Engineering Lifecycle Management – Managing the Phases of a High Tech Development Program
Engineering Life Cycle Management is a ‘must-learn’ skill for Engineers to be Program Management / Engineering Management Capable.
A Technical Project’s ‘Lifecycle’ is its phased activity from its birth as a new business opportunity through its maturity from concept & development to production, deployment, and support. Understanding these phases and the critical elements of each phase is pivotal to successful program management. For Engineers to be successful in their careers they must learn engineering lifecycle management.
The life cycle phases of a development project can be broken down as follows:
- Contract Award
- System Design
- Preliminary Design
- Final Design
- Buy, Build, & Low Level Test
- Assembly
- Integration & Test, Qualification, Verification, & Validation
- Transition-to-Production
Engineers Are Inherently High Potential Candidates For Leadership
Engineers with a High Tech education, who learn Program Management skills early, in my view, will inherently be Program Management (PM) & Engineering Management (EM) capable of managing high tech programs. But, first they must learn engineering lifecycle management. That is where their technical ability and their program and engineering management skills will be applied.
Key Traits for PM & EM Success
In my view there are a few but important key traits that a PM & EM in charge of a technical project should embody to be successful when they engage in engineering lifecycle management:
- Experience and education in technology preferably in one of the technologies that comprise a measurable portion of the project being managed – Avoids complete dependency on other technical personnel for assessing and guidance on steps to take in understanding issues.
- Knowing what questions to be asking and assessing the answers to regarding issues in-process during each phase of a project’s lifecycle. (The checklists in the high tech management guide on this site make this easy)
- Tenacity and the avoidance of intellectual laziness – knowing what is needed to be done, no matter how intrusive to the status quo, and initiating the action to do it.
- Knowing it is their role to make a decision particularly in the midst of conflicting opinions.
Overarching Role of a Program Manager
To understand what Program Management entails, it is key to understand the role of a Program Manager. The Program Manager of a project is the single point authority responsible for the successful execution of the project inclusive of cost, schedule, performance, work statement commitments, and terms and conditions in accordance with a contract. For Engineers to be Program Managers they have to think business, learn basic PM skills, and then must learn engineering lifecycle management.
The Program Manager – A Business Leader who Leads the Team
An insightful way to see this is to view a project as a business unto itself with a customer and a contract that articulates the project requirements in detail. In this context, the Program Manager is essentially the ‘president’ of that project / business with full authority for its conduct.
It is the responsibility of the Program Manager to ‘Manage’ the execution of the contract. The PM plans the activities needed to meet contractual cost, schedule, performance, and delivery commitments. It is the responsibility of the PM to obtain the needed manpower resources from the functional groups within the company (e.g. engineering, finance, etc.) thereby standing-up the program team that will do the work.
Thereafter, the PM leads the team, assigns budgets, initiates work, conducts essential periodic reviews to manage the progress of the project, and makes important decisions as variances from plan arise as they always do. Moreover, the PM is the face of the company to the customer as well as the face of the project to senior company management. Engineers – knowing the role of a PM and realizing the level of authority that a PM has is key to remember when you learn engineering lifecycle management.
Lifecycle Management – A Synoptic Overview
A synoptic overview of the phased activity associated with a high tech development program follows to let Engineers know what their life on-the-job will look like. It is provided to let them see what is expected of them on programs they may someday lead or most definitely will contribute to. It constitutes the key phased activity to help them learn engineering lifecycle management.
Start of Work
Start of work is the 1st step you encounter when you learn engineering lifecycle management. Following contract award, program documents (i.e. specifications, statement of work, etc.) are reviewed and updated to reflect any negotiated changes. Once updates are agreed to, the program manager plans the project by breaking down the tasks into manageable activities, time phases and resource loads them, stands up the team that is tasked to do the work, distributes budgets, and authorizes work. The technical activity is the essential activity in a development program and typically is in sync with the following:
System Design
The system architecture is critical because its selection determines all that follows in a development program. This step is the most important to focus on when you learn engineering lifecycle management. It is a complex but key process that is established to assure its selection is optimum for things like Design for Manufacturability, Design for Integration & Test, Concurrent Engineering, Programmatics of Cost & Schedule realism, Risk and areas for selective prototyping, etc. Once established, the system is then definitized in detail. System concepts are established relative to safety, human factors, commonality, built-in test, design for manufacturability, etc., and design guidelines are set forth. Risk areas are clearly identified and special activities to resolve potential problems at an early stage are set into motion. This includes analyses, selective prototyping, unique mockups, and any special tests deemed necessary to mitigate risk. System documentation e.g. block diagrams, interface control documents (ICDs), system partitioning and a family tree, and lower level specifications are generated so that the detailed design activity can be initiated. Major subcontract specifications are updated so that associated supplier activity is started. Technical work is broken down and parceled out in a logical fashion to bring the final product together as a system.
