industry Bakkila, Michelle Vivian Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-139). 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45501 Strategies for dealing with instabilities in a complex, multi-project product development system engineering environment Wright, Michael R. (Michael Robert), 1966- This thesis evaluates the product development process from the perspective of a multiple gas turbine engine development programs. The risk to meeting cost and schedule requirements has increased solely due to squeezing budgets and schedule to fit the "better, faster, cheaper" mold. The thesis focuses on the further risks to cost and schedule of the gas turbine product development cycle that are caused by instabilities introduced by the cyclical nature of multiple product development programs completing the cycle and new ones starting. Market and business factors influence the numbers of cycles and can not be controlled. Workload and resource-usage are not stabile within multiple product development cycles. The analysis establishes an overview of the gas turbine engine, product development process, and project management techniques employed to deliver the product to the customer within cost and schedule constraints. The analysis then uses a risk causal framework to identify the issues that the process faces relative to the cost and schedule risk. The use of this framework identifies staffing issues to be one of the key drivers of cost and schedule risk. A systems dynamic model developed in a previous Systems Design and Management thesis was adapted to represent the product development process by adding structure and calibrating the model with realistic scenarios. The model evaluates the policies that can mitigate risks identified within the given process. Recommendations are provided within a framework that enables management to decide the appropriate use of the policies recommended Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references. 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39334 A life-cycle flexibility framework for designing, evaluating and managing "complex" real options : case studies in urban transportation and aircraft systems McConnell, Joshua B. (Joshua Bryan), 1974- Designing a flexible system with real options is a method for managing uncertainty. This research introduces the concept of "complex" real options, which are composed of interconnected echnological, organizational and process components. "Complex" real options differ from the "standard" real options described in the literature in the option life-cycle activities of design, evaluation and management. To address the challenges posed by "complex" real options, the Life-Cycle Flexibility (LCF) Framework was created. The framework addresses issues along the entire life-cycle of an option, in both technical and social system dimensions. Two case studies were considered in this research to better understand "complex" real options and test the LCF Framework: 1) a large blended wing body aircraft in a commercial aircraft manufacturing enterprise and, 2) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities in an urban region with multiple public and private stakeholders. For the case studies, both a quantitative and qualitative analysis was completed. System dynamics and traffic demand models were used to quantitatively evaluate flexibility for each case study. Forty interviews with practitioners were conducted to better understand the practical challenges associated with flexible systems.; (cont.) This research found that there are significant differences between "standard" and "complex" real options. In the design phase, enterprise architecture issues must be considered either as a precursor or simultaneously with the design of the option. In the evaluation stage, option valuation techniques more sophisticated than those found in the real options literature were needed to value the "complex" real options. In the management stage, political considerations were of great importance as political opposition could prevent option exercise from occurring. Without the LCF framework, existing processes for evaluating real options are not adequate for taking into account the interacting technical, organizational and process components of 'complex" real options. In summary, this research provides new insights into the design, evaluation and management of "complex" real options. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44430 Lean transformation of a supply chain organization Walsh, Daniel Andres There are two basic schools of thought regarding how to approach a Lean transformation. Either start with introducing Lean tools or start with driving a Lean cultural change. Academic researchers like Steve Spear (Harvard/MIT), Lean experts such as James Womack (Lean Enterprise Institute), and many Lean practitioners within the company believe that a "culture first" approach is more likely to create a sustainable Lean transformation rather than a "tools first" approach. So, who is responsible for this "culture?" The leaders of an organization are responsible for the culture. Leaders drive cultural change through incentive systems, performance management, and role modeling. One critical tenant of Lean is the concept of kaizen, or making change for the better. Kaizen and continuous improvement applies to everyone, everywhere, everyday. This paper proposes that if one's approach to Lean is "culture first," then the leaders who own driving cultural change should hansei (personal introspection and reflection) and kaizen his or her own leadership behaviors and practices to ensure a successful Lean cultural shift for the organization. Supply Planning Operations (SPO) decided to begin its own Lean journey in July 2007, and the transformation is still in its infancy. As part of the journey, the leadership team is reflecting on and comparing the group's leadership and management practices with those advocated by Lean experts. The team found that Toyota's leaders built an enabling bureaucracy to foster a high-performing learning organization. "Leading Lean" requires new approaches and behaviors that challenge existing group norms. This paper summarizes the gaps between SPO's current leadership norms and those identified by Lean experts.; For example, SPO needs to continue developing their "people value stream" based on Lean organizational capabilities and healthy relational contracts between employees and management. These recommendations are not a prescription for success nor are they necessarily directly applicable to other groups. The intent of this thesis is yokoten (Toyota term for the horizontal transfer of information and knowledge) to share SPO's current understanding of its leadership problems with others on the Lean journey. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-113). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44308 The role of assessment in a lean transformation Shan, Raymond S. (Raymond Shing) When starting the journey to become a Lean company, companies commonly face the problem of understanding how to manage a Lean transformation. Often times, the first step in managing a Lean transformation is to understand the current state of the organization followed by defining the desired future state of the organization. However, in order to assess the current state, an effective measurement method is necessary. With a good measurement method, a company can not only understand the beginning state, but it can also take periodic measurements to check its progress against its transformation plan. In this thesis the effectiveness of Dell Business Assessment is analyzed in comparison to other current assessment methods. The Dell Business Assessment is examined in depth, as the thesis describes the development, piloting and recommendations for Dell's assessment tool. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-93). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44306 Enabling manufacturing flexibility issue resolution in advanced vehicle development Tomlin, Grace C. (Grace Catherine) Manufacturing Flexibility is a broad term used to describe a metric that can be measured in many different ways. Current industry experts agree that Flexibility is one of the key measures that will help the automotive industry reduce current overcapacity and remain competitive. In addition to flexibility, General Motors is also focusing on fewer, interbuildable product architectures.To maintain and implement flexible manufacturing systems, General Motors has developed a list of Flexibility Enablers. These enablers identify critical product characteristics which affect the interbuildability of the product and the flexibility and of the subsequent manufacturing process.Market forces drive product requirements, and lead to designs that potentially violate the Flexibility Enablers. This thesis will look at GM's internal structure and how it has developed to support design decisions and issue resolution. It will then study cases in which the design requirements led to design, manufacturing and cost tradeoffs in an attempt to understand and document the different unwritten resolution processes in disparate groups.Keywords: Manufacturing Flexibility, Product Development, Flexibility Enabler, Interbuildability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44302 Tailoring the prototyping process to achieve customer value Jordan, Brian Lane The main objective for prototyping is to get the most value out of the opportunity. Value may take the form of information, performance, displaying production readiness or proving capability for the amount of resources consumed and time required. The extents to which the aforementioned variables add customer value differ from project to project. Therefore, it is important to understand what the customer values most in the effort and modify the process to best achieve the prioritized results. Achieving customer value in the prototyping process is critical to Raytheon's Advanced Products Center (APC) business because it is likely that the customer will bring production into the facility. Misalignment with customer expectations will be avoided by tailoring the process around the metrics that the customer prioritizes. Confusion and inconsistency will be limited by having a clear and understood process. The intent of this thesis is to provide a means of tailoring the process to best achieve customer value given the characteristics of the project. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44301 Designing and implementing auxiliary operational processes Smith, Zachary R Amazon.com, one of the largest and most profitable online retailers, has been experiencing such dramatic growth rates that it must continually update and modify its fulfillment process in order to meet customer demand for its products. As the volume of customer orders increases, management at the different fulfillment centers must determine the optimal way to increase the throughput through their facility. Many times the answer lies in improving the primary process, but occasionally it makes better sense if an auxiliary process is built or expanded to meet the increased demand.This thesis analyzes the decision criteria necessary to determine when an auxiliary process should be designed in addition to an established primary process. The author's internship project will be presented as an example of how to implement such a secondary method. The six-month LFM project focused on increasing the Fernley, Nevada fulfillment center's capacity by making improvements to its manual sortation/packaging. This process, nicknamed BIGS, was originally built to offload large and troublesome orders from the primary, automated process path. The unique labor-intensive procedures used in this process held several advantages that justified its existence and the investments necessary to expand its capacity Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44298 Cycle time reduction through wafer starts control Wang, Sam, M.B.A. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Intel's Fab 17, located in Hudson, Massachusetts, has experienced dramatic improvements in its cycle time performance in the last two years. These improvements have been attributed to lean implementation efforts, reduced tool variability, as well as other key initiatives. In its efforts to continuously improve cycle time and cycle time variability, a new methodology of conducting wafer starts was developed and pilot implementations were conducted. The new methodology was based upon the concept of Little's Law of Cycle Time = Inventory / Output, whereby controlling the level of inventory through wafer starts would positively impact cycle time performance. Thus, by monitoring the current Work-in-Process levels at selected areas of operations and contrasting it with the optimal levels based upon Little's Law, an appropriate level of wafer starts could be determined.Close collaboration between the manufacturing, engineering, and planning departments allowed for the creation and pilot implementations of the wafer starts control model. The pilot implementations were conducted in three separate phases, providing opportunities for data analyses and methodology improvements. Model parameters and logic were modified between each phase to better reflect actual fab realities and to achieve more effective outcomes. Positive results were observed during the pilot implementations, as cycle time variability (as defined by standard deviations) decreased and overall fab cycle time remained consistently lower, all during a period of increased production. As of the conclusion of the internship, Fl7 planned to adopt the wafer starts control model as part of its routine starts process. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 55). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44297 Leveraging global operations innovation to create sustainable competitive advantage Storm, Andrew P. (Andrew Phillip) High fixed costs and the emergence of globalization have forced traditional domestic automotive mass producers to the brink of bankruptcy. This thesis focuses on the global growth strategy of a Tier 1 automotive supplier and examines causal relationships between that strategy and the system stakeholders who execute and support it. The literature review examines current research to illustrate the benefit of approaching globalization with a process-driven, systems-based mindset. Current literature offers insight into improved financial measures that traditional mass producing firms can employ to streamline decision making and shift the mindset of leaders to engage employees, suppliers, and customers around a long-term systems based operating strategy. The thesis is based upon three core experiences the author had at American Axle to illustrate the importance of systems-based operations innovation. The literature review in conjunction with the internship experience is used to illustrate opportunities for American Axle to improve its operating strategy. The paper highlights traditional approaches currently used inside the company and offers solutions to change employee behavior throughout American Axle's global manufacturing system. The thesis examines behaviors, metrics, and results often seen in an absorption cost environment where there are weak operational controls and non-standard corporate scorecards. Using current research and professional industry experience, I will argue robust operational controls and metrics, aligned with an overarching systems approach that considers the long term implications of today's decisions, are essential components to the viable, long term success of any global enterprise. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-91). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44296 Applying lean enterprise principles to optimize delivery of customer service McClellan, Hannah Elizabeth Many companies have realized significant value through the application of lean principles to manufacturing and supply chain operations. Dell Inc. in particular garnered international fame for its ability to manufacture and deliver computers using a lean, direct-to-customer approach that provided a tremendous competitive advantage. The Author suggests that these same lean principles can be applied to improve a firm's service and support operations, while acknowledging some important nuances of applying lean in a customer service environment. The Author calls to light a key differentiator between lean manufacturing and lean customer service. Specifically, while customers use relatively consistent value systems to assess manufacturing operations, different customer segments typically value customer service in very different ways. Thus, lean customer service must begin by thoroughly characterizing the value expectations and contributions of each customer segment. After characterizing these value systems, a firm must design a support channel architecture aligned with the value exchange system of the entire customer population. After designing a lean channel architecture, lean principles may be tactically applied to optimize performance within individual channels. This research project focused on improving customer service operations at Dell by using lean principles to: 1. Establish a data-driven, strategic architecture for Dell's consumer support division and 2. Identify operational improvement opportunities to drive the tactical execution of that strategy. The project began with a benchmarking study of customer service strategies at companies such as Best Buy, Apple, Fed-Ex, Amazon.com, GM, and Comcast.; (cont.) The Author then proposes a "Lean Support Channel Architecture" using on-line and retail service channels to offload demand from the call centers, effectively eliminating waste from call centers. Finally, the Author examines how lean principles can be tactically applied to a retail service channel to enable the cost-effective delivery of retail support in line with the support channel architecture proposed. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42175 A framework for dynamic safety and risk management modeling in complex engineering systems Dulac, Nicolas, 1978- Almost all traditional hazard analysis or risk assessment techniques, such as failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA), and probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) rely on a chain-of-event paradigm of accident causation. Event-based techniques have some limitations for the study of modem engineering systems. Specifically, they are not suited to handle complex software-intensive systems, complex human-machine interactions, and systems-of-systems with distributed decision-making that cut across both physical and organizational boundaries. STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes) is a comprehensive accident model created by Nancy Leveson that is based on systems theory. It draws on concepts from engineering, mathematics, cognitive and social psychology, organizational theory, political science, and economics. The general notion in STAMP is that accidents result from inadequate enforcement of safety constraints in design, development, and operation. STAMP includes traditional failure-based models as a subset, but goes beyond physical failures to include causal factors involving dysfunctional interactions among non-failing components; software and logic design errors; errors in complex human decision-making; various organizational characteristics such as workforce, safety processes and standards, contracting; and other managerial, social, organizational, and cultural factors. The main contribution of this thesis is the augmentation of STAMP with a dynamic executable modeling framework in order to further improve safety in the development and operation of complex engineering systems. This executable modeling framework: 1) enables the dynamic analysis of safety-related decision-making in complex systems, 2) assists with the design and testing of non-intuitive policies and processes to better mitigate risks and prevent time-dependent risk increase, and 3) enables the identification of technical and organizational factors to detect and monitor states of increasing risk before an accident occurs.; (cont.) The modeling framework is created by combining STAMP safety control structures with system dynamic modeling principles. A component-based model-building methodology is proposed to facilitate the building of customized STAMP-based dynamic risk management models and make them accessible to managers and engineers with limited simulation experience. A library of generic executable components is provided as a basis for model creation, refinement, and validation. A toolset is assembled to identify risk increase patterns, analyze time-dependent risks, assist engineers and managers in safety-related decision-making, create and test risk mitigation actions and policies, and monitor the system for states of increasing risk. The usefulness of the new framework is demonstrated in two independent projects: 1) A risk analysis of the NASA Independent Technical Authority (ITA), an organization mandated by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) to provide independent safety oversight of space shuttle operations, and 2) A risk management study for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) at NASA. For these two projects, model refinement, validation and analysis required extensive data collection and interactions with NASA workforce. Over 45 interviews were conducted at five NASA centers (HQ, MSFC, KSC, JSC, and LaRC). Interviewees included representatives from the Office of the Administrator, the Office of the Chief Engineer, the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, ESMD Directorate Offices, Program/Project Offices, and many others. Among other data sources, 200 pages of interview transcripts were compiled and used for model creation and validation activities. Specific risks analyzed include: 1) NASA workforce and knowledge management issues, 2) the impact of various levels of outsourcing, 3) the impact of safety priority on design, and 4) the impact of requirements change on safety and schedule during development. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, June 2007.; "February 2007."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 328-338). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43862 Using Virtual Business Systems to drive lean behavior in engineering design and support Ho, Purdy P. (Purdy Pinpin), 1977- Virtual Business System (VBS) is a visual-based analytics and real-time information displaying system. It first started at Raytheon's Andover manufacturing facility in early 2000 with the strategic objectives of linking Lean and Six Sigma behavior to customers' successes and gradually transforming Raytheon into a Lean workplace. VBS dashboards are projected onto flat screen panels located throughout the factory floor such that anyone on the floor can view the production line status in real-time. This thesis focuses on developing a new VBS dashboard and using it to transform the enterprise. Leveraging the success in manufacturing deployment, this thesis describes Raytheon's initial attempt of extending VBS to the engineering arena, with the goals of driving Lean and Six Sigma behavior to the next level, transforming problem solving behavior from reactive to proactive and from containment to prevention, redefining quality control and performance metrics to better reveal business risks and opportunities and eliminating undesirable aspects in cost, cycle time and information latency. The VBS dashboard described in this thesis provides root cause "drill-down" capabilities for quality control and performance assessment, which leads to cycle time reduction, early stage problem resolution and defect prevention. VBS changes data ownership culture from privatize to publicize, which couples employees' actions to responsibilities and enhances proactive problem solving attitude. VBS dashboard is also a one-stop shop for data collection and analysis, which eliminates non-value added work for processing and fetching data from multiple sources. Last but not least, VBS dashboards build on modular development architecture, which enables quick turnaround on deliverables.; (cont.) Therefore, VBS is considered the "disruptive technology" of many existing corporate information technology systems and the Andon boards. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (M.B.A.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 85). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43860 Restoring product focus across the value stream through organizational restructuring Pasqual, Jeffrey M. (Jeffrey Michael) Businesses take deliberate action to change their internal context when managers believe that better performance lies beyond the capabilities of assets in their present configuration. A typical course of action is reorganization. A key consideration for organizational design is how the relationship between an organization's structure, the structure of its products, and the structure of its processes influence the value delivered to customers. In some sense, products, processes, and the organization should "fit" each other. This thesis presents a framework for thinking about product architecture, enterprise architecture, and the value stream of processes that binds them together. Critical to any enterprise architecture are process owners that control and improve organizational processes and product owners that manage the end-to-end development of products. When a product is significantly complex, independent tiers of product ownership might be established to ensure that different levels of products - systems, subsystems, or components - are managed with appropriate developmental objectives in mind. For example, some components must be distinct to a single product; other components can be common among several products. The proposed framework shows how product and enterprise architectures can be integrated to support the development of complex systems. The thesis also presents a case study to which the proposed framework is applied. The study focuses on a business that has recently restructured its organization to achieve better alignment with the complex products it develops. Using the proposed framework, the new organizational structure is evaluated to determine if the new enterprise architecture positions the business to increase customer value and accomplish its long-term goals. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (M.B.A.) -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-94). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43859 Symbiotic strategies in enterprise ecology : modeling commercial aviation as an Enterprise of Enterprises Sgouridis, Sgouris P We investigate the effectiveness of strategic alternatives that are designed to dampen the cyclicality manifest in the commercial aviation (CA)-related industries. In this research we introduce the conceptual framework of Enterprise of Enterprises (EoE) as an extension and special case of a System of Systems, to facilitate the design of strategic alternatives in an enterprise ecosystem characterized by loosely coupled enterprises. The constituent enterprises in an EoE exhibit managerial and operational independence and have diverse value functions that are often viewed by the enterprises as zero-sum games. We argue that this may not always be the case; for example, in the CA EoE both airline and airframe manufacturers constituents would benefit from a steadier influx of aircraft that counters the current situation that is characterized by relatively stable demand growth rate for air travel while airline profitability and aircraft ordering fluctuate intensely. A strategic alternative geared towards this EoE-wide desired state is "symbiotic". In order to identify such strategies, we use the EoE framework to analyze the CA-related industries and to specify their local value functions and the salient interfaces among them based on an extensive review of the literature on commercial aviation. We develop working hypotheses about the driving mechanisms of the cycle in the CA EoE informed by the literature on economywide and supply chain cyclicality. To test these hypotheses, we extend a system dynamics model of commercial aviation. After testing several individual strategic alternatives, we find that capacity management is key to cycle moderation. We then compare two diverse, non-collusive ways for capacity management: faster aircraft deliveries and semi-fixed production schedules generated by long-term forecasts.; (cont.) While both are promising, only the latter alternative is shown to be Pareto optimal. We also examine the potential synergistic effects from combining more than one strategic alternatives for which we also discuss implementation implications. The EoE framework and some of our findings can be applicable and generalizable to other industries facing intense cyclical behavior. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-351). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43855 Qualitative knowledge construction for engineering systems : extending the design structure matrix methodology in scope and procedure Bartolomei, Jason E This thesis presents a new modeling framework and research methodology for the study of engineering systems. The thesis begins with a formal conceptualization of Engineering Systems based upon a synthesis of various literatures. Using this conceptualization, a new modeling framework is presented called the Engineering Systems Matrix (ESM). The ESM is an improvement to existing system-level modeling frameworks, such as the Design Structure Matrix (DSM), by providing a dynamic, end-to-end representation of an engineering system. In support of this contribution, a new research methodology is presented called Qualitative Knowledge Construction (QKC). QKC can be thought of as a Bayesian-type approach to grounded theory. The methodology integrates qualitative social science with quantitative methods by developing a procedure for translating textual reports of observations, interview transcripts, system documentation, and figures into coded data represented in the ESM. The thesis develops the ESM framework and the QKC methodology in the context of a real world engineering system, a US Air Force miniature uninhabited air vehicle (MAV) product development system. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; MIT Barker Engineering Library copy: printed in pages.; Also issued printed in pages.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-146). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43853 Knowledge integration for problem solving in the development of complex aerospace systems Haddad, Marc George The development of complex products requires widespread knowledge interactions among a significant number of individuals and teams designing numerous interrelated components. Increasing product complexity typically leads to a corresponding increase in the types and sources of knowledge that need to be tapped during development, and a common strategy for managing product complexity is to outsource parts and components to external suppliers. As a result, the knowledge required for development is increasingly specialized and distributed across multiple boundaries spanning large-scale organizational networks, thus requiring the subsequent integration of this knowledge in order to accomplish the development task. A framework for knowledge integration in the development of complex systems in a large-scale organizational context is proposed in this thesis using an extensive review of the pertinent literature. The framework consists of the main channels, strategies, practices and mechanisms most commonly used to transfer, share and apply knowledge in the course of complex technical problem solving. The framework is progressively refined using empirical data collected through several rounds of interviews and a questionnaire instrument administered across three major aircraft programs in the defense aerospace industry. We find that knowledge integration in routine problem solving situations is most efficiently and effectively accomplished through extensive transfer and sharing of codified information using formal mechanisms such as information systems, while knowledge integration for major non-routine troubleshooting events requires extensive integration of individual expertise and know-how through both formal and informal advice sharing as well as direct assistance across internal and external organizational boundaries.; (cont.) A principal contribution of this research is in demonstrating how different characteristics of the engineering artifact defined in terms of product complexity, architecture and technology newness, and different aspects of problem solving including problem type and novelty, drive the knowledge integration process and the organizational system. We conclude that permeability of cross-program boundaries, direct relationships with functional groups and rich tacit knowledge flow from suppliers are critical for countering rampant firefighting in complex product development. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-248). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43834 Lean Transformations in Supply Chain, the autocatalytic nature of lean principles, and tactics for implementing lean tools Gardner, Bryan (Bryan Jay) Expanding Lean principles beyond the manufacturing floor, ultimately to entail a comprehensive Lean Enterprise, has gained increasing attention among corporations. This thesis entails a detailed case study of initiating a Lean Transformation in the Supply Chain department of a technology center for engineering, integration and final assembly of directional drilling equipment. This technology center is part of Schlumberger, a global corporation and industry leader in directional drilling and other oilfield technologies and services. Initiating the Lean Transformation in this Supply Chain department is detailed and used as the central theme throughout the thesis. The rapid, successive applications and results of conventional Lean principles are evaluated. Due to the near relative proximity of the several initiatives undertaken, in both time and within the organization, this case is used to evaluate the Autocatalytic Nature of Lean Principles within the Supply Chain department. Concurrently, the dynamics involved with the interactions of personnel within the department are evaluated. As a Lean Transformation is so heavily dependent upon the personnel participating in the change, tactics for initiating a Lean Transformation are treated in reference to the several initiatives of this case study. These three components, Lean principles, their autocatalytic interaction, and relevant human interactions, are all combined to comprehensively address the most influential aspects of affecting a Lean Transformation in a Supply Chain department. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 179). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43832 Analysis of email and phone queuing systems in a world-wide contact center network Carter, Kristopher (Kristopher W.) Contact centers are operated by companies to answer customer inquiries via phone calls or email. Customers often equate the service they are provided while interacting with a contact center to the quality of a company's product offering. Therefore, a major concern is what service level the company should choose to provide. One means of measuring service level is speed of response (how quickly a customer inquiry is answered). In general, faster response requires more customer service agents for a given volume of inquiries. Phone response times are usually measured in minutes or seconds. Email response times are usually measured in hours or days. This paper examines customer expectations regarding email and phone inquiry response time, and examines various models for planning staffing requirements to meet these response times. The expectations for response time to phone calls are found to be stable, having not changed much in the last few decades. The expectations for response time to email inquiries have been increasing though, with customers demanding much faster response in the last few years. Many customers now expect response to their emails within hours rather than days, with a significant number now expecting response as quickly as one hour. The challenges of implementing faster response times to email are examined using a case study at a major online retailer. A model is also introduced for email service level planning, that allows for the fact that typical response times are much longer than for phone calls. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 50). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43827 Accelerating time-to-market in the global electronics industry Folgo, Elena Jean In today's electronics industry, fast time-to-market (TTM) and time-to-profit (TTP) is key to customer satisfaction and firm competitiveness. Optimizing the product development and new product introduction (NPI) process is particularly critical for products in dynamic market segments such as consumer electronics and telecommunications. This analysis will utilize a case study to define the current state of the development process for a top electronics manufacturing services (EMS) player conducting original design manufacturing (ODM) projects in a dynamic market. The analysis will identify process and organizational improvements that will eliminate product development waste in support of accelerating TTM and TTP using an enterprise perspective. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 57). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43826 Lean concepts in customer care : adding value and reducing waste with proactive order status messaging Gill, Kaine C Information technology (IT), operational efficiency, and a strong relationship with customers are three critical components to Dell's success over the last twenty four years. Information technology throughout Dell's history has enabled strategic advantages such as the direct sales model. Operationally, Dell has continuously striven to be best in breed in terms of having an efficient supply chain and manufacturing facilities. Dell's customers were delighted because Dell dealt directly with them without a middle man, quickly translating their needs into products and solutions. These three factors are interdependent and have driven Dell to a sixty billion dollar Fortune 50 company in less than a quarter century. Over the last few years Dell has begun to embrace a lean culture within its manufacturing and supply chain operations. These initiatives are above and beyond other continuous improvement initiatives such as Business Process Improvement (BPI) which traditionally has focused on cost avoidance. To date the lean concepts have not progressed far beyond traditional operational boundaries or the proverbial four walls of manufacturing. This thesis looks to apply lean philosophical concepts and tools in customer service and IT environments. The analysis included consumer call center call drivers identification and value stream mapping of online self help environments. The analysis pointed to the order management process and proactive order status messaging in particular as a thesis focus area. The author convinced high level leaders across Dell's support, IT, and logistics organizations to sponsor a kaizen event to bring all of the key stakeholders together to design an ideal state, end-to-end proactive order status messaging process.; (cont.) Stakeholders analyzed communication channels (phone, internet, email channels, etc.) and messages delivered (order processed, order confirmed, order shipped messages, etc.). The team developed a coherent ideal state vision of what the processes and data systems should look like. Some short and long term successes were realized by the time this thesis was published. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [78]). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43825 Development of a global facility location analysis tool Johnson, Briana F With an economy and customer base that is global, companies are increasingly expanding outside their home country's borders. Many times this is done to take advantage of lower labor or material rates, to increase proximity to the customer, to decrease logistics and transportation costs, to avoid tariffs and other taxes as well as many other factors. How does a company take advantage of the benefits of global operations while still taking into account the corporate strategy and risks associated with a location? By looking beyond standard matrix analysis tools that provide a one number comparison of potential locations, this thesis will expand the existing tools to incorporate the views of Enterprise Architecting to provide a more complete picture of how the decision to expand to one location versus another supports the desired architecture of the firm. This thesis combines analytical hierarchy process with a two level decision matrix to quantify the score of each location. A risk profile was developed to quantify the risk associated with specific locations and criteria in order to provide a more complete picture of the potential costs and benefits of building a facility in a certain location. This more complete view of location analysis will provide a tool that is both repeatable and reliable in its results and allows for an objective decision to be made on location in terms of the critical factors. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43823 Using visual analytics to drive lean behavior in program management office Antoniou, Charalambos J. (Charalambos Jean) Raytheon recently won a large order for one of its programs (Program X) leading to a doubling of monthly production. With a relatively larger order, Raytheon reduced the acquisition unit price to the customer. Thus, there is a burning platform to evaluate the current program assessment tools and ensure that the future assessment tools are adequate for a smooth production schedule. In addition, there is a need to create a more robust and automated manner of identifying risks and opportunities in the production process. The main approach is to use the Raytheon Six Sigma process (visualize, commit, prioritize, characterize, improve, and achieve) to solving major projects, which is similar to the original Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control). Using the aforementioned process, this thesis explores whether introducing visual analytics and controls to the Program Management Office (PMO) can improve the overall communication between the PMO and the manufacturing work centers, and ultimately eliminate the various wastes and improve Program X's production process. In addition, this thesis examines if driving Lean behavior to the PMO, can indirectly drive Lean behavior across the manufacturing value chain leading to cost savings and increased productivity. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 73). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43822 Applying an enterprise architecting framework to design enterprise sales and operations planning Chu, Brandon B Raytheon Company, a leader in aerospace and defense, has experienced tremendous growth through mergers and acquisitions. In particular, the company's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business unit was largely formed through acquisitions of E-Systems and Texas Instruments and a merger with Hughes Aircraft Company. To assimilate the legacy organizations, Raytheon and SAS have undertaken great efforts to work as "One Company." One such example has been to strive for an enterprise sales and operations planning process. Five years ago, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) Operations leaders recognized the need to be more proactive in comprehending forecasted business and subsequent impacts to SAS' manufacturing network. As a result, Program Requirements and Operations Planning (PROP) was born to enable improved supply chain planning for factory labor and capital resources. Over time, the complexity of SAS' business has proven to be a challenge for PROP to achieve its intended objectives.- This thesis considers PROP as an enterprise rather than a process and proposes re-designing it using a holistic enterprise architecting framework including a thorough examination of the current state of PROP with respect to seven architectural views (strategy, policy/external factors, process, organization, knowledge, IT, and products/services). A future state PROP design is derived from the analysis and then validated against a detailed case study of the Army's Firefinder radar product line manufactured at Raytheon's Forest, Mississippi facility. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 63). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43614 Lean technology development Bouzekouk, Salim, 1976- In today's corporate world, successful technology management is separating market leaders from laggards. Because technology is in constant change and what is state-of-the-art today will be obsolete tomorrow, it is not companies with the best technologies that ultimately succeed. Instead, successful companies are those that succeed in institutionalizing and sustaining an efficient technology development process. Moreover, this process must be continuously improved by applying new techniques and concepts to cope with the increasing challenges of technology management. This thesis will explore the extent to which Lean principles can be applied in technology development and how they can contribute to achieving new technology development imperatives (fast cycle time, increasing number of technology introductions, etc.). In order to answer these questions, the thesis proceeds in a logical manner by decomposing the objectives of technology development into organizational solutions using Axiomatic Design. Then, Lean principles as they have developed within the Product Development Focus Team of the Lean Aerospace Initiative are mapped into the above decomposition. The research concludes that under some additional considerations, Lean principles do lead to the achievement of technology development objectives. More, the above theoretical research is applied to a real world case: Technology development at Ford Motor Company. After an assessment of the current process, opportunities of improvement are identified and a leaner process is proposed. Finally, issues and opportunities with OEMs-Suppliers partnerships for new technological systems development are studied. The objective was to formulate policies and make recommendations for a better management of technology supply. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-91). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43178 A survey of front end modularity as an automotive architecture and its ability to deliver value Mahé, Vincent R. (Vincent Robert) The partitioning of a system can and will dictate the creative space for a designer or engineer. This thesis will analyze how using a new automotive architecture known as a Front End Module (FEM) can affect a limited specific subset of stakeholders. Through the use of interviews of subject matter experts, literature research and the use of System Design Management tools, an in depth analysis will be done on the FEM and how it affects the craftsmanship, damageability and assembly attributes. It will be shown how the craftsmanship attribute can be improved through the strategic use of FEM's to allow for a feed-forward system where build data are incorporated into upcoming FEM builds. Even with this advantage, the FEM architecture will not negatively impact the damageability attribute or assembly attribute if the proper design cues and strategies are followed. The FEM will also be intensely analyzed using the tools from the MIT SDM program where it will be evaluated as an architecture itself through the specific and targeted intent and beneficiary breakdown. The analysis will also include an Object/Process Mapping analysis where it will be proposed that the true customer of the automotive front end is not the individual that purchased the vehicle but rather the visual society as a whole. Finally, a managerial approach will be taken for the analysis of the inherent and inevitable supplier relationship that is required with using this FEM architecture. Interviews were conducted with two suppliers of OEM's and their common road blocks will be analyzed such as lack of holistic thinking or failure to understand the role of the system integrator. Proposed next steps will be laid out to address these barriers in order to open the communication channels between the supply base and the Original Equipment Manufacturers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-118). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43177 Global product development : a framework for organizational diagnosis Martínez, Víctor Takahiro Endo The main purpose of this thesis is to present an approach for analyzing product development organizations in a globalizing world. The fragmentation and distribution of several product development activities in the global market have generated a variety of strategies. In addition, an increasing visibility of the influence of cultural diversity in these strategies and an intensified sensitivity to sustainability issues motivate this research. Retaking the questions of which is the best strategy for product development organizations to succeed and, even further, which is the measure of success for these organizations are also part of the motivation behind the research. The methodology followed for constructing the socio-technical framework presented in this document mainly consisted of gathering, analyzing, and integrating existing literature and frameworks from systems engineering, social, and management studies. Utilizing a macro-framework with three spectra -space, time, and context- the framework allows the decomposition of the product development system into three levels, identifying the key stakeholders and roles within the system. The framework includes four different angles -structural, human resources, political, and symbolic- from which a product development organization can be diagnosed. Also, the knowledge of predictable reflexive human responses is presented as a means for stabilizing an organization. In parallel, the study includes an exploratory approach for finding a robust way of measuring a product development organization. Finally, an intervention strategy is proposed as an outcome of both the research process and the framework presented. An automotive product development organization was selected for testing the applicability of the framework. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-128). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43173 Value assessment of new product innovations Aykroyd, Timothy N In the commercial industry, an investment in a new innovation can make or break a company. In order for the new innovation to succeed in a competitive marketplace, it must deliver value to its stakeholders. Companies are thus rewarded to assess the value an innovation will deliver to its customers early in the design process. This thesis provides a framework to measure the potential value a new innovation will deliver to consumers based on scoping the project. The framework provides details on creating a model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) by establishing a hierarchy of customer objectives. The application of the framework is then applied to a large company developing two new innovations. Two interesting facts arose from the study. First, the value assessment model can be fractionated to evaluate how new products are valued by multiple market segments. A company can use this information to align a new innovation with a brand segmentation and develop an appropriate strategy to launch products. Secondly, this methodology has been shown to work on incremental innovation and non-traditional products which expand the customer base. The methodology does work when applied to radical innovation which overturns existing value structures and changes the market dynamics. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-85). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43123 Synchronization of system-of-systems interfaces in military satellite communications Davis, Mark J. (Mark Jeffrey) Military systems continue to become more complex and nearly all are now part of one or more system of systems (SoS). Military satellite communications programs have expanded over the last decade from three distinct satellite constellations with dedicated ground, ship, and airborne terminals to several existing and planned satellite constellations and dozens of multi-purpose terminal variants. Each of the new systems must operate with both legacy and new systems. This has given rise to many new external system interfaces that span the boundaries of large SoSs. Unsynchronized interface design and development has caused large amounts of scrap and rework in the design and development of the new military systems leading to adverse impacts including large cost growth and schedule delays. The Air Force Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing (MCSW) in Los Angeles, CA has begun to put a framework in place to manage SoS interfaces, but there are still big challenges ahead and room for improvement. This research collects data to quantify the performance of the present MCSW change management process. A value stream mapping and analysis effort along with a discrete even simulation model is conducted to identify areas for improvement in the as-is change management process and suggest an improved future-state change management process. The future-state change management process draws on best practices from the lean and SoS engineering literature to improve interface synchronization and significantly reduce process cycle time. This leaner and more effective future-state change management process could be applicable to many government acquisition program offices to save cost and schedule on programs by reducing the amount of rework due to engineering changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-212). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43116 Business model transformation for the international division of a fortune 100 high technology company Mokhtari Dizaji, Reza, 1968- Raytheon Canada in Waterloo, Ontario offers a very interesting but challenging research case. As one of the international divisions of Raytheon Corporation, the company has a business model similar to its parent company. The company however is facing new trends in its business environment which have characteristics different than those of its parent company. The main focus of this thesis is to identify the key missing elements in the company's current business model and propose solutions in order to assist the company to adopt the best strategy to successfully operate in this evolving market.The company's interactions with the rest of Raytheon are limited due to the recent tightening of ITAR regulations. Although the company's organization structure is still tightly integrated to the rest of Raytheon, Raytheon US restricts the company's access to the best practice from the rest of the corporation in US. Another interesting observation relates to the company's two major product lines. ATM, Raytheon Canada's legacy product line is being disrupted by the recent arrival of ADS-B technology. This new technology has the potential of providing a major threat to company's sustainability. At the same time Raytheon Canada is introducing HFSWR, which is a disruptive technology, to maritime surveillance market. The company is facing the challenges of commercializing this breakthrough technology to a highly regulated and fragmented market. Raytheon Canada needs to operate in this complex business environment. This makes the company a remarkable research case for analyzing its current business model and ways to improve it through integrating the latest business knowledge from both industry and academia.; (cont) The goal of the thesis is to assist Raytheon Canada to transform its business model by determining the key characteristics of its future business model through detailed assessment of the company's current business model and study of the enterprise future business environment. This is obtained by studying the market research data, the strategic goals of parent company, trends in the technology and product landscape, and the customer behavior. Solutions are proposed for developing a realistic roadmap to transform the current business model of the company to address the future business environment challenges. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-127). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43112 Transforming commercial aerospace supply chain management practices by utilizing Toyota production system principles, practices, and methodologies Patneaude, Steven M This thesis examines The Toyota Motor Corporation's core precepts, management principles, supply chain architecture, product development methods, leveraged practice of supplier partnerships and procurement practices, all of which are integral elements associated with the Toyota Production System, and assesses the scalability these elements for application in the commercial aerospace industry.The methodology used in this study includes an examination of basic concepts and practices that Toyota employs throughout its extended enterprise and which are being widely adopted throughout the automotive industry as well as other industries worldwide, based on a review of the open literature. The research also draws upon the author's first-hand exposure to Toyota's production system through field research involving benchmarking site-visits to Toyota plants, and makes use of extensive interviews conducted with both automotive and aerospace industry experts.The research reported in this thesis reveals that Toyota's Production System, as a mutually reinforcing set of principles, methods and practices, are indeed scalable to the aerospace industry and that one of the two commercial aerospace behemoths, Boeing and Airbus, has an opportunity to leverage them in order to obtain a clear and sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. This is possible, however, with an important caveat: the end-to-end enterprise transformation process would need to be based on adopting a long-term approach to renovating the current system, working closely with the supply chain partners, owning the change process, and holding steady over the longer-haul. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-133). 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43103 Reducing instability in a transforming organization Salter, Thelton Raymond It is obvious from many studies that an alignment and understanding around vision, strategy and goals must occur within a corporation across all organizations before the corporation can operate at its highest efficiency. This becomes even more important in a "flat" organization with distributed leaders. Having this type organization allows transformation to a lean enterprise because decisions can be made at a much lower level and therefore accomplished faster. However, the leaders must know and understand the corporate vision, strategy and organizational goals, which create the context and framework for many of the decisions that will need to be made. Absent this understanding, decisions can appear disjointed, uneven and without purpose towards meeting larger corporate goals and once made, the decision may not in fact support the corporate strategy. The results of this may manifest itself in internal instability caused by leadership vision changes.The Labor Aerospace Research Agenda (LARA) at MIT, starting in the late 1990's, has documented leadership vision changes as a major source of internal instability. This instability could be real or perceived but in either case if not properly managed could lead to a less efficient transformation. Thus, a structured approach around a common framework to create a shared vision from top to bottom throughout the corporation could prevent this instability from occurring. One corporation being studied has instituted a "roadmap" process, which was developed, in part, to address this issue. While the roadmap process does not address all stakeholders or potential sources of instability, it does address leadership vision and how that vision is turned into a strategy with shared goals. The purpose of this thesis is to: 1) Present an outline of the process used to align the corporation; (cont.) 2) Present the results of whether there is a measurable difference in instability driven by changes in leadership vision between departments that use the "roadmap" process and those that don't 3) Compare the results from this company and others previously studied to determine if there is more or less internal instability naturally within the company 4) Conclude whether the roadmap process evaluated is beneficial or not and propose potential modifications to the process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 72). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43097 Evaluation and synthesis of methods for measuring system engineering efficacy with a project and organization Flynn, Timothy Daniel The need for robust systems engineering in product development has been understood by those developing product in the aerospace and defense industries since the days of the Atlas ballistic missile program. In recent times industries developing systems of similar complexity have come to respect the value of systems engineering. Systems engineering is the glue which binds a large technical team and focuses the engineering effort towards satisfying a set of realizable customer needs. EIA/IS-632 definition of systems engineering is as follows; "Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach encompassing the entire technical effort to evolve and verify an integrated and life-cycle balanced set of system people, product and process solutions that satisfy customer needs."To control and improve a process a viable set of measures must be in place. Existing measures of the strength of the systems engineering process in a specific project address only project execution (e.g. earned value) and technical performance. When applied properly these metrics provide valuable insight into the status (cost and schedule) of a project and a products ability to meet customer needs. However, few of these existing measures are progressive in nature and as such fail to provide early warnings of systems engineering process failure. What are needed are prognostics for the systems engineering effort; gauges to provide predictions of future events which impact product cost, schedule and/or performance. The Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), working with the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), released a guide (in Beta form) in December of 2005 outlining a progressive set of thirteen leading indicators to address this need. This set of metrics has yet to be been verified against an active or historical project but provides a starting ground for additional research. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [126]-128). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42370 Re-architecting the Battalion Tactical Operations Center : transitioning to network centric operations Minami, Nathan A. (Nathan Andrew) As the Army conducts transformation in the midst of an ongoing information driven Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and the War on Terror, it has realized the need to develop leaner, more agile, versatile and deployable forces. As part of its latest transformation to Brigade "Units of Action," the Army realized the need to improve the "tooth to tail" ratio of its forces and transferred from a Cold War "Divisional" force structure to one focused around more deployable and sustainable Brigade Units of Action. Ironically, this transformation to what is suppose to become a more lean and deployable force structure has produced larger and more heavily staffed battalion, brigade and division command posts. Despite introduction of the Army Battle Command System (ABCS), a system of digital systems that are intended to help speed up the Army's ability to transfer information, improve situational awareness, make decisions, and out "OODA" (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) its opponents, in many aspects the Army has actually taken a step backwards. The end result is that these larger command posts are becoming more hierarchical and bureaucratic, and are reducing the Army's ability to get ahead of the enemy's decision cycle. Platoon Leaders and Company Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan constantly lament that "if they only had the information they needed 48 hours earlier," they could have captured the target. This study examines one small aspect of this tremendous problem, the architecture of the Battalion Tactical Operations Center (TOC). It analyzes the current information revolution, the contemporary operating environment, network centric warfare, other emerging Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) concepts, and the current Battalion TOC configuration and doctrine. It then applies System Dynamics techniques and develops a set of heuristics to address the problem. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a practical concept for an improved organization, structure and function of the command post. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-134). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42365 Towards an information technology infrastructure cost model Huang, Ken, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ever since the introduction of the Internet in 1994, one of the defining characteristics of the global economy, particularly in the US, is a dramatic increase in expenditures on Information Technology. While this trend is expected to continue, a major issue for companies of all sizes is the manner in which precise forecasting of future IT cost may be undertaken. The present thesis investigates the possibility that a set of the essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors may prove capable of estimating total IT infrastructure costs. An online questionnaire was developed for this purpose, and was used to survey senior IT leadership teams. The data collected from this survey was then computed with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to illustrate the relative importance of different cost drivers. The study revealed three primary findings. First, that a set of essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors could be used as a general tool for estimating the total cost of IT infrastructure. Second, these different sectors prioritize cost drivers differently from each other. In the Financial Services sector, for instance, the security of the IT network was reported to be of greater importance than the service call response time. In the Technology sector, however, the opposite was true. Third, numerous correlations were found to exist within each cost driver category defined. The correlated nature of these cost parameters may mean that a more parsimonious model may be more predictive of total IT infrastructure costs. It is hoped that these findings may be of benefit to a variety of large and small commercial and government entities, which may be able to use the predictive cost drivers to help eliminate problems related to inaccurate IT cost estimates.; (cont.) It is believed that the cost model proposed may be applicable across a variety of economic sectors. In this thesis, its applicability is demonstrated within the 3 financial services and technology sectors. Future research may be useful in evaluating the model further, by increasing the sample size, and by testing the reliability and validity of the cost model within additional economic sectors. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-67). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42353 An exploration of architectural innovation in professional service firms Espinosa Vasconcelos, Fernando (Francisco Fernando) Architectural innovation is achieved using architectural knowledge to reconfigure an established system to link together components in a new way that provides a competitive advantage. Components in professional service firms are the expertise areas in which the firms have developed proficiency or those in which they plan to develop it. Competitive advantage in professional service firms is related to the capacity of the firm to add continuing value to a dynamic set of clients and to itself. In order to add value, professional service firms, being knowledge intensive, must develop capabilities that enhance the knowledge capital they possess, which is valuable to both its clients and to the professionals they employ. This knowledge capital can be classified into Human Knowledge, Relational Knowledge and Structural Knowledge. The first two types are comprised mainly of tacit knowledge, while the third one consists of explicit knowledge. Architectural innovation modes result from the reconfiguration of these knowledge types in ways that enhance the value creation processes of professional service firms. This work explores the ways professional services firms achieve these reconfigurations and offers insights into the key characteristics of successful practices. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-105). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42345 A lean enterprise approach to process improvement in a health care organization Casey, James (James William) United States health care costs are rising and demand is increasing as the population ages. An already overburdened system is being squeezed more each year. Process improvements are urgently needed, and some health care professionals are looking to lean production principles for answers. Past lean health care initiatives have resulted in islands of success with limited overall impact. A lean enterprise approach that delivers value to all stakeholders and challenges current operational models can result in efficiency improvements and cost reduction while delivering a high quality of care. This study examines a single primary care practice. It is shown that an enterprise level perspective assisted health care professionals in evaluating the goals and metrics that influence their behavior. The practice was analyzed through first hand observations and data collection over a four month period. Physicians and staff were shadowed throughout their daily activities to identify waste and evaluate the impact of lean improvements. This data was supplemented with information captured via work sampling, analysis of monthly reports and metrics, and interviews and meetings with key stakeholders. It was determined that the physician productivity goal was driving dysfunctional behavior, resulting in a deteriorating work-life balance throughout the practice. The potential of this behavior to negatively impact patient satisfaction and quality care delivery also created a reason to change. Lean improvement efforts to address these issues resulted in a redesign of the patient visit schedule to allow more adequate time to address patient care, while also reducing the demand on the overworked physicians and staff. Success with the process led to the realization that medical professionals employ an approach to patient care that emulates lean enterprise principles.; (cont.) Diagnosing a patient complaint is analogous to investigating the cause and effect associated with wasteful processes. This characteristic of the industry, along with the short cycle times of patient care relative to lengthy processes in other industries, suggests the strong potential of health care to achieve swift improvements based on rapid experimentation, thus offering a possible proving ground for new lean enterprise approaches. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42194 Developing a boundary object model to analyze communication interfaces : applications for system integrators Fong, Allan Physical information is transferred between technical systems through wires, beams, and other physical attributes, while more intangible information is typically transferred between communities of people through artifacts such as documents, e-mails, etc. This research attempts to characterize these communication interfaces better by analyzing the use of artifacts at these interfaces by means of a boundary object attribute model. Boundary objects, the metric of analysis of this thesis, are artifacts used to bridge information and knowledge gaps between different communities of practice. The US Army's Future Combat System (FCS) was chosen as a case study primarily because of its complex programmatic characteristics. The information gathered in the FCS case study was combined with knowledge from previous boundary object literature to generate an attributes model. Once developed, the boundary object attributes model was validated on the US Air Force Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT) program focusing specifically on the TSAT Mission Operations System (TMOS) segment of the program. Data were collected on the frequency and type of resources used to understand information and the dependencies that individuals have with each other for documented information. Furthermore, five communication artifacts were critiqued for their effectiveness as boundary objects. Statistical tests were conducted to highlight trends in resource dependencies and attributes common in effective boundary objects. An implication of this research is that the most important attributes for a boundary object are inclusivity, traceability, and synchronization. This research also found that people generally tend to rely much more on other people for information than artifacts. This introduces problems of exhausting valuable human resources and creating unnecessary bottlenecks.; (cont.) A second implication of this research is that spending the extra time and effort to design artifacts with high inclusivity and freshness will add significant value to the overall system. In addition, a third implication of this research is that having the right boundary objects alone is not enough for effective collaborative interfaces. A fourth implication of this research is that designing a boundary object whose form follows its function is critical for its effectiveness. These suggestions can provide relief to a program highly taxing to its human resources and reduce transaction costs of the overall system. Furthermore, this model may be extended for the purpose of determining the roles and responsibilities of system integrators. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40895 Improving commonality implementation in the cockpits of commercial aircraft Bador, Damien (Damien Pierre Marcellin Dominique) Product development is a major source of competitive advantage in the commercial aircraft business. Judiciously implementing commonality across a range of products yields important benefits in this area. Thus, measuring the quality of commonality implementation is extremely beneficial for aircraft manufacturers. This thesis analyses the concept of commonality and divides it into three constructs that can help understand all of its aspects: standardization, reusability and modularity. This work then presents a set of metrics measuring each of these aspects, from the point of view of the manufacturer and of the customer. The appropriateness of this set of metrics is then tested in a case study analyzing the efficiency of commonality implementation in the cockpit of two well-known commercial aircraft families: the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737 family. This thesis further describes what additional analysis should be performed to validate the set of metrics for broader applications. After documenting the efficiency of the set of metrics, this thesis analyses the current practices of commonality management in commercial aviation. It finally explores some of the limitations of the concept of commonality and sketches solutions to overcome them. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-154). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40381 United States Air Force Air Logistics Centers : lean enterprise transformation and associated capabilities Cohen, Jessica L. (Jessica Lauren) Lean enterprise transformation entails a complementary set of initiatives and efforts executed over a substantial period of time, in a consistent and coordinated manner, at all levels of the enterprise. It builds upon ordinary organizational change in that a broader set of people and functions will be affected, and non-traditional approaches and mental models will continue to be exercised. I have developed and proposed a set of capabilities that must be possessed by any enterprise in order for that enterprise to successfully transform and sustain a new way of doing business. These capabilities have been drawn and compiled from a combination of organizational change literature and models, as well as personal experience and observations. Between 2003 and the present, three US Air Force Air Logistics Centers (ALCs) initiated lean enterprise transformation efforts. This notion was beyond the activities these sites pursued in the past, as the ALCs were challenged to see their enterprises as a system that needed to be optimized. I have used the capabilities developed to assess each ALC and make suggestions regarding their future needs in executing lean enterprise changes.; (cont.) In particular, I have focused on two of the twelve capabilities (a leadership team with a shared mental model and a balanced and cascading system of metrics), and compared each ALC to an ideal state and utilization of these capabilities. Further, I have examined the Warner Robins ALC with respect to all twelve capabilities, in light of past work conducted at the site. The results of this research are two-fold. First, I have learned that there are certain conditions that must be met before lean enterprise transformation can be attempted and sustained. The readiness necessary can be assessed within a combination of the qualitative results derived from a comparison with the ideal capabilities I have defined, along with the quantitative results reported with the LAI Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool. Second, I have determined that there are special practices and cultural aspects of government enterprises that makes lean enterprise transformation particularly difficult for them. This is the result of policies in place, and a tradition of strategic direction being handed down from above. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-183). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39695 Building flexibility in the volatile aftermarket parts : supply chains of the defense aerospace industry Myers, Kevin Michael Within the Integrated Defense Systems of The Boeing Company, aftermarket support of military aircraft serves as an increasingly large source of revenue. One of the newest contracts between Boeing and the U.S. Government created such a supply partnership at the Army Rotorcraft Repair Depot in Corpus Christi, Texas. At this depot, all Army helicopters, including Boeing's AH-64 Apache Attack helicopter and CH-47 Chinook Cargo helicopter undergo major repair and overhaul. In 2004, Boeing entered an agreement with the U.S. Government to assume responsibility of the repair depot's supply chain for aftermarket parts for Boeing rotorcraft. Over the last two years, Boeing has been creating and refining Corpus Christi's support structure to ensure that the required repair parts arrive when demanded. In establishing this new supply chain, Boeing has identified numerous inefficiencies as a result of inaccurate and highly volatile forecasts. This thesis examines the impact of volatility within the new support structure and creates flexible solutions to mitigate its negative effects on lead times, multiple sources of supply and inventory management.; (cont.) Efforts to increase communication flow across the supply chain are used to capitalize on economies of scale for cost reduction while safety stock recommendations are made for critical end-items. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to justify and validate the solutions. The results of the thesis reveal that a strategic selection of raw material safety stock can reduce procurement lead times by an average 61% for a subset of parts while maintaining financial responsibility. Additionally, by leveraging cost reduction techniques, an average increase of 11% in Boeing's income from sales can be achieved while eliminating inefficient administrative delays and increasing customer fulfillment rates. These two recommendations demonstrate specific solutions for mitigating the effects of demand volatility and inaccurate forecasting. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39681 Fab cycle time improvement through inventory control : a wafer starts approach Ward, Matthew John Intel's Colorado Springs wafer fabrication facility, known internally as F23, has undertaken several initiatives to reduce cycle time including High Precision Maintenance (HPM), content reduction through the application of Manufacturing Excellence (mX), effective utilization of production equipment, and aggressive inventory control. Each of these efforts has contributed to the marked improvement F23 achieved throughout 2006. F23's cycle time efficiency, the ratio of raw process cycle time to actual fab cycle time, improved from 12% (worst amongst Intel facilities) to greater than 35% (best amongst Intel sites), and overall cycle time was reduced by more than 61% in 2006. Inventory control was found to have a major impact on factory cycle time and performance. F23 controls its factory work-in-process, WIP, inventory through the F23 Wafer Starts Protocol. F23 utilizes Little's Law (Cycle Time = Inventory / Output) to identify target WIP inventory levels required to achieve particular cycle time goals. The target inventory is then achieved by modulating wafer starts. To do this, the Wafer Starts Protocol monitors the inventory of the overall fab and the constraint operations and suggests the amount of wafers to start for each shift.; (cont.) Maintaining the target inventory level drives the overall factory cycle time towards the cycle time goal. Using the starts protocol, F23 has reduced its inventory by 44% while ramping factory output. During the implementation of this wafer starts protocol, F23 began tracking a new inventory metric to determine factory performance. Critical WIP ratio was introduced to evaluate the factory's inventory relative to the theoretical minimum inventory based upon a given factory output level and raw process time. F23 also found that this metric provides an effective comparison of inventory level between fabs. The Fab23 Wafer Starts Protocol is one of the ways in which F23 has applied Manufacturing Science tactics and principles to drive cycle time improvements. F23 has found that inventory control can have significant impacts on factory cycle time. This is one of the reasons why F23 was able to achieve dramatic cycle time improvement. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39679 Applying enterprise architecting to the business acquisition process Porter, Christopher Vernon Background: Since the 1980s, the pace and dollar value of acquisitions in the US have grown at an astounding rate (Hitt, Sirower). The benefits from many of these acquisitions are elusive, with 60% of recent acquisitions showing negative return for the acquiring company (Hitt et. all, 5). Expected synergies are not realized despite the valiant efforts of the integration team who struggle with implementing the plans developed prior to deal close. Correlations can be drawn to the field of systems engineering, where specific processes and tools are employed to understand the interactions of various functional areas and avoid such implementation difficulties. Enterprise Architecting (EA) is one such framework that has shown promise in analyzing complex enterprises. Results: The thesis shows that all currently analyzed aspects of a potential acquisition are evaluated if the EA framework is used. It also shows that enough information is available prior to closing to use the EA framework to understand the potential enterprise. Further, it shows that the EA framework is flexible enough to accommodate the unique aspects of an acquisition analysis. Finally, the thesis shows a definite qualitative benefit from applying the EA framework.; (cont.) Conclusions: Despite the fact that one of the aspects of the hypothesis was not met, EA is still a valid and beneficial framework to apply to the acquisition process. It provides a sound process framework that should be used to design and implement robust acquisition analysis processes. This will enable greater process efficiency, quality, and consistency. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 98). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39678 Inventory optimization in an aerospace supply chain Lo, Billy S. (Billy Si Yee) Strategic inventory management has become a major focus for Honeywell Aerospace as the business unit challenged itself to meeting cost reduction goals while maintaining a high level of service to its customers. This challenge has become particularly important as customers have steered their purchase decisions from focusing only on capability and quality to including cost performance as well. To do so, Honeywell Aerospace's Planning and Asset Management group is undertaking a three-year effort to re-engineer its inventory planning systems with the goal of increasing planner productivity, improving supply chain responsiveness, and reducing overall inventory. This internship forms the building blocks of this strategy by leveraging existing software available in the industry and applying it to Honeywell's supply chain. Through two pilot programs with different supply chain designs, this internship analyzed the cost and benefit of transforming the company's inventory management strategy. In addition, this internship attempts to identify the challenges associated with such an enormous change, compare them with challenges with implementation in other industries in order to prepare management for full implementation across all product lines. These challenges range from leadership buy-in and information readiness to implementation feasibility both within Honeywell manufacturing and its suppliers. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-67). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39587 Demand allocation strategies in the seasonal retail industry Chan, Carin H Amazon.com is a publicly-held company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It revolutionized the retail industry by being one of the first major companies to sell goods over the Internet. It is an international company servicing countries throughout the world with goods ranging from books to jewelry. Amazon.com fulfills its customers' orders through a series of fulfillment centers throughout the United States. The goal of this thesis is to present a framework for testing and validating off-peak demand allocation strategies. Using Amazon.com as a primary study, this framework explores variable cost and transportation cost for the retail industry. The Amazon.com organization is discussed. Then a presentation on variable cost and transportation cost is introduced. A model is then introduced that ties variable and transportation costs together. This thesis concludes with a discussion on labor and transportation improvements implemented by other companies. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39487 Re-architecting the failure analysis supply chain Hebalkar, Tejaswini With customer satisfaction and lifecycle product quality becoming a competitive advantage, technology companies are motivated to look beyond their historical focus on forward supply chain management. Operational excellence in customer returns management, failure analysis, and closed loop corrective action is taking on an increasingly important role as companies strive to improve their business processes, policies and supply chains to achieve a world-class leadership position in their industry. In the competitive high-tech industry, companies face a number of challenges in managing customer returns and re-architecting their failure analysis supply chains to support a closed loop corrective action approach to product quality. Supporting globally distributed customers through a diverse network of outsourced manufacturing, repair, failure analysis and logistics partners increases the complexity of the supply chain architecting problem. This thesis proposes a holistic enterprise architecting approach, including governance, process, network design, organization, enabling technology, and performance management elements that should be considered when re-architecting the failure analysis supply chain. During this process, strategic decisions need to be made regarding supply chain designs that are aligned with the vision of the enterprise.; (cont.) Operations managers and leaders can use data-driven, collaborative approaches supported by decision support tools like the "Decision Model for Failure Analysis Supply Chain" to align decisions with customer value and stakeholders' needs. Implementing changes based on these strategic decisions requires understanding organizational dynamics within the enterprise. An understanding of the "frame of reference" that guides decision makers can help address implementation challenges. In addition, communication, training and alignment of incentives across functional groups to encourage collaboration can allow enterprises to make strategic decisions that are successfully implemented. The strategies proposed in this thesis are intended to aid managers in making monumental changes to their "reverse" operations and exceeding customer expectations. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34200 Enabling systems thinking to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers Davidz, Heidi L As engineering systems become more complex, the roles involved in developing and managing such systems also become more complex. Thus, there is increasing interest in educating and training engineering professionals to think more systemically. In particular, there is an increasing need to accelerate the development of senior systems engineers. As new educational degree programs in systems rapidly emerge and as companies scurry to establish systems training programs to meet this need, fundamental questions still remain about how systems thinking develops in engineers. Increased understanding of the mechanisms that develop systems thinking will enable effective and efficient development of senior systems professionals. After reviewing related literature, an exploratory and inductive study was designed to gather data on enablers, barriers, and precursors to systems thinking development in engineers. In a field study conducted primarily in the United States aerospace sector, 205 interviews were conducted in 10 host companies. Senior systems engineers were studied to better understand how they developed systems thinking, and information was collected on company procedures for developing systems engineers. Using interview and survey data, comparisons were made of two control groups and senior systems engineers.; (cont.) Proven stellar systems thinkers were also interviewed. To summarize the results, even though systems thinking definitions diverge, there is consensus on primary mechanisms that enable or obstruct systems thinking development in engineers. In order to reconcile the divergent definitions observed, a systems thinking framework, definition, and accompanying conceptual illustration are given. The data show that the primary mechanisms that enable systems thinking development include experiential learning, specific individual characteristics, and a supporting environment. This document defines the research space on this topic and suggests applications for the results. Better understanding of systems thinking development provides a foundation for educational interventions and employee development in systems thinking for engineering professionals across industry, government, and academia. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-213). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38596 Performance collaborative, distributed systems engineering (CDSE) : lessons learned from CDSE enterprises Utter, Darlene Ann The United States aerospace and defense budgets are shrinking, resources are scarce and requirements are more demanding: aerospace and defense enterprises are expected to deliver a more capable product in less time and with fewer resources. To achieve this tough mission, the enterprises that comprise the United States aerospace and defense industries must form strategic partnerships and collaborations to utilize their respective resources, knowledge, and expertise to meet their customers' needs. Collaboration, be it between competing companies or within different divisions of the same company, is necessary for the survival of each company and the defense industry. In the past. United States aerospace and defense company relationships consisted mostly of a prime contractor. with sub-contractors providing a specific hardware or software subsystem. as specified by the prime contractor. Today, aerospace and defense company relationships are moving more toward that of "partners" where the previous supplier or sub-contractor for hardware or software subsystems is now sharing in the overall system design and engineering efforts.; (cont.) Since the partner companies and intra-company divisions are still geographically distributed throughout the United States, it is necessary for the aerospace and defense contractors to perform collaborative, distributed systems engineering (CDSE) over several geographical locations. Previous research has demonstrated that the design practices of distributed design teams differ from those of traditional. co-located teams. However. many companies today are performing CDSE using systems engineering (SE) processes and methods developed for traditional SE environments and are therefore encountering many issues. Successful SE practices are difficult to carry-out when performed by a traditional, co-located enterprise. The addition of geographic distribution and cross-company or intra-company collaboration in SE presents a myriad of social and technological challenges that necessitate new and different SE methods for success. Best practices for CDSE are currently unknown (or undocumented). In an attempt to benchmark the current state of CDSE practices in industry, this research presents the collection of CDSE lessons learned and success factors gathered from two case studies carried out at two United States aerospace and defense companies.; (cont.) The case studies examine many different factors that pertain to the companies "current CDSE efforts, including collaboration scenarios: collaboration tools; knowledge and decision management; SE practices and processes; SE process improvements: SE culture: SE project management. SE organization: and SE collaboration benefits and motivation. Since the research for successful CDSE practices is in its infancy. this research also outlines key areas for future CDSE research. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-291). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38579 A comparative analysis of supply chain management practices by Boeing and Airbus : long-term strategic implications Horng, Tzu-Ching The goal of this research is to develop an improved understanding of supply chain management strategies and practices being pursued by Boeing and Airbus in the 787 Dreamliner and the A380 Navigator programs, respectively, and to identify their long-term strategic implications for supply chain management in the future. The research takes as its point of departure a review and synthesis of supply chain management principles and practices, with particular emphasis on lean supply chain management concepts. Guided by this review, the research focuses on the common set of suppliers supporting both programs and employs a questionnaire survey, followed by telephone interviews with representatives of selected suppliers. The research also makes extensive use of the open source information on both companies, on both programs and on the common suppliers.; (cont.) A major finding is that Boeing's new supply chain model in the 787 program represents a significant break with past practices in the aerospace industry, allowing major partnering suppliers an unprecedented role in terms of design, development, production and after-market support, where they are integrated early in the concept development stage and are incentivized to collaborate with Boeing, as well as among themselves, as risk-sharing partners with deep responsibility for system integration, involving detailed interface control at the system and subsystem levels. Airbus, as well, is found to rely heavily on its major suppliers in connection with the A380 program, but acting as the primary system integrator in the more traditional mode and exercising much greater control of all design interfaces. Also, both Boeing and Airbus have been outsourcing more and more activities to suppliers located in non-traditional regions, such as Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Finally, aerospace manufacturers, in general, are aggressively adopting information technologies (e.g., EDI, PLM, 3-D Digital Model, RFID) to facilitate greater data sharing and communications with their partners and lower-tier suppliers dispersed in many geographical regions, as part of a broader trend involving more collaborative supplier relationships reaching down to the subtier level. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2007.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-131). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38140 A methodology for implementing total productive maintenance in the commercial aircraft industry Hamacher, Eugene C. (Eugene Carl) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-173). 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38122 The role of product development metrics for making design decisions in the defnese aeorspace industry Stout, Todd Michael Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1996.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references. 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37966 The micro-foundations of alignment among sponsors and contractors on large engineering projects McKenna, Nicholas A. (Nicholas Alan) Large engineering projects design, engineer and construct much of the world's energy, transportation and defense infrastructure. These large scale engineering endeavors are highly visible, have long lasting impacts and are of major economic significance. Yet despite their importance they frequently suffer from cost overruns and long delays and deliver systems with operational shortcomings. A contributing factor to the challenge of large projects is that the project enterprise is created by separate firms being brought together by the project sponsor, typically via formal contracts. Success requires multiple firms with hundreds (possibly thousands) of engineers working together to efficiently create complex product systems within an environment of high uncertainty. In an attempt to improve project outcomes, sponsors often endeavor to create "alignment" between themselves and their key contractors. In practice, alignment has proved difficult to create and to sustain. This research explores the policies and actions taken by firms that give rise to alignment. The large engineering projects studied for this research were offshore oil and gas field developments. grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment.; (cont.) A grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-230). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37965 Creating high performance enterprises Stanke, Alexis K. (Alexis Kristen), 1977- How do enterprises successfully conceive, design, deliver, and operate large-scale, engineered systems? These large-scale projects often involve high complexity, significant technical challenges, a large number of diverse stakeholders, distributed execution, and aggressive goals. In this context, simultaneously meeting technical performance, cost, and schedule goals effectively and efficiently is a serious challenge. In fact, it is rarely accomplished. The nature of an enterprise contributes to this challenge. Enterprises are interorganizational networks with distributed leadership and stakeholders with both common and diverse interests. They are unique from traditional levels of analysis in organizational studies, and in general their behavior is not well understood. They are a prevalent form of organizing work in these large engineering projects, where one organization simply does not have the capability or willingness to take on the entire project by themselves. This work explores the factors that distinguish high performance enterprises from those that are less successful in these large-scale projects. The setting for this research is programs in the aerospace industry.; (cont.) A comparative case study method was used to study nineteen programs spanning the U.S. (mainly defense) aerospace industry in order to develop grounded theory regarding contemporary program execution strategies and distinguishing attributes. Drawing on prior research with high performance teams, several characteristics were explored and refined, eventually resulting in identification of ten best practices. The contribution of this work is codification of these best practices into a coherent framework of complementary elements relating to particular outcomes. The framework articulates three drivers of individual and systemic behaviors: a system of distributed leadership, informal and formal structures. The framework addresses the role each of these plays in enterprise performance. The synergistic combination of the elements enables enterprises to execute planned activities, leverage emergent opportunities, and deal with unforeseen circumstances. For enterprises involved in large-scale engineering projects, these capabilities are a necessity for success. In addition to an academic theory, this framework can be considered an architectural design for high performance enterprises. Putting this enterprise architecture into practice has important implications for both corporate and program management. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-140). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37240 Cost modeling in the integrated supply chain strategic decision process Robinson, Todd (Todd Christopher) This thesis is based on an internship at Honeywell Aerospace's Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) Leadership division. This work focuses on the role and use of analytical cost models in the strategy development process. The scope of ISC strategic decisions encompasses Honeywell Aerospace's global footprint of external and internal suppliers, and includes insourcing, outsourcing, transition and consolidation activities. The current practice within Honeywell Aerospace is to construct a Transition, Migration, and Integration (TMI) model which calculates the net present benefit associated with a specific transition's spending and savings. This model is the primary tool for strategic plan development. This work looks at the use of the TMI model for strategic planning with the intent of addressing concerns related to the model's complexity and accuracy. This work also develops the framework for estimating a confidence range within the TMI model to provide better visibility to the potential range of financial outcome. An additional tool used in the development of the strategic plan is the Landed Cost model.; (cont.) The Landed Cost model is used to calculate the steady state total cost associated with a particular supply chain. Historically within Honeywell Aerospace ISC planning, the Landed Cost model has been used to much less of a degree than the TMI model. This work develops the role of the Landed Cost model and establishes a framework for estimating labor, logistics, inventory, and tax costs associated with manufacturing products in a variety of global regions. While this work focuses on developing analytical tools, developments and recommendations are provided in the context of the overall strategic decision process. Examples are provided to highlight the major cost drivers associated with a particular transitional activity or supply chain design. Improving the analytical component of the decision process allows ISC Leadership to more accurately and effectively identify tactics for improving operational efficiency and identify potential growth opportunities in emerging regions. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 55). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37273 Corporate decision analysis : an engineering approach Tang, Victor, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology We explore corporate decisions and their solutions under uncertainty using engineering methods. Corporate decisions tend to be complex; they are interdisciplinary and defy programmable solutions. To address these challenges, we take an engineering approach. Our proposition is that as in an engineering system, corporate problems and their potential solutions deal with the behavior of systems. Since systems can be studied with experiments, we use Design of Experiments (DOE) to understand the behavior of systems within which decisions are made and to estimate the consequences of candidate decisions as scenarios. The experiments are a systematically constructed class of gedanken experiments comparable to "what if' studies, but organized to span the entire space of controllable and uncontrollable options. In any experiment, the quality of data is important. Grounded on the work of scholars, we develop a debiasing process for eliciting data. And consistent with our engineering approach, we consider the composite consisting of the organization, their knowledge, data bases, formal and informal procedures as a measurement system. We then use Gage theory from Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA) to analyze the quality of the measuring composite.; (cont.) To test this engineering approach to decision analysis, we perform four experiments. The first two are a set of simulations using a company surrogate. Using a progression of experiments, we simulate two major corporate decisions. Simulation data show that there is support for the validity of our decision analysis method. We then perform two in situ experiments: with a manufacturing company and with a technology services company. Findings from these company experiments also support the validity and efficacy of our decision analysis method. The company executives were very satisfied with our findings. Finally, we evaluate our method using method-evaluation criteria. The evaluation suggests that our DOE-based decision analysis method is valid. Unexpectedly every experiment resulted in near-decomposable systems at the scale we formulated our problems. Scaling of corporate decision problems at the appropriate level of abstraction and the resultant properties of their dynamic behavior are identified as areas of future work. This research breaks new ground in corporate decision-analysis as engineering and it furthers DOE and MSA research to a new domain and a new class of problems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-330). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37249 Evaluating a continuous improvement initiative using Stakeholder Value Mapping Lathrop, Benjamin H. (Benjamin Hurst) Lean implementations have had a mixed record of success in organizations. One possible explanation for this observation is that lean is built upon a value system that is not always shared by the organizations trying to implement the philosophy. For example, one element of lean is that employees at all levels of the organization are expected to share ideas for improving processes. This idea might seem foreign in companies where responsibility for process improvement comes only from management or specialized departments. Lean would not be expected to flourish in an environment where employee innovation and initiative is not valued. As this example demonstrates, lean loses its effectiveness when its values are incompatible with those prevailing in an organization. Determining this compatibility has not been straightforward to date. Whereas lean literature is filled with methods and tools for discovering and removing waste, there is little guidance on how to determine if lean can be successfully applied to an organization's unique socio-technical system. Stakeholder Value Mapping (SVM), a technique adapted from the field of Enterprise Management, is presented to address this need.; (cont.) Whereas SVM has already been developed for use at the enterprise level, this thesis aims to extend the applicability of SVM to the micro level. A methodology for mapping stakeholder values around a specific lean project at Raytheon's Integrated Air Defense Center is developed. The project, a pull system for bolted cabinets, is described in detail in this thesis as a case study. We find that SVM alone does not yield sufficient data to guide lean implementations. It is, however, an effective method for understanding the stakeholder interests that can serve as barriers to lean. Leaders trying to bring lean into their organizations will find SVM a promising tool for determining where to initially focus their attention. If lean and stakeholder values are aligned, the groundwork will be set for a traditional lean implementation that focuses on well-known tools for discovering and removing waste. On the other hand, if lean and stakeholder values differ significantly, consideration should first be given to aligning organizational interests with the lean strategy. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 42). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37217 Using lean enterprise principles to drive quality and on time delivery to customers : a study of the Honeywell Aerospace Engine Assembly and Test Center of Excellence Jones, Andrea (Andrea Sieg) Honeywell Aerospace has been a leader in manufacturing high quality engines to customers for decades. With engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) growth of-9% in 2005, and projected growth similar or greater for 2006, however, some segments of the business are experiencing difficulty in delivering engines on time to customer request dates. In the spirit of Lean Enterprise, Honeywell must to deliver value to its customers by stepping back and analyzing the entire value stream. Enterprise-level optimization of supply chain, assembly, and test practices will lead to the greatest benefit to both internal and external stakeholders. This thesis explores the issues within one segment of the Aerospace business - specifically, new engine and APU deliveries -- as well as internal initiatives to drive high quality and lean manufacturing. A Lean Enterprise Self Assessment Tool survey was conducted to highlight opportunities to propel Honeywell to a culture of high performance. Both high-level multi-million dollar opportunities, as well as low-budget, improved processes and communication initiatives will be discussed. Ultimately, the Honeywell Aerospace Engine Assembly and Test Center of Excellence must sacrifice narrow use of lean tools for wide ranging promotion of lean principles, thereby improving the overall value delivery to all enterprise stakeholders. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-122). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35615 Improving complex enterprises with system models Hemann, Justin M. (Justin Matthew) Air Force sustainment operations are the focus of an intensive internal effort to improve performance and reduce costs. Past improvement initiatives have often failed to produce the intended results, and have caused performance to decline in some cases. Exploratory research was conducted at an Air Logistics Center to study how improvements are executed. Two conclusions are drawn from this research. The first is that changing sustainment operations is a problem of high dynamic and behavioral complexity. The second conclusion is that system models are well suited to coordinating change at the ALC because they provide insight into how a complicated system can be managed and improved. Three key findings support these conclusions. First, there is significant correlation between categories of unavailable F-16 aircraft such that reductions in one category are associated with increases in another. Second, an analysis of change efforts in two parts of the ALC shows that systemic influences, such as the inability to reinvest in improvements, are hindering change initiatives in one part of the ALC.; (cont.) The third finding is that a model of sustainment operations suggests that independent improvement initiatives are outperformed by coordinated efforts driven with an understanding of systemic interactions. Leaders throughout the sustainment community have expressed their desire to understand how sustainment operations function as a system. A hybrid approach to change is offered as a method for understanding and improving sustainment operations. System models are used to quantify and model system interactions; then policies and recommendations are drawn from the models. Recommendations may include process-level improvements utilizing change methods already in use at the ALC. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35588 Systems level approach to process improvement initiatives in a semiconductor manufacturing environment Ruddick, Todd Andon Many successful companies have difficulty implementing large-scale change initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, outsourcing or Advanced Process Control. This can often be due to the fact that they treat large-scale improvement efforts in the same way that they handle smaller improvement efforts. Instead the author suggests that companies should take a more systemic approach to implementing large-scale improvement efforts and handle them differently from other improvement efforts. The suggested systemic approach involves four major aspects. The first aspect is to subdivide the initiative into smaller more manageable phases. The next aspect is to analyze each of the individual steps independent of each other. From there the change agent should examine the interdependencies between different steps and assess the systemic relationships of the initiative. Finally the approach suggests ways to look at the financial impact of the large-scale effort and ways to ease its implementation. Specifically the research focused on a Fab-Wide Process Control improvement initiative at Intel's Fab 18 in Qiryat-Gat, Israel.; (cont.) The research is used to validate the suggested systemic approach as well as highlighting additional leadership challenges concerning the strategic design, cultural and political challenges an organization faces in implementing large-scale change. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to create a process by which companies can easily take a systemic approach to large-scale improvement initiatives. This should help companies with the implementation of future large-scale improvement efforts. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35587 On-orbit serviceability of space system architectures Richards, Matthew G. On-orbit servicing is the process of improving a space-based capability through a combination of in-orbit activities which may include inspection; rendezvous and docking; and value-added modifications to a satellite's position, orientation, and operational status. As a means to extend the useful life or operational flexibility of spacecraft, on-orbit servicing constitutes one pathway to a responsive space enterprise. Following launch, traditional satellite operations are tightly constrained by an inability to access the orbiting vehicle. With the exception of software upgrades from ground controllers, operators are wedded to supporting payload technologies that become rapidly obsolete and to bus structures that deform during the stress of launch and degrade in the harsh environment of space. On-orbit servicing offers satellite operators an option for maintaining or improving space-based capabilities without launching a new spacecraft. Numerous studies have been performed on on-orbit servicing, particularly regarding the architecture of the servicing provider. Several customer valuation case studies have also been performed to identify the economic case (or lack thereof) for different categories of servicing missions.; (cont.) Little work, however, has been done to analyze the tradespace of potential on-orbit servicing customers-a global analysis of operational satellites currently orbiting the Earth. The goal of this research is to develop and test a methodology to assess the physical amenability of satellites currently in operation to on-orbit servicing. As defined here, physical amenability of a target satellite, or "serviceability," refers to the relative complexity required of a teleoperated or autonomously controlled robotic vehicle to accomplish on-orbit servicing. A three-step process is followed to perform serviceability assessments. First, a taxonomy of space systems is constructed to add structure to the problem and to identify satellite attributes that drive servicing mission complexity. Second, a methodology is proposed to assess serviceability across the four servicing activities of rendezvous, acquire, access, and service.; (cont.) This includes development of an agent-based model based on orbital transfers as well as a generalized framework in which serviceability is decomposed into four elements: (1) knowledge, (2) scale, (3) precision, and (4) timing. Third, the value of architecture frameworks and systems engineering modeling languages for conducting serviceability assessments is explored through the development of a discrete event simulation of the Hubble Space Telescope. The thesis concludes with prescriptive technical considerations for designing serviceable satellites and a discussion of the political, legal, and financial challenges facing servicing providers. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-182). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35107 Developing and managing organizational capabilities to meet emerging customer needs : insights from the Joint Strike Fighter program Moon, Hee Sung This research examines the development and management of dynamic organizational capabilities. These capabilities include, among other things, how enterprises generate and integrate knowledge, understand and respond to customer needs, manage technological interdependencies, create interorganizational alliance networks, and solve complex technical problems as they design and build complex engineering systems. Enterprises must meet emerging customer needs by combining, integrating and deploying their organizational capabilities. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, which represents the largest defense acquisition program in history, provides an excellent natural experiment for an exploration of the link between the technological solutions offered to meet the emerging customer needs and dynamic organizational capabilities. This research focuses on the early Concept Demonstration Phase (CDP) of the JSF program, when the two competing teams led by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, respectively, offered their best possible technological solutions in response to a common set of customer requirements.; (cont.) This research examines these competing technological solutions in some detail in order to gain some new insights into the set of organizational capabilities the two competitor teams pulled together in order to win the big JSF contract. An expected contribution of this research, by focusing on the JSF program, is to provide significantly greater "real world" depth to the extant discussion on dynamic organizational capabilities in the context of developing such an extremely complex and technologically advanced engineering system. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-82). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35095 Demonstrating the benefits of knowledge management assets : developing and applying a valuation methodology Taylor, Aaron B Since the early 1980s numerous knowledge-dependent organizations have made diligent attempts to measure their intangible assets. In more recent years, knowledge-dependent organizations have expressed a desire to demonstrate the benefits resulting from significant investments in knowledge management assets in order to provide reassurance to senior executives, to motivate knowledge worker utilization of the asset, and to leverage further funds for knowledge management investments. A six-step methodology is prescribed in this thesis to assist organizations seeking to identify both qualitative and quantitative benefits realized from the utilization of knowledge management assets. This methodology is underpinned by take-a-ways from current intellectual capital measurement models found in literature, and the lessons learned from industry application of an immature version of the prescribed methodology in two industry case studies. Lessons learned from the practical applications of the methodology, and a detailed description of the methodology, are provided as key findings of this thesis.; (cont.) Application of the methodology in the provided industry case studies indicates significant benefits from the utilization of knowledge management assets can be demonstrated if the appropriate performance indicators are selected for measurement. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-148). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35089 Managing unarticulated value : changeability in multi-attribute tradespace exploration Ross, Adam Michael, 1977- A framework for creating value robust systems in the face of changing value perceptions during the architecture and design of systems is proposed. Both unarticulated value, that which is not explicitly communicated to system designers, and dynamic value, that which changes over time, are used to motivate the dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) process. Value can be represented as decision maker perceived attributes, which can be classified according to the ease by which the system can display them. The attribute class spectrum from least to most costly ranges from articulated, class 0 attributes, to inaccessible value, class 4 attributes. Supporting the value-adding approach, the system property concepts of flexibility, adaptability, rigidity, robustness, scalability, and modifiability are proposed to be different aspects of the same concept: changeability. A quantification of changeability is shown to be the Filtered Outdegree of a design within a networked tradespace formed through explicit consideration of transition paths between design instantiations. A focus on designing not only for value, but for changeability as well, leads to the concept of path enabling variables, whose purpose is to increase change paths or decrease cost for change.; (cont.) Value robustness is shown to be achieved through either passive or active means. Passive value robustness can be quantified as the Pareto Trace number of a design, reflecting the number of contexts within which a particular design is determined to be best value at a given level of resource expenditure. Active value robustness is achieved through a strategy of pursuing designs with increased changeability and accessibility to likely high value regions of a tradespace. Supporting the process, the Design-Value Matrix and the Rule-Effects Matrix help system designers visualize the key factors for creating dynamic value-generating systems by capturing the important relationships between decision makers, design variables, attributes, path enablers, and resources. The dynamic MATE process is applied to two real system cases including the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). The framework is shown to be applicable at both quantitative and qualitative levels, giving insight into assessing and designing for changeability and value robustness for systems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-310). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34866 Reducing inventory and order delivery time in an internal extended value chain Siefering, Brian W The extended value stream for the ABB Power Technologies Medium Voltage Business Area consists of numerous factories situated across various different countries. Most of these facilities were originally acquired by ABB to provide an established presence in local markets. In an effort to consolidate and align the Business Area's materials resources and reduce internal competition between similar factories, PTMV assigned specific products to specific factories on a regional basis. As a result, factories that use to have broad control of their entire manufacturing process from raw material to finished products are now either internal suppliers or internal customers of other ABB factories. The Business Area must now develop internal processes across these factories that focus on achieving timely delivery balanced with low inventory. In order to do so, it is essential for the Business Area to inspire individual factories with different cultures and languages to cooperate and work for a common goal. 'This thesis describes how Value Stream Mapping can be used to analyze current order processes in individual factories and across multiple factories in a single value chain.; (cont.) Value Stream Mapping reveals the areas where non-value added time is the greatest in the overall order delivery process. Using this information, recommendations are formulated to reduce materials 'work-in-progress (WIP), and subsequently, system lead-time. This internship looked at the inventory management control of key components between two factories in the internal value chain. The impact of inventory cost due to inventory location, transportation, and production decisions is investigated and documented. Additionally, this thesis studies the strategic, cultural, and political challenges that ABB faces as it attempts to implement operational change management in a new organizational structure. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 79). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34822 Managing the integration of technology into the product development pipeline Barretto, Eduardo F., 1971- Managing the integration of technology is a complex task in any industry, but especially so in the highly competitive automotive industry. Automakers seek to develop plans to integrate technology into their products such that they deliver significant value to the customer. These plans and their implementation are critical to achieving success in the marketplace. This thesis proposes a framework for developing and implementing technology integration plans using the systematic application of specific "building blocks". The "building blocks" are developed through specific technology integration case studies at an automotive manufacturer, and further validated by studying other auto manufacturers. While the current technology integration process at the main automotive manufacturer studied is somewhat structured, the process seems inadequate, as significant issues with the strategy and implementation diminish its effectiveness. There are many building blocks that can help define and implement a strategy for technology integration, but which ones to focus on and how to apply them is not well defined. The proposed solution for developing a comprehensive technology integration process and applying it systematically, focuses on five key building blocks. Each of the building blocks is applied through a holistic lens, and is designed to enhance the technology integration process. The proposed methodology can be a complement to an existing process, or can be used to create a new technology integration process. The methodology combines known system engineering and change management frameworks and principles. Analyzing the current technology integration processes at a few automotive manufacturers and contrasting them with the proposed technology integration; (cont.) approach leads to several conclusions. The technology integration framework provides a valuable and comprehensive method to evaluate the current technology integration process. Each step in the technology integration framework serves to strengthen the technology integration process and is aimed at making it more consistent and successful. Furthermore, the framework as a whole, contributes to alignment within the organization, helping to ensure objectives at the staff level are matched to the corporate strategy. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-131). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34821 An analysis of retention issues of scientists, engineers, and program managers in the US Air Force Beck, Derek William, 1977- The United States Air Force is having a difficult time retaining their technical officers, who are critical to the success of their research, development, and acquisitions of major military and defense systems. A statistical analysis is conducted on survey data collected, and the analysis seeks to explain the reasons why officers, mostly junior in rank, leave the Air Force after only a short time on active duty. This retention problem leads to fewer higher-ranking officers, since the military only hires from the bottom up. Results of the research show that about 47% of junior officers have intent to leave the Air Force after their initial commitment, which is 4 to 5 years. With nearly half of the Air Force's incoming officer leaving after their initial commitment, the problem is very serious. Job satisfaction and the closely related Air Force assignment system are shown to be the primary problems for junior officer retention. The thesis concludes with recommendations to Air Force leadership on where to focus their retention efforts. Special emphasis is given on how the Air Force may address tangible components of job satisfaction. Policy change recommendations that affect satisfaction levels with the assignment system are also given. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 212). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34819 Integrating lean principles in automotive product development : breaking down barriers in culture and process Garza, Laura A., 1970- Lean principles have been applied throughout the manufacturing industry with noted success although the process of integrating them into the entire enterprise has been complex and slow. Certain areas of the automotive industry, specifically product development, require a deeper study of its readiness to transition to lean. This thesis analyzes the product development enterprise at a large North American based auto manufacturer with respect to cultural and procedural inhibitors to becoming lean. The traditional lean principles and historical advancements in lean techniques are presented along with a description of the area studied. The scope of analysis focuses on three major phases in product development; the early concept phase, the middle core design phase and the launch phase. Recently, there has been difficulty in translating the lean principles into the product development environment. In this study, unique product development definitions of the lean principles are required and used to develop a framework for analysis. Inhibitors or barriers were discovered through interviews, observations, documentation and experience, each causing significant amounts of waste (muda). By understanding how these inhibitors affect the product development lean principles, the course of transitioning to lean can be illuminated. The system effects of the barriers and inhibitors are also described using system dynamics. Finally, conclusions are developed in order to guide the company in its quest to become lean in product development and throughout the entire enterprise. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-111). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34818 Lean product development for the automotive niche vehicle marketplace Kupczewski, Celeste D., 1974- The automotive low volume niche vehicle marketplace is growing, evidenced by increasing media coverage and fierce competition between original equipment manufacturers. Development of niche vehicles must be lean and therefore fast to beat competitors and keep customers interested. This thesis case studies a niche vehicle product development organization which has survived within a major original equipment manufacturer for over 11 years. This work defines niche vehicles and presents process things gone right and things gone wrong which have been identified through detailed interviews. The organization's current product development enhancement strategy is also summarized. Product development value stream mapping is used to identify process improvement opportunities for leaning the major engineering activities of the niche vehicle organization. Current state maps and desired future state maps are presented. Recommendations for approaching the desired future state are discussed. Process improvement opportunities outside of engineering are identified which work toward improving the cycle time of the overall product development process. Finally, all of the recommendations are summarized and rated on their difficulty of implementation and suggestions for future research are presented. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 83). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34797 Stakeholder analysis in the context of the lean enterprise Grossi, Ignacio, 1964- This thesis combines three different areas of study that are very active nowadays: Lean Enterprises, Stakeholder Theory, and Social Networks. Elements from these three research areas have been articulated to produce a methodology that allows for the analysis of stakeholder systems. In order to successfully apply lean enterprise principles and practices the study of the way in which stakeholders are structured along the extended enterprise is an indispensable first step. In a similar manner, stakeholder management practices require the identification of the most salient stakeholders together with their motivations to participate in the enterprise's value creation efforts. Original frameworks and methodologies for stakeholder systems analysis are presented in this thesis. Several qualitative, quantitative and systematic techniques have been developed that allow for the characterization and mapping of stakeholder networks. Among them are models for stakeholder systems representation, a process for the identification of stakeholders, a method to determine their salience and relationships relevance, and several stakeholder network metrics. Also is proposed and demonstrated the use of Dependency Structure Matrix technique for the analysis of stakeholder networks structural and functional characteristics. Some of these methodologies rely on known theories and practices such as social network analysis techniques and other graph theoretic concepts although their combination and further development provide an original set of tools for the analysis of stakeholder systems. All these methodologies were applied to a real case enterprise scenario. The stakeholder system of a relatively small space application enterprise was analyzed and characterized. Several important; (cont.) conclusions were derived from this enterprise's stakeholder analysis, demonstrating the capabilities and adequacy of the methods and techniques proposed. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; MIT Institute Archives copy: p. 3-50 bound in reverse order and inserted between p. 2 and p. 51.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-150). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34796 Product development processes and their importance to organizational capabilities Liu, Bing Product development is a creative and interdisciplinary activity that transforms a market opportunity and technological innovation into successful products. It is a set of activity-based processes in a product-oriented enterprise, and is essential to the economic success of such organization. Determining important processes in the product development and determining their relationships with organizational capability are crucial to the sustainable success in product development. Studying their relationships would give us insights into the product development dynamics. The objectives of this research are to provide a framework to determine the importance of product development processes and their relationship with organizational capabilities, to provide an assessment vehicle that helps organizations assess their capabilities and make improvements, and to improve predictions of project outcomes as the ultimate goal. To fulfill the objectives and to achieve the goal of this research, a step-based approach was adopted: first, Identify important processes in product development, second, identify an organization's capability using important product development processes identified through literature review and survey. Third, study various factors that influence the determination of importance of product development and the capability of product development were studied. Forth, test two hypotheses based on the statistics. The work in this thesis illustrates how various factors such as company size, industry sectors, and professional experience may influence the dynamics of product development process. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34790 Enterprise level value stream mapping and analysis for aircraft carrier components Frenkel, Yuliya M., 1977- Northrop Grumman Newport News is committed to implementing lean on the enterprise level. This thesis is focused around work toward creating a global, high-level information and material value stream map for a specified pipe assembly. It identifies the largest areas of waste in the value stream and their root causes. The recommendations assist with the reduction and elimination of the major time delays, inventory buildups, re-work, excessive processes and other waste in the system. The pipe assembly chosen as the basis for the enterprise value stream map is part of a system, newly developed for the current aircraft carrier. The pipe assembly is representative of other pipe assemblies fabricated in the shipyard, so challenges experienced with the manufacturing and flow of the selected assembly are likely to be seen in many other pipe assemblies in the facility. A large number of assemblies was examined to determine the root causes of delivery problems. The analysis was based on the criticality of the ship need date. The root causes for the late assembly delivery were found to be inadequate material inventory levels in the warehouses, lack of fabrication timeline coordination between fabrication shops, late engineering drawing revisions, underestimated fabrication durations, late supplier delivery, late material purchase order placement, and lost material. Suggestions are provided to improve operational efficiencies by targeting the elimination of these root causes that result in the delay of assembly fabrication. Some include material ordering process reorganization, shop loading variability elimination, fabrication timeline alignment, metric realignment, and rework system prioritization. Recommendations for future work focus are; (cont.) concentrated on the control of the stock material inventory levels, alignment of the incentives across the enterprise, and reorganization of the planning processes. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34787 A study of the Mighty Motors operating system : making sustainable improvements at a powertrain manufacturing facility Dibb, Gregory David, 1974- Many manufacturing companies are developing their own production or operating system, particularly in an effort to duplicate the widely renowned Toyota Production System. Toyota has demonstrated its potential for improving productivity and profitability. These same opportunities exist in nearly all companies, manufacturing or otherwise. This thesis explores the application of a similar operating system for a powertrain manufacturing company referred to as the Mighty Motors Company. More specifically, this thesis seeks to discover and explain Mighty Motors' obstacles to making sustainable improvements on the factory floor. The conclusions of this thesis are based primarily on the author's firsthand observations at Mighty Motors' powertrain manufacturing facilities. These data include quotes from interviews, results from factory floor experiments, and observations from improvement projects on the factory floor. The data are then sorted into five categories of observations, which serve as the basis for final recommendations. These five recommendations are suggested as a course of action to overcome the obstacles to making sustainable improvements on the factory floor at Mighty Motors: 1. Go to the floor to make firsthand observations. The best quality data regarding a problem or opportunity on the factory floor is obtained by going to the site in question on the factory floor. 2. Standardize all activities (by making them highly specified according content, sequence, timing, and outcome). 3. Standardizing activities in this way improves the visibility of problems and provides a common basis for improvement. 3. Standardize each link to create one clear, direct, unambiguous signal. Standardizing links (connections); (cont.) between activities eliminates ambiguity and waste. 4. Solve every problem and make every improvement in accordance with the A3 and the scientific method. Following this scientific approach on the factory floor increases the rate of learning about and improving the processes. 5. Provide sufficient support to the operators by way of a robust help chain. Constant support is required to sustain processes and improvements on the factory floor. These conclusions are then consolidated with the previous models of the Mighty Motors Operating System to provide one unified model for making sustainable improvements on the factory floor at Mighty Motors. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34778 The Dell operating model Paxton, Blaine Kermit Dell, Inc. is well known for its dramatic and continually improving operational performance in terms of unit cost, inventory level, production capacity, and labor efficiency. However, in late 2002, several members of Dell's Americas operations group realized that they did not fully understand what was driving this operational excellence. Therefore, they decided to sponsor an MIT Leaders for Manufacturing internship project to find out. The goal of this project was to "identify and document the essential beliefs, principles, and practices that have contributed to the operations success at Dell". The result of this endeavor is a model which describes four beliefs that are widely shared between members of Dell's operations organizations. These four beliefs (or cultural elements) are, in turn, supported by a set of specific management practices and programs. This model was developed using qualitative organizational research methods including conducting semi-structured interviews, holding focus groups, and gathering individual feedback on a draft version of the model for final validation. In this thesis, the "Dell Operating Model" is described, and each element of the model is shown to support Dell's critical business objectives. The model is then examined through the lenses of three organizational frameworks, and the limitations of these alternate frameworks are discussed. Finally, the applicability of the model to other companies is discussed, and new projects are proposed that will build on this research. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34777 Enterprise design for dynamic complexity : architecting & engineering organizations using system & structural dynamics Piepenbrock, Theodore F. (Theodore Frederick), 1965- As the business world is neither linear nor static, the mastery of its "chaotic" nonlinear dynamics lies at the heart of finding high-leverage policies that return uncommon benefits for marginal costs. Today's global enterprises are dynamically complex socio-technical systems where cause and effect of management's strategies and policies are distant in space and time. Spatial complexity recognizes that correctly defining the limits of the extended enterprise is essential in maximizing shareholder value via stakeholder management. Temporal complexity recognizes that policies, decisions, structure and delays are interrelated to influence growth and stability. An enterprise's long-term success therefore is a function of management's ability to control this "dynamic complexity". The goal of this thesis is to develop management insights into "enterprise design", i.e. to create more successful management policies and organizational structures. Enterprise design can be decomposed into the science and art, or engineering and architecting. Using the heretofore-separate academic fields of system dynamics and structural dynamics, an attempt is made to define the scientific "laws" of enterprise physics that will then be used to construct non-obvious, often counter-intuitive enterprise architectures. The goal is to combine the methodologies from the "business of building" with the "building of business", in an attempt to draw lessons from the design of high-rise buildings for the design of high-rising enterprises. Throughout this thesis, examples of a variety of socio-technical enterprises are discussed in order to explore and test the principles and insights developed herein. There is however a unifying case study; (cont.) used throughout of one of the world's most dynamically complex socio-political-technical enterprises: the Commercial Airplanes enterprise of The Boeing Company. This thesis uses the approaches of system and structural dynamics to explore Boeing's stability, growth, market share and profitability. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 291-308). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34771 Driving a lean transformation using a six sigma improvement process Krishnan, Satish, 1974- Successive transformations within manufacturing have brought great efficiencies to producers and lower costs to consumers. With the advents of interchangeable parts between 1800 and 1850 in small arms manufacturing (Hounshell, 1984, pp. 3-4), mass production in the early 1900s in automobile manufacturing (Hounshell, 1984, pp. 9-10), and lean production in the early 1950s in automobile manufacturing (Womack, Jones, & Roos, 1990, p. 52), the state of manufacturing has continued to evolve. Each time, the visionaries that catalyzed the transformations were forced to overcome the inertia of the status quo. After convincing stakeholders of the need for change, these change agents: 1. Established a vision for the future 2. Committed resources to attain that vision 3. Studied the root causes for current methods 4. Proposed a new solution 5. Implemented the new solution 6. Quantified the results and sought future improvements. This basic process to implementing change is remarkably simple yet incredibly powerful. By explicitly emphasizing the need for root cause analysis, the process recognizes that improvements will be transient if the root causes of prior problems are not fully understood and resolved. When deploying a lean production system, an understanding of lean principles and tools is necessary but therefore not sufficient. Rather, implementing a lean production system should follow: 1. An analysis mapping the root causes of current production methods back to technical issues and the organization's strategic design, culture, and political landscape. Only by fixing the problems that led to the current production system can a lean transformation be sustained. 2. A detailed plan which achieves a transformation in both the organization; (cont.) production system. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34765 Process for evaluating options for materials management outsourcing Hagan, Mark This thesis investigates the issues involved with the outsourcing of the materials management function within aerospace assembly, proposing a process for determining whether all or part of the responsibility should be given to suppliers. A flowchart tailored to the aerospace assembly process has been developed to address strategic as well as cost concerns. This flowchart looks not only at the outsourcing of the entire materials management function, but also at the possibility of outsourcing the management of individual carts of parts to suppliers. In this case, referred to as supplier kitting, existing suppliers package parts in a kit that stops short of a full outsourced assembly, but has many of the same attributes. At this point, a cost model is proposed for assessing the internal costs of receiving and packaging a single set of parts for use at the assembly line. The cost of receiving, storing, and building up a set of parts is difficult to estimate from the data used within internal accounting systems. The cost estimated by the model can be used as the basis of comparison for outside bids to package parts. In addition, the broader trend towards outsourcing in the industry is explored, along with the recent implementation of best practices in supply chain management that impact the requirements of the materials management function. Finally, the organizational barriers to making improvements in the organization's supply chain are explored, along with specific examples that are related to materials management. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-79). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34748 Developing a circumstance-based innovation strategy for a midsized aerospace manufacturer : fostering intrapreneurship, opening boundaries, and seeding disruption Brylawski, Michael M. (Michael Mills), 1972- This thesis derives a seven-stage methodology and presents a case study for developing an actionable innovation strategy for manufacturing firms. The methodology is based around a careful examination of their firm's circumstances, or external context and internal praxis. How a firm should innovate is dependent on industry environment, firm activities, technology competencies, internal culture, and its networks-and this thesis aims to develop a "theory of practice" in how to do such circumstance-based strategy. Thus, unlike much of the innovation literature, which push universalistic theories on innovation (e.g., form a Skunkworks to create a new radical product) this work aims to help firms become more innovative by developing strategies unique to their conditions. The methodology has seven modules: 1) stake intent, 2) survey the industry and firm, 3) create an innovation strategy, 4) audit the firm, 5) develop the plan to reinforce the capabilities through its existing culture, 6) execute and measure the plan, and 7) periodically reflect and adjust the plan as the firm's environment change. The case study focuses on modules 2-5. The case company is a midsized aerospace manufacturing-focused firm competing in the thick of the highly competitive global aerostructures market, specializing in airframe control surfaces. It employs a variety of advanced manufacturing techniques, with an emerging focus in carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite fabrication. Undertaking the methodology, the thesis finds that the highly competitive landscape combined with the firm's current market position and capabilities suggest an innovation strategy focused on differentiation (as opposed to low-cost), high levels of collaboration (as opposed; (cont.) to in-house R&D), and architectural innovation (as opposed to component innovation), with a balanced perspective on processes and products, core and new markets, and sustaining and disruptive approaches. The thesis proposes "ideal" capabilities for the company to execute this strategy, audits their current state, and proposes solutions embedded in an actionable, three-phase plan to reinforce them compatible with the firm's existing culture and networks. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-124). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34745 The application of value stream management principles in a batch production environment Allison, Daniel J The need for continuous improvement within a value stream is very necessary in today's business environment and can be one of the key sources of competitive advantage. As a company learns and implements the tools and practices of a Lean system, the underlying management and leadership methods become critical to sustaining fundamental operational change. A Value Stream Manager provides this leadership and is responsible for increasing the ratio of value to non-value by eliminating waste in the overall value chain from start to finish. The scope of the responsibilities of a value stream manager should cover at least two domains. First is the plant domain, that improves the value stream between the four walls of the plant; including the inbound and outbound logistics to/from the plant. The second domain is to consider the value stream at the enterprise-level. At the enterprise-level, the value stream manager is responsible for eliminating waste throughout the extended value stream, including channel partners such as suppliers and customers. This thesis will examine the operations of the ABB Wessel Cable plant in Longford, Ireland and analyze the application of Value Stream Management principles during a six and a half month internship period. By involving all the employees at ABB Wessel we were able to reduce WIP and Finished good levels down to historic lows holding scrap below 4% and increase overall equipment effectiveness by almost 30%. By concentrating on velocity of flow through the factory with reduced overtime, the business stopped losing money. In the proposed future state, additional performance enhancing changes are identified and discussed as a going forward plan for the future. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34729 Implementing a new organization to manage manufacturing technology innovation Flores, Annabel, 1977- The purpose of this research is to provide an academic, external perspective to facilitate the implementation and development of a new internal organization for Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) with a focus on strategy and the organization. The new organization, named the Advanced Manufacturing Development Center (AMDC), is chartered to work concurrently with the design community to develop state-of-the-art manufacturing technology to compliment the next generation engineering designs. This thesis documents the efforts of a company implementing change detailing the specific challenges they faced. The principle lessons learned during the course of this project are (1) that effectively introducing change is very difficult and depends largely on thorough planning and understanding the culture and (2) that manufacturing innovation and development is a critical step to improving the manufacturing capabilities and providing a competitive advantage to a company. The defense industry is undergoing a lean transformation that focuses on "Better, Faster, Cheaper" defense systems demanding better products within a faster development timeframe at cheaper development and production costs. Defense companies have an external push to improve their manufacturing capabilities. In the context of the defense industry, adapting to change is a slow process given the industry's clockspeed and historical development. Making the challenge of effective implementation even more difficult is the lack of urgency at RMS's due to their success in the marketplace. Benchmarking and organizational studies specific to the industry and the company were conducted to identify best practices to provide a basis for the development of the AMDC. This project uses academic research to identify existing theories on manufacturing innovation and organizational change to overcome the socialization and cultural issues that ensued from implementing change and to improve the potential sustainability and impact of the AMDC. An implementation roadmap and operational model were generated that combined the best practices found in industry and academic theories that would help meet the objectives of the AMDC. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-137). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34726 Improved integration of information in discrete part manufacturing environments Hoag, Michael P. (Michael Paul), 1975- The flow and coordination of information across an enterprise is handled through complex networks of manual and automated processes. Forty years ago, the proliferation of computers spawned a revolution in automating many functional silos within a business via Material Requirements Planning applications. These systems evolved over time into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions as more functionalities were included in the scope of their planning modules. Only four years ago, the availability of high bandwidth Internet access at the corporate level also started revolutions beyond company walls, with Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management applications. Companies have recently invested heavily in these Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Customer (B2C) solutions. However, electronic commerce, or "e-Commerce", has thus far been unable to achieve its "Shop Floor to Top Floor", "Sensor to Boardroom", or "Factory Floor to Executive Door" transparency of data as it was intended to do. The reason for this failure is that these applications typically lack direct links to the real-time status information from manufacturing operations. This thesis attempts to bridge the gap between the enterprise wide applications and the vast amount of data trapped in the controls and machinery on the manufacturing floor. The vision to integrate these pieces is referred to as electronic manufacturing, or more commonly "e-Manufacturing". This newly emerging e-Manufacturing market is expected to offer rapid growth for companies who can move fast enough to capture a sizeable share. While ERP vendors appear best positioned to push from the "top-down" into this space, this thesis demonstrates that the control vendors with a "bottom-up" strategy may prove to be more successful. The developments in this thesis are built upon ABB's Industrial ^IT technology. Given Industrial ^IT 's ability to quickly integrate to a variety of data sources in real-time, e-Manufacturing related feasibility studies were conducted in four of ABB's facilities. The thesis also suggests strategies for implementing these kinds of solutions successfully. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-88). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34707 Optimizing the assembly sequence of an aerospace manufacturing process Wolters, James Aaron, 1966- The 1990's were a time of downsizing and consolidation for much of the defense aerospace industry. Many defense contractors sought to integrate lean manufacturing principles and techniques into their business, as a means of becoming more cost-competitive in bidding for a shrinking defense budget, and to enable moves into commercial product lines. UTC-Sikorsky Aircraft Company began a series of restructuring and re-engineering initiatives in the late 1990's aimed at addressing these issues. This internship focused on cost reduction in Sikorsky's main product line - the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The final assembly line for the UH-60 was subject to cost and schedule overruns, along with high inventory levels. The assembly line was also characterized by a high degree of variability, and a major source of variability was believed to be the lack of a defined and repeatable sequence for the installations that comprise final ass~mbly. The introduction of an optimized assembly sequence, and subsequent adoption for daily use by shop floor personnel, was expected to reduce variability and improve performance. The use of a sequence itself was expected to produce the following benefits: 1. Provide a significant improvement in the use of visual tools for line management. 2. Help capture valuable information about installations from workers, and then transfer this knowledge to management, planners, and new workers as personnel are rotated through the factory. 3. Enable significant inventory reduction through introduction of a just-in-time (JIT) material delivery methodology, by linking material delivery to the order in which it is consumed. Implementation was expected to aid in identifying the shortcomings and limitations of the systems that have prevented the use of a sequencing methodology in the past. More importantly, it would elevate the importance of addressing and solving these issues as a means to achieve company-wide goals for cost and inventory reduction. Through implementation of this sequence, key issues were identified: -- JIT inventory levels are difficult to achieve in a large, complex aerospace assembly process, -- The manufacturing system, along with systems and processes which support it, must be capable of supporting JIT prior to implementation (and may need to be redesigned to do so), and -- Process re-engineering to support JIT is best accomplished through a combination of top-down and bottom-up change processes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34629 Understanding and managing uncertainty in lean aerospace product development Bresnahan, Steven M. (Steven Michael) Aspects of aircraft product uncertainty during system development are examined. Generation of stakeholder value in lean aerospace product development is linked to the reduction or elimination of project risks and uncertainties in areas such as customer requirements, product performance, and issues that may arise later in the product's life cycle. A commercial aircraft system project is explored as a case study. The system is comprised a numerous subsystems developed by separately managed teams. Teams had different approaches to risk identification and mitigation. The relative success of each team is summarized. A framework for creating value by efficiently and effectively managing uncertainty and mitigating risks during aerospace system development is presented. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-98). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34628 Re-Architecting the DoD acquisition process : a transition to the information age Brown, Kevin M., S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The military is the midst of significant change, due to the DoD transformation guidance and movement to Network-Centric Warfare/Operations. Unfortunately, both the guidance given, roadmaps produced and the level of espoused support for the transformation have caused fundamental change to occur slowly and at increasing expense. The military material development process was designed around a platform-centric system and worked well, but now the information age is causing a move to network-centric systems. This fundamental shift is not aligned with the DoD development process and reform will require broad changes in both organization and policy. This paper reviews the NCW Transformation goal, the DoD transformation guidance and compares them to the Transformation Roadmaps of the Army, Navy and Air Force. These guidance documents are then compared with actual transformation changes and the associated factors effecting the change, using J. Forrester type system dynamics models. The systems dynamics analysis studies numerous transformation factors for their effects and yields recommended alternative development architecture.; (cont.) The goal of the paper is to align the DoD development process with the transformation guidance goals to result in a process which speeds prototype testing, development and fielding of new military systems, while integrating state-of-the-art business practice and theory. This resulted in the creation of several models which describe the various acquisition systems and a new model which addresses the issues found in the other models. The new model represents a reconfigured architecture for the DoD acquisitions system and a new organization to implement the transformation. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-150). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34552 System development technical interactions and innovation : a network-based investigation Makumbe, Pedzisayi O The development of complex engineering systems such as aircraft engines involves many cross functional teams that are usually geographically distributed. These teams interact in several ways but one of the most important set of interactions during the product development phase is the flow of technical information which is largely used for coordination and problem solving. For analytical purposes, these technical information flows can be represented as a directed network. This thesis develops a context and a research design that can help one investigate the impact of the resultant network structure on innovation in complex engineering systems. The broad context can be divided into two: theoretical and real world contexts. The theoretical context is developed by reviewing literature at the intersection of networks and innovation, and the real world context is typified by a modular enterprise developing a complex engineering system. Within this broad context, the research area of interest is framed by a set of hypotheses that lead to precise innovation measures and characterizations. The research design is motivated by the context and intended theoretical contributions. It consists of two major sections.; (cont.) The first section discusses and critiques methodologies for constructing networks and proposes a methodology more suited to this engineering systems development context. The second section describes a two-stage model whose variables include network structural properties such as structural holes, nodal degree, tie strength, and innovation output. It also describes a methodology for investigating the relationship between network density and the innovation development subprocess. Finally, the context and research design are tied together to create an instantiation of the measurement and characterization of innovation in complex engineering systems development. The characterization considers product innovation as radical, architectural, modular or incremental, and process innovation as organizational / coordination-based or technical. The measures of innovation include granted patents, implemented employee suggestions, product literature based innovation counts and results from structured interviews with the two leaders from each node in the network. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-77). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34532 Measuring and managing intellectual capital in the U.S. aerospace industry Siegel, Lawrence R "Intellectual capital" has been heralded in business journals as an important component for successful business development in today's economy. Intellectual capital consists of knowledge-based assets -- including people, relationships, tools, and processes - that create value for a firm and its clients. Previous research has emphasized the financial measurement of intellectual capital, including the valuation of corporate intangible assets and the difference between a firm's market value and book value. Unfortunately, these financial measures are not very useful to practitioners, as they provide few insights about how to allocate resources, improve operations, or strategically plan for future needs. In this research, a new conceptual framework is developed for understanding the role of intellectual capital in new product development. The framework develops a dynamic model of the three forms of intellectual capital - human capital, structural capital, and relational capital -- and identifies mechanisms for knowledge transfer, organizational learning, and value creation. The framework is bolstered by data from case studies of seven product development projects at different U.S. aerospace firms.; (cont.) Using the concept of intellectual capital as a "lens", the case studies are comparatively analyzed to identify critical knowledge-based resources and capabilities that are used in the development of complex products and services. The studies suggest that a balanced portfolio of intellectual capital can create unique capabilities that lead to competitive advantage and differentiated performance. The analysis culminates in a self-assessment tool that managers can use to measure and assess the health of their intellectual capital base. In addition to providing management tools, the research has implications for U.S. aerospace policy, as well as the funding of further research into the role of corporate knowledge in today's information economy. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2004.; Page 145 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 140-144). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34515 Enterprise integration strategies across virtual extended enterprise networks : a case study of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program enterprise Glazner, Christopher G Over the last decade, many companies in industries that produce complex and technologically-advanced products have begun to integrate their operations along the value chains of the primary products they design, produce or sustain. Increasingly, integration efforts have moved beyond the boundaries of the core or focal enterprise serving as the prime contractor or system integrator to span the entire value chain, to form virtual extended enterprises. These structures allow the members of the virtual extended enterprise to focus on their core competencies in order to collaboratively deliver a world-class product at a competitive price. While integration offers many benefits to enterprises, a high degree of integration is not always desirable or advantageous in a limited duration virtual extended enterprise composed of autonomous companies. Virtual extended enterprises must find a balance between decoupled collaboration and highly coupled integration, balancing the need to closely coordinate their efforts with the need protect the autonomy of their members. The objective of this research is to explore the extent to which a focal enterprise, such as a prime contractor or system integrator, should consider integration across its virtual extended enterprise, identify major barriers to integration, and define key enablers of integration overcoming these barriers.; (cont.) Analysis focuses on the extent of integration based on the characteristics of the virtual extended enterprise, such as the duration and scope of the program in question, product system architecture, the organizational architecture, and the external environment. In particular, three key conceptual dimensions of integration are developed and explored-technological integration, strategic integration, and organizational integration. This framework is applied in an in-depth case study of integration strategies on the virtual extended enterprise of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program. The knowledge gained from the case study is used to make recommendations for the development of integration strategies for future programs. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2006.; Page 184 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-181). 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34141 Lifecycle perspectives on product data management Hines, Erisa K. (Erisa Kimberly) Implementing a new IT system often requires the enterprise to transform in order to maximally leverage the capabilities generated by the new system. The challenge in using IT as an enabler to change arises from the need to synergistically redesign processes, develop and implement a solution using internal talent and external suppliers, and establish adoption by users. Product Data Management (PDM) technology represents a substantial portion of large industry IT investment over the last decade. The ability to manage and deliver product data throughout the lifecycle has become increasingly important to the aerospace enterprise as products become more complex, cost and development cycles shorten, and customer, partner, and supplier relationships evolve. Currently, the aerospace community does not have capability to provide traceability from requirements and design through field maintenance. While initially an attempt to understand the application of PDM in product development, what emerged was a study in how PDM affects and enables lean enterprise transformation. The selection, development, and deployment of PDM solutions were studied in the aerospace industry in order to enable better implementation decisions in varying complex environments. Organizational, technical, and cultural factors were considered as they contribute to a PDM's effectiveness. .; (cont.) A current-state observation of nine aerospace company sites highlights the difficulty in reaching the technology's full potential to deliver customer value. Data show that PDMs are being used primarily to manage design engineering data and are not tightly integrated with other business systems. The data also show a distinct difference between prime and supplier companies' spending on and capability of their respective data management systems. While the value of PDM to product development includes better data quality, traceability and transparency, value to the enterprise is also found beyond the traditional role of PDM. Looking horizontally across the lifecycle and vertically through the hierarchical relationships, PDM provides opportunities for organizational and process change and stakeholder involvement, both important tenets for evolving into a lean enterprise. This conclusion is supported by both the site interviews and the two case studies Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-109). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33731 Value stream mapping and earned value management : two perspectives on value in product development Whitaker, Ryan Brent The concepts of value and value stream are crucial to the philosophy of Lean, and a better understanding of how these concepts relate to product development (PD) is essential for the creation of a Lean PD strategy. This thesis focuses on value by looking at PD processes through two different value perspectives: Product Development Value Stream Mapping and Earned Value Management. Product Development Value Stream Maps (PDVSMs) were created for two different PD projects, and the tasks from the maps were analyzed for how they each create value. The official value measurement for the two projects, Earned Value Management System data, was analyzed and compared to the PDVSMs. This comparison of the two value perspectives proved valuable, as it showed that despite some misalignments, they are congruent. The comparison also highlighted several flaws in EVMS. Finally, a combined EVMS/PDVSM hybrid management tool is proposed and discussed. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-152). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33730 Designing the lean enterprise performance measurement system Mahidhar, Vikram The research contained in this thesis explores design attributes of the enterprise performance measurement system required for the transformation to the lean enterprise and its management. Arguments are made from the literature that successful deployment of the lean practices, across three different stages of the evolution of lean thinking, requires a supporting performance measurement system. The increase in scope of lean practices at each stage of the evolution increases the complexity in achieving synchronization across the enterprise subsystems. The research presents various attributes of the performance measurement system required at each stage and further derives the three key attributes for the design of the lean enterprise performance measurement system. These three attributes are: enterprise level stakeholder value measures, the causal relationships across performance measures at each level, and Uniform and consistent set of performance measures. A detailed case study of an aerospace and defense business of a multi-industry corporation which has embarked on a journey towards creating a lean enterprise is presented.; (cont.) It highlights several challenges in the transformation from the perspective of performance measurement. The key challenges identified are: First, disconnect between the performance measurement for the lean practices and regular business practices hinder the adoption of lean practices. This disconnect exists due to the existence of both legacy performance measures and the new measures. Second, lack of understanding of the cause-effect relationship between performance measures across different enterprise levels poses difficulty evaluating the impact of lean related efforts. Third, use of non-uniform performance measures across various enterprise subsystems leads to non-lean behavior. The theory underlying performance measurement is reviewed including the widely-accepted performance measurement frameworks suggested for the design of enterprise performance measurement system. Analysis of these frameworks reveals that none of the existing frameworks completely capture the desired attributes for the lean enterprise performance measurement system.; (cont.) To design the lean enterprise performance measurement system, this research suggests a conceptual design that explicates the use of various tools and techniques to address the critical attributes. To identify stakeholder value measures this design demonstrates the use of stakeholder value analysis. Use of system dynamics modeling and structural equation modeling is suggested to establish, validate and evolve the cause-effect relationships between performance measures. And, to maintain the uniform set of measures the creation of measures dictionary is explained. Further, research is needed to empirically validate the model as a means for successful transformation and management of the lean enterprise. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-151). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33373 An exploration of supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry and in Rolls-Royce Tiwari, Mohit This thesis is a part of the Supply Chain 2020 research project which seeks to study best practices in supply chain management in multiple industries in order to develop a deeper understanding of key principles and practices characterizing the creation of excellent supply chains through a long-term research agenda. This thesis addresses the first phase of the research by concentrating on the aerospace industry and by focusing on Rolls-Royce through a case study. The objective of the thesis is to conduct an exploratory study of the best practices in supply chain management in the aircraft engine manufacturing industry, and how these practices impact the competitive positioning of an engine manufacturer within the industry. The analysis involves a broad review of the current state and future directions of the aerospace industry by tracing the key factors shaping its evolution and by identifying the major strategic forces that would influence its future. Within this general industry context, the thesis analyzes Rolls-Royce's position in the industry as a leading aircraft engine manufacturer and presents a focused study of Rolls-Royce's supply chain management practices.; (cont.) In particular, the thesis involves a deeper exploration of the aircraft engine manufacturing business segment of Rolls-Royce and strives to understand the company's supply chain management practices, by examining the role of major factors that have proven crucial to effective supply chain management within the company. The thesis also presents more specific case study examples that track the implementation and results of major supply chain management initiatives. Finally, the supply chain design and management practices are analyzed from the perspective of their role in the company's business strategy. This is accomplished by employing a number of business strategy frameworks to understand the key factors that determine the competitiveness of a tier one supplier in the aerospace industry, such as Rolls- Royce, and by examining how those factors have affected Rolls-Royce's supply chain management strategies and practices. Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33315 An examination of Boeing's supply chain management practices within the context of the global aerospace industry Çizmeci, DaÄ lar This thesis examines the supply chain management practices of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company within the context of the global aerospace industry. The methodology used for this study includes a study of emerging supply chain management concepts and practices in the aerospace industry based on a review of the open literature, research performed on aerospace supply chain management issues by MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, and selected interviews with aerospace industry experts. The results show that there are significant changes in supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry. These changes include restructuring and closer integration of supplier networks to achieve efficiency gains, delegating greater design and production responsibility to major suppliers through strategic supplier partnerships along with having key suppliers evolve greater system and subsystem integration capabilities, emphasizing a lifecycle view supply chain design and management to reduce lifecycle cost of products and systems, and building supply chain capabilities supporting maintenance and aftermarket logistics services as a major new strategic thrust to provide improved customer satisfaction and retain long-term customer loyalty. The thesis focuses on Boeing's supply chain management practices through a case study to explore these developments in a more concrete enterprise context. Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-80). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32471 The role of SCADA in developing a lean enterprise for municipal wastewater operations Prutz, Stanley J Central to optimizing a wastewater system's operations is the collection of alarm and operational data from various remote locations throughout a municipality, hence the basic need for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). The process of providing SCADA systems to municipal clients, from conception to implementation, is typically a cumbersome process involving a wide variety of stakeholders. Municipalities have historically been slow to change, often being among the last in adopting new processes and technologies. Municipal SCADA systems usually are deployed without considering how they will specifically create value for municipality end-users and without defining metrics to gauge their effectiveness. Lean enterprise principals suggest a focus on the value stream can reduce waste and improve the value municipality end-users derive from SCADA systems. The author performs a lean analysis of the process of implementing SCADA within a municipal wastewater operation. The municipality's current systems integrator-centric model for SCADA delivery is examined. An alternate lean vision is proposed for the integrator's operations and their relationship with the municipality. This vision reduces SCADA implementation time and costs while improving the effectiveness of the SCADA solution. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-116). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32467 A new approach to risk analysis with a focus on organizational risk factors Marais, Karen, 1973- Preventing accidents in complex socio-technical systems requires an approach to risk management that continuously monitors risk and identifies potential areas of concern before they lead to hazards, and constrains hazards before they lead to accidents. This research introduces the concept of continuous participative risk management, in which risks are continuously monitored throughout the lifetime of a system, and members from all levels of the organization are involved both in risk analysis and in risk mitigation. One aspect of effective risk management is accurate risk analysis that takes account of technical, human, and organizational factors. This research develops a new approach to risk analysis that improves on event-based models to include risks that do not depend only on component or subsystem failures, and incorporates both human and organizational factors. The approach enables the early identification of risk mitigation strategies, aids in the allocation of resources to best manage risk, and provides for the continuous monitoring of risk throughout the system lifecycle. Organizational factors have been identified as a significant aspect of accidents in complex socio-technical systems. Properly managing and assessing risk requires an understanding of the impact of organizational factors on risk. Three popular theories of organizational risk, normal accidents theory (NAT), high reliability organizations (HRO), and normalization of deviance, are reviewed. While these approaches do provide some useful insights, they all have significant limitations, particularly as a basis for assessing and managing risk. This research develops the understanding of organizational risk factors by focussing on the dynamics of organizational risk.; (cont.) A framework is developed to analyze the strategic trade-offs between short and long-term goals and understand the reasons why organizations tend to migrate to states of increasing risk. The apparent conflict between performance and safety is shown to result from the different time horizons applying to performance and safety. Performance is measured in the short term, while safety is indirectly observed over the long term. Expanding the time horizon attenuates the apparent tension between performance and safety. By increasing awareness of the often implicit trade-offs between safety and performance, organizations can avoid decisions that unwittingly increase risk. In addition to this general dynamic, several specific common patterns of problematic organizational behaviour in accidents in diverse industries are identified. While accidents usually differ in the technical aspects, the organizational behaviour accompanying the accident exhibits commonalities across industries. These patterns of behaviour, or archetypes, can be used to better understand how risk arises and how problematic organizational behaviours might be addressed in diverse settings such as the space industry and chemical manufacturing. NASA specific archetypes are developed based on historical accounts of NASA and investigations into the Challenger and Columbia accidents. The NASA archetypes illustrate several mechanisms by which the manned space program migrated towards high risk. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-255). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32351 Development of a process for continuous creation of lean value in product development organizations Kato, Jin Ideas and methodologies of lean product development were developed into tools and processes that help product development organizations improve their performances. The definition of waste in product development processes was re-examined and developed into a frugal set to cover all types of waste in product development processes through preliminary case studies. Value stream mapping (VSM) was optimized for measuring the waste indicators in product development processes. Typical causes for low product development project performances were organized into a root-cause analysis diagram. Three case studies in product development companies were performed. The tools were tested and improved through intensive interviews with both project managers and engineers. VSM was effective for identifying and measuring waste indicators. The root-cause analysis diagram was effective for quickly identifying root causes for low product development project performances. Synchronized uses of these tools made it possible to measure each root cause's impact on project performances. The result of measurements revealed both problems shared by all the projects and the ones specific to the projects, indicating that the tools and processes developed in this research can provide suggestions for continuous improvement of product development processes. Some waste indicators were more prevalent than the others, implying that the number of waste indicators to be considered can be reduced. Inventory of information was prevalent in all the projects, and the analyses of it implied that Today's product development processes are as premature as those of manufacturing several decades ago.; (cont.) Wastefulness of information inventory was proved quantitatively. Time spent on one occurrence of rework was proved to take longer near the end of a project than at the beginning of it. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-206). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29884 Identifying lean practices for deriving software requirements Ippolito, Brian J. (Brian James), 1970- Lean principles focus on employing value added activities to reduce product development cycle time, increase quality, and reduce cost. Lean originated in the automotive industry and has since been centered in the manufacturing domain. Lessons learned on implementing Lean initiatives have been captured by the in the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) and incorporated into the Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) (http://lean.mit.edu/public/index.html). To the author's knowledge, this is the first research effort specifically designed to apply the Lean principles and the Lean Enterprise Model to the aerospace software requirement derivation process. Data supporting this research is the result of a comprehensive two-year research effort involving three detailed case studies with 45 case study interviews, 125 stakeholder surveys collected from ten aerospace software upgrades, feedback from numerous aerospace industry practitioners and Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) faculty. Ten aerospace software upgrades were analyzed at both an enterprise level and an organizational level to identify the presence of Lean practices. At the enterprise level, metrics typically used to measure enterprise performance (Flow Time, Stakeholder Satisfaction, Quality Yield, and Resource Utilization) were found to be appropriate for the software requirement process but not adequately implemented. An organizational analysis observed five of the twelve Lean practices as effectively implemented and identified opportunities to implement four more Lean practices. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29602 Stakeholder collaboration in Air Force acquisition : adaptive design using system representations Dare, Robert E. (Robert Ernest), 1961- Air Force development of new or evolutionary weapon systems is a complex endeavor due to the involvement of many stakeholders and the presence of considerable uncertainty in the acquisition environment. The ability to adapt a weapon system while it is still being designed affords a means to respond to this complexity. The fundamental motivation for this research is to discover how Air Force development programs, operating within established constraints, can improve their adaptability during the design phase to provide more value to the warfighter. The thesis of this research is that the quality and nature of collaboration between stakeholders during the design phase of weapon system development programs determines how effectively they share knowledge, which in turn drives the level of program adaptability. Eight case studies were conducted on Air Force development programs. Data were collected on collaborative practices and patterns of adaptability demonstrated during design. The research placed an emphasis on usage of "system representations" such as prototypes and beta software releases that acted as a form of boundary object to facilitate knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries. As programs used system representations to provide higher levels of knowledge sharing, they were found to be more adaptable. System representations were more effective at promoting adaptability when they represented the design with higher fidelity, providing system-level detail and covering stakeholder emphasis areas. Lastly, certain key stakeholder roles were found to contribute both flexibility and structure, facilitating a "zone of novelty" in which the stakeholders could exercise creativity and evaluate design options while still executing the program within established constraints.; (cont.) This research indicates that the pressing need for Air Force programs to be able to adapt in today's uncertain acquisition environment can be addressed to a significant degree through the usage of effective system representations in conjunction with supporting patterns of stakeholder interaction. Specific recommendations for Air Force acquisition policy makers and practitioners are provided. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-311). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29216 Lean enterprise self-assessment as a leading indicator for accelerating transformation in the aerospace industry Hallam, Cory R. A The research contained in this thesis explores leading indicators of lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry, as part of the greater body of work associated with MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). Arguments from literature are made in support of the assumption that a lean enterprise can outperform a less lean enterprise, permitting the research to focus on identifying potential means for achieving and accelerating lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry. Senior enterprise leaders and their leadership committees from thirty-one enterprises in the US and UK aerospace industry utilized the LAI Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) as a means for measuring their current state of leanness in leadership/transformation processes, lifecycle processes, and enabling infrastructure. Cross-sectional LESAT data, two-period time series LESAT data, and directed interviews and site visits were utilized to formulate the conclusions drawn in this thesis. There are four primary empirical findings of this research. First, the aerospace industry as a whole exhibits lowest maturity in practices related to establishing and deploying a lean enterprise vision, even in the presence of high maturity in lean production. Second, enterprises exhibiting high lean enterprise maturity in leadership/transformation processes also exhibit high maturity in lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. Third, strong leadership commitment (LC) correlates highly with setting a lean enterprise change environment (CE), which then correlates highly with lean change activities in practice (CP).; (cont.) Finally, there is evidence that the highest lean maturity enterprises have established formal information feedback mechanisms that allow the enterprise to strategically build on the lean capabilities of the enterprise, while prioritizing lean improvement activities within the context of enterprise strategic needs. From the perspective of industry, this research suggests that there must be a formal decision to pursue the lean enterprise as an operational strategy in order to achieve successful transformation. This decision will be founded on strong leadership commitment, which if established, can help support the leadership/transformation practices as a means for improving lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. The LAI Transition-to-Lean (TTL) roadmap provides a logical sequencing of lean enterprise transformation activities, to which formal information feedback mechanisms should be added based on the model proposed in this thesis for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. Most importantly, this model suggests a new mode of operating, not a one-time improvement effort. Further research is needed to empirically validate the model as a means for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-322). 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29208 System dynamics analysis of an ordering system used for commercial aircraft manufacture Finan, Jeffrey John Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1993, Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1993.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-252). 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29158 Best practices in user needs/requirements generation Wirthlin, Joseph Robert, 1970- An idealized process framework for the front-end of product development was developed. The framework covers the process space from an initial need (or recognition of a need) to the decision for a product/development program launch. The framework focuses on the activities required for the development of requirements needed for a business case decision. The framework was developed through a thorough examination of the literature relating to product development and addresses not only the activities required to traverse the front-end of product development, but also metrics and a process maturity matrix by which an organization's process can be evaluated. Using case studies of the front-end processes of eight commercial organizations and eight military organizations in addition to the US Air Force, the applicability of the framework was tested. All of the organizations demonstrated the existence of the four fundamental activities contained in the framework but a discussion of the existing process enablers revealed various interpretations of required features. The maturity matrix was used to evaluate each of the organizations (commercial and military) relative to an idealized and mature front-end process. The analysis revealed a significant gap between commercial and military process performance. Additionally, the existence and application of the process enablers was significantly correlated with the organization's performance in the four process activities of the front-end framework. The implications of the research indicate that military organizations in general will need to reevaluate the current practices in the front-end and the application of process enablers within their organizations. Further, military organizations should reexamine if the current process structure for system development in the front-end needs significant changes. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000.; Vita.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-299). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28839 A multi-attribute value assessment method for the early product development phase with application to the business airplane industry Downen, Troy Douglas (cont.) market. The method is also used to extract quantitative evidence indicating the existence of enterprise-related attributes for consumer value in products. Marking the first independent review of the loss function-based value method, this study finds that the Relative Value Index is superior to existing value methods at retaining simplicity of implementation and minimal data requirements while maintaining a firm grounding in economics and consumer choice theory. The method is shown to be useful for estimation, though robustness of the results is not certain when used in this manner, and may also be extended to the analysis of large-scale engineering systems and their value to society.; The early phase of product development, sometimes referred to as the fuzzy front-end, is critical to the success of enterprises and plays a dominant role in the formation and execution of corporate strategy. In addition, it has been argued that the concept of consumer value is central to effective product development. In this research, a new product value assessment method is established for the fuzzy front-end of business airplane development. Existing value assessment techniques used in the business aviation industry are found to poorly balance the theoretical rigor of the method with the ease of use and accuracy required by practitioners in early product development. A recently-developed multi-attribute value method, based on Taguchi's loss function approach to quality assessment, is modified and extended in this study and applied for the first time to the domain of business aviation. A comprehensive 40-year historical product database is developed for use in testing and evaluating the method, referred to as the Relative Value Index (RVI), enabling the scope of value method appraisal to be expanded to an industry-wide examination over a significant time span. A top-down approach is developed for calibrating value models to empirical market data via attribute weighting factors. Sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulations are developed to test the RVI method's robustness and the reliability of the results, enabling a rigorous definition of the determinants of product competition in this industry. This methodology is a useful advance in the methods to extract objective findings from historical industry market activities. The RVI approach is used to develop evidence in support of a ratio theory of product price and value differentiation in the business airplane Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 327-339). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28830 Learning strategies and performance in organizational teams Bresman, Henrik M (cont.) shows that vicarious learning is positively associated with performance. I argue that vicarious team learning is an under-explored dimension of what makes teams and organizations competitive. The chapter concludes by pointing toward a contingency theory of team learning in which the effectiveness of a team learning strategy depends on characteristics in the team's task environment.; This dissertation addresses the subject of team learning strategies and their performance effects in three independent but related chapters. A common theme is the notion that theorizing about team learning as constituted by a set of distinct strategies can improve our understanding of how teams learn, and how it influences performance. The first chapter explores team learning in an inductive study of six teams in one large pharmaceutical firm. I find that many of these teams engage in vicarious team learning--the activities by which a team learns key aspects of its task from the similar experiences of others outside the team--rather than experiential team learning. I detail the nature of vicarious team learning in a model including three component processes: identification, translation, and application. The second chapter reviews the literature on team learning and concludes that it has largely been treated as a uniform construct. Drawing on organizational learning theory, social learning theory, and the literature on the management of innovation and entrepreneurship, I propose that teams learn by deploying at least three different strategies: experiential learning, contextual learning, and vicarious learning. I use the example of a team facing a particularly difficult learning environment to illustrate the significance of viewing team learning as a multi-dimensional construct. The final chapter examines different team learning strategies, and vicarious learning in particular, as a means to understanding learning and performance differences across teams. Vicarious learning is conceptualized as an integral part of how teams learn. A field study of 43 teams in the pharmaceutical industry is used to develop and test the construct and Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, February 2005.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103). 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28213 Methodology for sizing finished goods inventories for a vinyl siding extrusion plant Milby, Michael Gary, 1965- Recently, many companies have begun to implement lean manufacturing principles as a way to improve their production systems. Alcoa has joined the movement to adopt lean manufacturing, and has named their effort the Alcoa Production System (APS), after the Toyota Production System which is, doubtless, the best known example of lean manufacturing implementation. The thrust of lean manufacturing is the removal of waste from the production system. For most companies the biggest reason for implementing lean manufacturing is that of reducing excess inventory. However, before inventory can be removed it is important that the reasons for holding inventory are understood. Only after these drivers of inventory are improved or removed, can companies safely reduce their inventories without losing their ability to satisfy customer demand. If implemented correctly, lean manufacturing is a great way to systematically reduce waste, especially inventory. However, most reference texts on lean manufacturing implementation have very little specific information on how much inventory is appropriate at any stage of improvement. On the other hand, practitioners of operations management have been dealing with these issues for years, and there exists a body of knowledge on sizing inventories. Many fail to realize that these two fields of study are compatible and that the base stock model is fully compatible with lean production methods. It is the objective of this thesis to show that the base stock model is compatible with lean manufacturing, and is an appropriate model for determining the correct levels of finished goods inventories at the Denison Alcoa plant. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 61). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/13339 Analysis of variance impact on manufacturing flow time Chao, Jackson Sheng-Kuang Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1991.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-120). 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/27014 IT management in the aerospace industry Ferre, Gregoire, 1978- (cont.) payoff IT investments. When the North American Aerospace Industry invests less than any other industry in the high risk investments, its foreign counterpart invests more than any other industry. The second major finding is that the governance mechanisms in place are similar in the two Aerospace Industry segments, contrary to the IT Portfolios. IT decisions are made usually by IT executives or business executives, based on the information provided by Chief level executives and at least one other business group. Finally, the third major finding is that the Aerospace Industry gets above average returns from IT by being good at IT Business Planning, Top Management involvement and User Satisfaction. However, a major effort needs to be placed on improving user satisfaction as it is not always properly managed and hinders returns from IT. The lack of extensive communication also hinders the returns from IT by not guarantying top management involvement and awareness of the IT governance mechanisms.; This thesis originated by a need for the Lean Aerospace Industry to study in the Aerospace Industry what seems to be a troublesome domain for many other industries: Information Technologies (IT). Beforehand, there were two ways to do so: study how aerospace companies implement major systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Product Data Management (PDM). After a few short case studies, it seemed companies were puzzled by the true extent and the pervasiveness of IT. Therefore, we chose to not look at IT "locally" but try to understand the bigger picture. This thesis is largely based on the pioneering work done by Peter Weill and the Center for Information Systems Research of the MIT Sloan School of Management on IT Portfolio and IT governance. It rationalizes IT by setting it as a portfolio, just like financial investments. Balancing the IT portfolio will ensure anticipated alignment with the corporate strategies. However, the elaboration of proper IT governance mechanisms is necessary to ensure value and return from IT. Defining the governance is "specifying the decision rights and accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior on the use of IT". We therefore applied the IT Portfolio and IT governance frameworks defined by Peter Weill to the Aerospace Industry through the analysis of surveys available in Appendix D. We were able to get data from ten different companies spread out across the world. This allowed us to examine several IT profiles, and to make several significant findings, among which three are of major importance and are described below. The first major finding is that the North American IT portfolio is risk-averse, while the aggregated rest of the world is prone to invest heavily in high risk/high Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2004.; Leaf 95 blank.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 68). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8140 A decomposition-based approach for the integration of product development and manufacturing system design Kim, Yong-Suk, 1975- Using a structured approach to understand the interaction between product design decisions and manufacturing system design is critical to reflect manufacturing system issues early in the product development process. Early consideration of manufacturing system issues prevents product design iterations due to manufacturing system constraints or unnecessary manufacturing system design modification to accommodate new product designs. However, in academia and industry, few frameworks are available to capture the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions. This thesis presents an approach to capture the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions, which is called manufacturability evaluation process. The manufacturability evaluation process aims to guide product development teams to see the effects of their design decisions on manufacturing systems and thus, to make the right decision from the early stage of product development. The manufacturability evaluation process satisfies four objectives: 1) to describe the objectives of manufacturing systems clearly separated from the means of achievement, 2) to present the impact of various design decisions on the achievement of the objectives of manufacturing systems, 3) to provide a common platform to effectively communicate the impact across the organization, and 4) to provide a framework to put existing tools together to integrate manufacturing system design and product design. The manufacturability evaluation process is based on a recently developed Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD).; (cont.) This thesis describes three groups of case studies to identify industry practices and provide application examples of the proposed manufacturability evaluation process. The manufacturability evaluation process has been successfully applied to the cases. In addition, the interaction between manufacturing system design and product design decisions are discussed with industry case study examples in the automotive industry. An evaluation tool is developed to evaluate the general practices of a company ensuring the manufacturability of product designs. Furthermore, this thesis provides a basis for future research to extend the scope of the MSDD into product development areas. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 354-364). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8128 Opportunities for lean thinking in aircraft flight testing and evaluation Carreras, Carmen E. (Carmen Elena), 1978- The application of Lean principles and practices has been shown to help aerospace companies reduce waste and maximize value to help meet the changing demands of the market. The most visible area of influence has been manufacturing, where great strides have been made in cost and cycle time reduction. Recently, the flight testing community has been faced with similar challenges. This paper investigates whether Lean principles can be applied to aircraft flight testing and evaluation to help meet these goals. Specific objectives are to identify opportunities for the implementation of Lean thinking and establish a framework for structured implementation of Lean principles and practices. This study focuses on seven aircraft programs: 737-NG, 767-400, Hawker Horizon, F-22, F/A-18E/F, C-130J, and the T-6A. The programs are analyzed from a programmatic viewpoint to identify where lean practices are currently being used and how lean thinking could further improve the overall flight testing process. Additionally, a detailed examination is performed on the day-to-day activities to identify the daily sources of waste and their impact on the program. The detailed analysis focuses on flutter testing as a surrogate for the entire testing program. A total of 90 flights were analyzed. Data collected from the case studies fits well into the value-creation framework established in Lean Enterprise Value. Each of the phases of the framework - value identification, value proposition, and value delivery - are discussed as they relate to flight testing. Many examples of the application of lean principles and practices as well as opportunities for implementation are presented in the value delivery phase. Opportunities were identified in: coordination of the systems engineering value stream, coordination with other test aircraft and necessary support functions, and management of the daily test operations. This preliminary study indicates that Lean thinking can be applied to flight testing. The guiding principles of well-run testing programs paralleled those of Lean. Additionally, there are many instances where Lean thinking would provide an opportunity to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8717 Value stream analysis and mapping for product development Millard, Richard L. (Richard Luke), 1977- This thesis explores of Value Stream Analysis and Mapping (VSA/M) as applied to Product Development (PD) efforts. It contains three parts: the background and history of PD VSA/M, a report of the current PD VSA/M practices within the U.S. aerospace industry, and the proposal of a general VSA/M method for Product Development activities. Value Stream Analysis and Mapping is a method used for business process and product improvement, which originated with the development of the Lean business philosophy. The VSA/M background section includes a brief history of the method as described in foundational Lean literature. As with Lean practices in general, the application of VSA/M began in the manufacturing community, and has seen excellent results. However, the engineering and design efforts of Product Development provide a unique setting for the use of VSA/M. The report of current PD VSA/M practices within the U.S. aerospace industry focuses on the research results taken from site visits to nine major Product Development sites. The VSA/M tools used at the sites are characterized and ranked in sophistication. The business context surrounding the use of the tools is also characterized and ranked. The reduction of the research data and this analysis shows the importance of both tool sophistication and the surrounding context in the success of a PD VSA/M exercise. The proposal of a general VSA/M method for Product Development activities includes an outline for implementation. This outline is supported with a discussion of associated principles and the application of selected tools. The proposed method follows a pattern of analyzing and mapping the Current State of a process, and using heuristics to analyze and map an improved Future State. The tools used to accomplish this analysis and mapping include (1) a high-level Gantt chart or Ward/LEI map, (2) a detailed-level Process Flow map, and (3) a detailed-level Design Structure Matrix. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.; "June 2001."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-107). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8696 Effect of control frequency on the performance of manufacturing systems with controllable production rates Castañeda Vega, José Israel Flow-line manufacturing systems represent the most prevalent process structure in industry for the repetitive production of discrete items. Machine breakdowns, however, limit their reliability and efficiency. The control of flow-line manufacturing systems, as a way to compensate for limited reliability, is about the frequent regeneration of production parameters so that the system output conforms to demand requirements in an acceptable manner. The influence of such regeneration frequency -or control frequency- on the system performance as well as its relevance with respect to other control parameters is, nevertheless, currently not well understood. So far, a continuous control action has been widely assumed in the performance analysis of unreliable manufacturing systems. This assumption follows naturally, given that most of the research work on shop floor control has been focused on job shop environments, such as flexible manufacturing systems. The reason for this emphasis on job shop environments could be the lack of flexibility in production rate of traditional repetitive manufacturing systems. This research work, on the other hand, was motivated by the realization that flow-line repetitive manufacturing systems can be designed for short term production rate control. Current implementations of lean manufacturing are cases of such systems.; (cont.) The intended contribution of this work is a better understanding of the influence of control frequency on the time behavior of flow-line manufacturing systems. The development of pertinent simulation and analytical models for performance assessment is presented. From the simulation results, one effect of control frequency on system behavior motivating further research is evident. An analytical model resembling the simulation one is elaborated. The occurrence of control actions is modeled as homogeneous Markov processes. From system stability considerations -or convergence of the analytic solution- a closed expression involving control frequency is derived. According to simulation results, the analytical model predicts very well the limit of controllability of the system (lowest control frequency required for stable behavior) as well as all the steady-state parameters of interest. Additionally, the closed form of the solution allows a direct study of the complementary effect of control frequency with inventory, capacity and availability on system behavior. These results permit fast assessment of system-wide effects of operational control issues during the design of manufacturing systems. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8659 Multidisciplinary design problem solving on product development teams Bernstein, Joshua I. (Joshua Ian), 1974- This investigation, conducted under the auspices of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), studied how engineers from different specialties interpret and communicate about technical design problems while working on product development teams. Data was collected on 98 cases via interviews with engineers at LAI member companies. For approximately one-third of the cases, two engineers with different backgrounds were interviewed, allowing comparisons to be made between their descriptions of the problems under study. For the remaining cases, one interview was conducted per case. The most important finding of this study was that engineers from different specialties do interpret the same problem differently. Specifically, two engineers were likely to evaluate the benefits or drawbacks of a potential solution using different sets of criteria. Thus, some design disputes were the result not of mutually exclusive needs but of a failure to recognize the different ways in which engineers were evaluating solutions to the problem. Furthermore, data collected during this study illustrated that in some cases these differences were the result of engineers addressing related, but unique problems. Therefore, a solution to one engineer's problem often created a new problem for another engineer on the team.; (cont.) A second conclusion of this study was that how design tools were used had a greater impact on a team's problem solving abilities than what tool was used. In this context, design tools included objects such as real or "virtual" prototypes as well as processes like simulations and tests. The results of this investigation suggested that such tools offered their greatest benefits when they were used in a participatory fashion in which a large fraction of a team shared in their use. Additionally, the more elements of a problem's context that were captured in a design tool, the greater its utility. Under such conditions, team members were able to create a shared evaluation system to judge potential solutions to the problem they were confronting, thereby facilitating problem resolution. Based on these results, the traditional model of engineering communication derived from the information processing framework requires modification. The information processing model assumes that individuals have a shared understanding of meaning when they communicate. This study, however, suggests that such shared understandings do not exist in advance, but are instead ... Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-216). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8478 Application of lean manufacturing technique for the design of the aircraft assembly line Gastelum, Victoria Elena, 1973- The final assembly line for the Boeing Commercial Airplanes 717 Program is currently implementing "The 9 Tactics", a methodology based on the lean manufacturing principles to transform the current processes to continuous moving lines. The first two tactics, Value Stream Mapping and Balancing the Line define the manufacturing system configuration (the quantity of airplanes to load in the conveyor, headcount and workload per workstation) and the process to develop the production execution plans. Understanding of the tradeoffs in the allocation of resources when selecting the most profitable manufacturing system configuration is a complex task for the Industrial Engineering department. The preparation of these plans is iterative and time-consuming, complicated by constraints such as assembly sequences and space limitations. The problem solved during the internship was to propose a methodology or framework for the implementation of the Value Stream Mapping and Balancing the Line tactics, considering the economics involved and the frequent production fluctuations in the production rate. The framework proposed is based on lean techniques and economic analysis, and is the main product delivered to the sponsor company. The economic analysis of the assembly line configuration alternatives is supported by the application of the Economic Profit financial metric (also known as Economic Value Added). Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002.; "June 2002."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-104). 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8928 A decomposition-based approach for manufacturing system design Linck, Joachim, 1966- The design of manufacturing systems is a complex task that requires many people to cooperate and communicate at various organizational levels. Companies often change the design of their manufacturing systems by using "off-the-shelf' solutions, such as Uformed manufacturing cells, without relating those solutions to overall system objectives. These ad hoc changes seldom have a formal process to guide them. This thesis contributes to the development of a manufacturing system design framework that satisfies five objectives: (1) it clearly separates objectives from means of achievement, (2) it relates low-level activities and decisions to high-level goals and requirements, (3) it states interrelationships among different elements of a system design, (4) it provides a common platform to effectively communicate this information across the organization, (5) it guides the designers through all stages of the system design. The framework is based on a recently developed Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD). This thesis reports on a multiple case-study research program that validates and modifies the MSDD. This research program led to the creation of a questionnaire that guides the systematic investigation and critical analysis of manufacturing systems. The reliability of this questionnaire has been tested successfully with Cronbach's Alpha factor. The thesis describes four groups of case studies that show how the MSDD provides a powerful tool to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing manufacturing systems. In addition, the thesis uses the MSDD to derive new manufacturing system designs. It shows that the MSDD is equally applicable across industry, manufacturing processes, production volume, and company size. The research in this thesis proves theoretical and literal replication of the premises stated in the MSDD. A database is developed to provide a graphical interface for the use of the MSDD, for documenting system design projects, and for analyzing the questionnaire. Modifications to the MSDD are recommended, based on the case studies. The thesis provides a basis for future research to integrate existing manufacturing system design methodologies with the MSDD. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-321). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8875 Knowledge organization and content generation in knowledgemediaries Taneja, Abhinav, 1975- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-116). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8859 Concurrent design for optimal quality and cycle time Wei, Yu-Feng, 1970- Product and manufacturing system design are the core issues in product development and dominate the profitability of a company. In order to assess and optimize the product and manufacturing system design, an objective evaluation framework is needed. Despite the many existing tools for product and manufacturing system design, there is a missing link between the product design and the production performances under system variability. The goal of the thesis is to explore and understand the interactions among part design and tolerancing, processes and system variability, and system control decision, then provide an integrated model to assess the total cost in a system. This model will be used to aid part design, tolerancing, batching, as well as strategy analysis in process improvement. A two-stage modeling approach is used to tackle the problem: quality prediction and production prediction. The quality prediction model projects the process variations into the output quality variations at each manufacturing stage, then predict the yield rate from the stochastic behavior of the variations and the tolerance. The production prediction model projects the demand rate and variability, processing times and variability, yield rates and batch-sizes into the manufacturing cycle time and inventories. After the performances are predicted through the previous two models, concurrent optimization of part design, tolerance, and batch-sizes are achieved by varying them to find the minimum cost. A case study at Boeing Tube shop is used to illustrate this approach. The result shows that the costless decisions in part design, tolerancing, and batch- sizes can significantly improve the system performance. In addition, conducting them separately or without using the system performance as the evaluation criteria may only lead to the local optima. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-116). 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8819 A decomposition-based approach to linking strategy, performance measurement, and manufacturing system design Duda, James Wallace The ability to understand the impact of lower-level design decisions on the achievement of higher-level strategic objectives is critical for the effective design of manufacturing systems. Furthermore, the development of a set of performance measures in alignment with these strategic objectives is necessary to ensure that ongoing design improvement activities result in better manufacturing system performance with respect to the goals of the firm. This thesis investigates how manufacturing systems can be designed to achieve the unique high-level strategic objectives of an organization and how performance measures can be derived to ensure that future system improvements support the firm's manufacturing strategy. A model of the manufacturing system design process is developed using the principles of systems engineering. This system design process begins with the identification and prioritization of relevant dimensions of manufacturing performance (cost, quality, delivery performance, etc.). Next, performance measures are developed concurrently with various possible models of system behavior and structure (i.e., design alternatives). Trade-offs among these design alternatives are examined, enabling designers to select the most appropriate feasible alternative and to identify opportunities for improvements. A structured process for trade-off analysis is developed to aid designers in identifying and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of alternative system designs. An axiomatic design decomposition of a general set of functional requirements (FR's) and design parameters (DP's) for a manufacturing system is used to guide designers through this trade-off analysis as well as through the development of a preliminary set of performance measures. Matrices are formed to express the relationships between strategic objectives, FR's and DP's, and the design alternatives. Combination of these matrices results in the generation of a comparison matrix showing the relative strengths and weaknesses of each design alternative. A software tool is developed to assist designers in managing, visualizing, and communicating the information required for this trade-off analysis. Examples of the application of this process to the design of manufacturing systems at an automotive component supplier are reviewed. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-239). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9242 Avionics life-cycle forecasting model Czerwonka, Stephen P. (Stephen Paul), 1976- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-119). 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9235 Spacecraft system-level integration and test discrepancies : characterizing distributions and costs Weigel, Annalisa L. (Annalisa Lynn), 1972- The goal of this research is to characterize the distribution and costs of spacecraft discrepancies found at the system level of integration and test, as well as understand the implications of those distributions and costs for the spacecraft enterprise as a whole. If discrepancies can be better understood, they can potentially be reduced or even eliminated. Reducing discrepancies will result in cycle time reduction and cost savings, as well as increased product quality and reliability. All of these potential outcomes are indications of successful progress toward becoming a lean organization. Data on discrepancies at the system level of integration were gathered from spacecraft vendor databases, while interviews with key program managers and engineers provided perspective and insight into the data. Results are based on 224 spacecraft representing at least 20 different programs or product lines, and encompassing 23,124 discrepancies. The spacecraft date from 1973-1999, and represent different vendors as well as a mix of commercial and government spacecraft. Spacecraft discrepancies are analyzed in this work on the basis of ten categories: the spacecraft mission, the spacecraft subsystem where the discrepancy occurred, the date of the discrepancy occurrence, the discrepancy report open duration, the immediate action taken to fix the discrepancy (disposition), the root cause of the discrepancy, the long-term corrective action prescribed to prevent the discrepancy from happening again on future spacecraft, the labor time spent on the discrepancy, and the cycle time lost due to the discrepancy. Statistical measures of central tendency, correlation and normality are presented for each category. This statistical analysis forms the basis for research findings at the enterprise level in the areas of quality yield, resource utilization, stakeholder satisfaction and flow time. Recommendations to enterprise stakeholders for increasing the value derived from system-level integration and test follow from the enterprise-level findings. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2000.; Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>.; Includes bibliographical references. 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9764 Modeling and analyzing cost, schedule, and performance in complex system product development Browning, Tyson R In the future, it is unlikely that complex system products will compete solely on the basis of technical performance. What will differentiate such systems and their developers is the ability to balance all the dimensions of product performance, including product pricing and timing (which are functions inclusive of development cost and cycle time). Furthermore, this balance must be congruent with customers' perceptions of value. Once this value is ascertained or approximated, complex system developers will require the capability to adjust the design process to meet these expectations. The required amount and sophistication of project planning, control, information, and flexibility is unprecedented. The primary goal of this work is a method to help managers integrate process and design information in a way that supports making decisions that yield products congruent with customer desires and strategic business goals. This work consists of three parts. Part one contains two exploratory studies that further understanding of complex system product development processes. One study explores process iteration and seeks to explain why some aircraft development programs do not address iteration with existing project planning and control methods. The other study examines sources of risk, classifying these into six categories (cost, schedule, performance, technology, business, and market risks) and building causal frameworks to represent their relationships. Both studies point to avenues for improving existing process '·models and in some cases reveal process characteristics requiring new methods. These results, while derived from projects in the aerospace industry, are highly applicable across a variety of complex system development projects. Part two entails an effort to model some of the characteristics observed in part one. After a review of four types of dependency structure matrices (DSMs), notably the activity-based or schedule DSM, extensive data are collected from an uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) design process. Part two thus describes how to build a DSM model and provides data for example applications of the detailed models developed in part three. Based on the foundational work of parts one and two, part three develops a new methodology and models for understanding product development process cost, schedule, and performance. The methodology complements activity-centric schedule models such as DSM in that activities provide direct contributions to process cost and schedule and design performance. This approach sets the stage for integrated cost, schedule, and performance analyses. A cost and schedule model is presented first, and it is extended to account for the effects of activities on product performance. The stochastic, simulation model generates distributions of possible cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. These distributions represent uncertainty and are analyzed in relation to impact functions and targets to determine levels of risk. The model outputs enable the exploration of the costs and benefits of several management options and yield interesting insights. The goal is to improve product development planning and control though the capability to balance cost, schedule, and performance appropriately. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 1999.; Includes bibliographical references. 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9746 Achieving supplier integration through implementation of supplier managed inventory programs Bravo, Michael H., 1959- Competitive market pressures and new dynamics in manufacturer-supplier relationships have led to the development of collaborative initiatives between manufacturers and suppliers that result in improved inventory management and material ordering practices. While these types of initiatives are known by different names in different industries, "vendor managed inventory'' (VMI) and "supplier managed inventory" (SMI) are designations typically used in traditional industrial settings. Similar programs have been successful in retail and grocery environments. This research seeks to determine the appropriateness of supplier managed inventory programs for use in industrial settings and the conditions under which their use offers significant benefits. A review of current literature regarding collaborative manufacturer-supplier initiatives is conducted as well as interviews with fifteen industrial companies regarding their experience with supplier managed inventory programs. Just-in-time (JIT) production and change management emerge as key supporting elements of an SMI initiative and are also discussed. The results from this research show that supplier managed inventory programs are being utilized in many different industrial settings with positive results. These results include improved inventory turns, higher service levels, reduced operating costs and mutually beneficial manufacturer-supplier partnerships. Benefits may vary between manufacturer and supplier companies. This research documents significant benefits associated with the implementation of SMI programs. A framework for implementing an SMI program is also provided. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 1999.; "February 1999."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-118). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9914 Production system design and its implementation in the automotive and aircraft industry Reynal, Vicente A., 1974- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-198). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9908 Analysis of key characteristic methods and enablers used in variation risk management Ertan, Basak Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-91). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9824 Organizational structures for technology transition : rethinking information flow in the integrated product team Pomponi, Renata Alma Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-259). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10008 Offsets and the aerospace industry Falco, James A. (James Anthony), 1955- Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9989 Managing the defense industry transition to performance-based practices and supply chain integration Campbell, Ernest B. (Ernest Bowling), 1966- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-107). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10075 Assembly oriented design : concepts algorithms and computational tools Mantripragada, Ramakrishna, 1971- Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-182). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10074 Chains of function delivery : a role for product architecture in concept design Cunningham, Timothy Wayne, 1968- Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-258). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10013 Economic incentives in aerospace weapon systems procurement Cowap, Stacey A. (Stacy Ann) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73). 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10245 Make-buy decisions in the U.S. aircraft industry Perrons, Robert K. (Robert Kirby), 1972- Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-143). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10540 Technology development and business strategy : a changing environment impacts practices Garbo, Samuel P. (Samuel Paul) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-92). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10535 A study of the federal government's experiences with commercial procurement practices in major defense acquisitions Anderson, Michael H. (Michael Hansford) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-70). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10286 Lean manufacturing principles : a comprehensive framework for improving production efficiency Kilpatrick, Auston Marmaduke Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1997.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-125). 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10990 Supplier management practices of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Program Lucas, Malee V. (Malee Vidhyaphum) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-169) and index. 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10966 Application of the lean aircraft initiative factory operations model to case studies in the defense aircraft industry Pozsar, Michael John Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-122). 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10916 Precision stretch forming of metal for precision assembly Parris, Andrew Nicholas Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 360-377). 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10828 Systematic IPT integration in lean development programs Browning, Tyson R Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1996.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-182). 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/10795 Reduction of front-end loading of inventory : making the airframe industry lean through better inventory management Houlahan, Christina Jampoler Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves ). 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/11167 Control of manufacturing processes with MRP II : benefits and barriers in the defense aerospace industry Pomponi, Renata Alma Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134). 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/11162 Challenges and benefits to the implementation of integrated product teams on large military procurements Hernandez, Christopher M Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-113). 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/11519 Implementation of supplier management in a defense subcontractor Rubin, Hope E. (Hope Ellen) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45). 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/11328 Lean manufacturing practices in the defense aircraft industry Hoppes, John Christian Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1995.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 145). 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12120 Implementing precision assembly techniques in the commercial aircraft industry Koonmen, James P. (James Patrick) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133). 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12100 Critical examination of a complex and critical major acquisition for the Department of Defense : the advanced medium range air-to-air missle (AMRAAM) Robbins, James F. (James Franklin) Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-253). 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12808 Applicability of Toyota production system to commercial airplane manufacturing Raymond, Arthur James Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1992, and Thesis (M.S.)--Sloan School of Management, 1992.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 199). 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/13702 Beyond mass production--flexible production systems and manufacturing performance in thw world auto industry Macduffie, John Paul Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-346). 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17898 ACE vs. Six Sigma Hutton, Thomas C., 1965- In the early 1980's and 1990's, companies began to build upon the principles of Total Quality Management and developed there own unique quality systems. The most popular and well known of these systems is Six Sigma that was developed by Motorola and successfully adopted by others such as Allied Signal (now Honeywell) and most notably, General Electric. Six Sigma can be characterized as a highly formalized, process oriented improvement tool that is data focused. The Six Sigma process is normally performed by a diverse team, who attack a quality/process problem by analyzing process variation or in statistical terms, sigma. The foundations of Six Sigma are commitment from upper management, detailed training and a regimented diagnostic approach. Another quality operating system is the less known, but very successful, Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) operating system. This system was developed and is practiced by United Technologies Corporation (UTC). The ACE system is broader based than the Six-Sigma approach, however, ACE is not as data oriented as the Six Sigma approach. ACE revolves around the three principle categories of process improvement and waste elimination tools, decision-making tools, and problem solving tools. These tools impact issues as diverse, but not limited to, factory floor cleanliness, market feedback analysis, machine tool preventative maintenance and set up reduction. ACE is a combination of lean manufacturing and quality improvement philosophies. This paper provides an analysis of both the Six Sigma and ACE Quality Operating Systems. In the paper the systems are compared and contrasted. Further, strengths and weaknesses of each system are discussed. In particular, the analysis focuses on how ACE can leverage elements; (cont.) and aspects of Six Sigma. The analysis concludes that there are elements of Six Sigma that would benefit ACE. The paper identifies that the strength of Six Sigma's statistical approach and its positive impact on process certification could be beneficially applied to the ACE system. Further, there are recommendations for UTC to place more of an emphasis on ACE training and to accelerate its current efforts to better link quality and lean improvement to product engineering and design. Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (leaf 68). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17818 Modularity as an enabler for evolutionary acquisition Shah, Nirav Bharat, 1979- The end of the cold war witnessed several significant changes in the defense acquisition environment. Budgets declined and the scope of mission expanded. At first, the DoD did not respond well to these pressures resulting in cost overruns and schedule delays becoming the norm. In an effort to change this situation, national security officials decided to fundamentally change the way systems were acquired, shifting the focus to systems that could evolve/adapt to changing resources and needs. To operationalize this shift they recommended implementing an evolutionary acquisition strategy using a spiral development process. The fundamental characteristic of the evolutionary acquisition strategy is a focus on delivering a minimum capability early and then building upon that capability as risks are resolved. This imposes requirements on the acquisition process and the system architecture. From a process perspective, since needs and resources are changing involving all relevant stakeholders is key to successful evolutionary acquisition. Since the objective was to prevent cost overruns and schedule slips, understanding and mitigating key risks is central to success. From an architectural perspective, the ability to update the system to allow for enhanced capability is important. The MATE-CON process can be used to satisfy the process related requirements of evolutionary acquisition. MATE-CON uses a multi-attribute utility theory to capture the diverse and changing needs of decision makers. Then tradespace exploration is used fully reveal the impact of design decision on decision maker perceived value. By representing both value and expense in terms of metrics that all stakeholders can understand, MATE-CON facilitates effective collaboration between stakeholders.; (cont.) A modular architecture provides the architectural flexibility required when using evolutionary acquisition. By separating system components into a few decoupled modules, the modular architecture allows enhancements to be made to the modules without adversely affecting the rest of the system. Changes can be made to accommodate new needs or incorporate new capabilities. This flexibility in-service come at the price of a possible loss of performance and/or design efficiency. Thus valuation of the flexibility gained is crucial. An options framework that incorporates risk identified by the stakeholders should be used. The Space Based Radar is good a example of a system that demonstrates that challenges faced by defense acquisition identified above. The most recent attempt at an actual hardware demonstration was canceled because of cost overruns and schedule slip. Using the MATE-CON approach and a modular constellation architecture, evolutionary strategies for space-based radar can be found. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2004.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112). 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16871 Valuation techniques for commercial aircraft program design Markish, Jacob, 1978- This research considers the commercial aircraft design process from the perspective of program value. Whereas traditionally, the conceptual design of aircraft has often focused on minimum weight, or sometimes minimum cost, this approach demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of design based on maximum value to the aircraft manufacturer. A program valuation tool is developed and demonstrated that measures the overall program value associated with a set of either one or two new aircraft concepts. The tool is based on a combination of a performance model; a development and manufacturing cost model; a revenue model; and a dynamic programming-based algorithm that accounts for uncertainty in future market conditions and the program's ability to cope with such uncertainty through real-time decision-making. The cost model, using a component-based representation of the aircraft, allows for the consideration of the effects of part commonality on development and production costs. The revenue model, based on an analysis of existing commercial aircraft, estimates a market price and demand forecast for a new aircraft based on several key characteristics. The dynamic programming algorithm, used to find program value, treats annual aircraft quantity demanded as a stochastic process, evolving unpredictably with time. The algorithm borrows from Real Options theory to discount future cash flows using risk-neutral expectations and models the aircraft program as an actively managed project with real-time decision-making to maximize expected program value. Several examples are drawn from the Blended-Wing-Body aircraft concept to demonstrate the operation of the program valuation tool. The results suggest that the value of part commonality between aircraft may be strongly sensitive to the weight penalty and increased fuel burn resulting from a common derivative design. More generally, the example results illustrate the usefulness of the explicit consideration of flexibility in program valuation and the feasibility of a conceptual aircraft design tool based on the metric of program value. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-149).; This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7524 Applying the Lessons of “Lean Now” to Transform the US Aerospace Enterprise Jobo, Major Ronald S. Lean is common sense and good business sense. As organizations grow and become more successful, they begin to lose insight into the basic truths of what made them successful. Organizations have to deal with more and more issues that may not have anything to do with directly providing products or services to their customers. Lean is a holistic management approach that brings the focus of the organization back to providing value to the customer. In August 2002, Mrs. Darleen Druyun, the Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and government co-chairperson of the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI), decided it was time for Air Force acquisitions to embrace the concepts of lean. At her request, the LAI Executive Board developed a concept and methodology to employ lean into the Air Force’s acquisition culture and processes. This was the birth of the “Lean Now” initiative. An enterprise-wide approach was used, involving Air Force System Program Offices (SPOs), aerospace industry, and several Department of Defense agencies. The aim of Lean Now was to focus on the process interfaces between these “enterprise” stakeholders to eliminate barriers that impede progress. Any best practices developed would be institutionalized throughout the Air Force and the Department of Defense (DoD). The industry members of LAI agreed to help accelerate the government-industry transformation by donating lean Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to mentor, train, and facilitate the lean events of each enterprise. Currently, the industry SMEs and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working together to help the Air Force develop its own lean infrastructure of training courses and Air Force lean SMEs. The first Lean Now programs were the F/A-22, Global Hawk, and F-16. Each program focused on specific acquisition processes. The F/A-22 focused on the Test and Evaluation process; the Global Hawk focused on Evolutionary Acquisitions; and the F-16 focused on improving the Contract Closeout process. Through lean, each enterprise made many significant improvements. The F/A-22 was able to reduce its Operational Flight Plan (OFP) Preparation and Load process time of 2 to 3 months down to 7 hours. The Global Hawk developed a new production plan that increases the annual production of its Integrated Sensor Suite from 3 per year to 6 per year. The F-16 enterprise generated and is working 12 initiatives that could result in a contract closeout cycle time reduction of 3 to 7 years. Each enterprise continues to generate more lean initiatives that focus on other areas and processes within their respective enterprises. 2003-08-22T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7523 A Holistic Approach to Manufacturing System Design in the Defense Aerospace Industry Vaughn, Amanda; Shields, J. Thomas Manufacturing has evolved to become a critical element of the competitive skill set of defense aerospace firms. Given the changes in the acquisition environment and culture; traditional “thrown over the wall” means of developing and manufacturing products are insufficient. Also, manufacturing systems are complex systems that need to be carefully designed in a holistic manner and there are shortcomings with available tools and methods to assist in the design of these systems. This paper outlines the generation and validation of a framework to guide this manufacturing system design process. 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7317 A FRAMEWORK FOR ACHIEVING LIFECYCLE VALUE IN AEROSPACE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Stanke, Alexis Creation of lifecycle value - a balance of performance with cost and other attributes - represents a challenge for the development of aerospace products in the twenty-first century. This paper examines the concept of lifecycle value that stems from existing approaches of value management and analysis, lifecycle costing, and systems engineering. To ascertain common characteristics of lifecycle value creation, case studies were done for four aircraft programs: F/A- 18E/F, JAS 39 Gripen, F-16C/D, and B-777. A lifecycle value creation framework is introduced, comprised of three phases: value identification, value proposition, value delivery. Based upon observed practices in the four case studies, six value creation attributes were identified. Capability maturity models for the six attributes and three value creation phases are presented. The resulting framework represents a starting point for programs seeking to create lifecycle value for aerospace products. Delivered at ICAS 2002 Congress. 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1654 Improving the Software Upgrade Value Stream Ippolito, Brian This paper reports findings from a two-year study to identify Lean practices for deriving software requirements from aerospace system level requirements, with a goal towards improving the software upgrade value stream. 2001-09-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1595 Employing Activity Based Costing and Management Practices within the Aerospace Industry: Sustaining the Drive for Lean. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Wichita Division/IAM, Wichita, Kansas, 1999 and 2000. Barrett, Betty; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; Paduano, Rocco ABCM is an accounting tool that can help companies recognize true costs and make critical choices. ABCM is designed to help firms shift their priorities from individual products to the overall manufacturing environment. BCAG is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes. It is crucial to move the corporate financial department from account role to that of business partner. The ABCM model organizes activities in terms of their relationship to final cost objects. Looking at two pilot studies, this case study shows the benefits that can be reaped from ABCM implementation. The IAM has supported the adoption of ABCM as a way to get at the true costs of production. There is caution, however, that ABCM is not a panacea. 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z