Detailed Design & Engineering Work Packages
There is a logical flow of activity to understand when you learn engineering lifecycle management. As such, the detailed design steps follow the system design. Family trees and the contract Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) define the equipment and the activities that must be performed to provide all deliverables in accordance with end item performance specifications and the contractual Statement of Work (SOW). The design activities are broken down to the lowest practical level of control namely the subassembly or printed circuit card level. Work packages are established such that each engineer covering analog, digital, software, mechanical, reliability, maintainability, safety, etc. have well-defined tasks to accomplish. The work packages include a required timeframe, budget and completion criteria as well as a clear understanding of the interdependencies of who needs what from whom and when.
Design Documentation – Defines the Design & Paces The Project
An important output of the detailed design phase is a complete set of documentation that defines the hardware for production so that the end product meets performance specifications within budgetary constraints. With this in mind, the design proceeds to address all of the detailed concerns of the engineering functional and environmental performance requirements. This includes concurrent engineering inputs regarding reliability, maintainability, safety, human factors, producibility, testability, supportability, affordability i.e. designing to a target unit production cost (DTUPC), etc. Often, the pacing of activity is event driven by scheduled documentation requirements. Plans, specifications, procedures, analyses, test reports, and other data items are prepared as required, updated as necessary, and managed in accordance with a data management plan. Detailed electrical and mechanical drawings including schematics, parts lists, assembly drawings, and detailed layouts are prepared by the design and drafting group with support from engineering. Documentation constitutes a measurable definition of completion. This point cannot be overstated when you learn engineering lifecycle management. Being able to measure completion of a task is key for an engineer to understand. Releasing a design document is such a device.
Preliminary & Final Design Phases – Leading to Configuration Control
The detailed design activity is a 2-step process: a preliminary design phase followed by a final design phase where each phase culminates in both internal and customer design reviews. During the design activity depending on design maturity, the design packages are released in various stages for purchasing, fabrication, and assembly. At the conclusion of the final design phase and its critical design review (CDR), the designs come under configuration control. Beyond this point in the program, design activity is affected by changes, which are instituted via formal engineering change control. Typically changes are brought about by problems with drawings and / or design deficiencies uncovered during manufacturing and integration and test of the hardware & software. However, design improvements and change proposals brought about by value engineering or design performance enhancements also can be initiated and controlled by the formal change process.
Needed Tools & Test Equipment
As the program matures, and in conjunction with the program test needs, greater insight is gained into defining characteristics and required quantities of the in-house tools, test fixtures, and test equipment to support the engineering development, manufacturing, and test requirements of the program. The design of tools, fixtures, and test equipment, which include environmental test sets, system testers, and subassembly testers, proceeds as a parallel design activity with all inherent controls and procedures described previously for the prime item equipment development.
Procurement & Fabrication – Make / Buy Decisions
Subsequent to design finalization, the steps to prove out the design veracity are significant to follow when you learn engineering lifecycle management. They include the buy, build, and test phases of a program. So for example, major make-or-buy decisions are usually made early on. They are typically long-lead activities & items. These decisions are established based on practical considerations of availability of in-house expertise, risk, schedule constraints, competitive pricing, and historical experience. The result is that major subcontracts are let at the outset of the program under the auspices of a subcontracts administration group. Subcontract specifications, statements of work, and in progress monitoring criteria such as performance, schedule, cost, and data reporting form the basis of subcontract control. Additionally, other long lead items are identified early and action initiated and commitments monitored.
Parts Lists & Composite Bills of Material
Don’t underestimate the impact of parts selection to a projects success when you learn engineering lifecycle management. Apart from the special activities discussed above, the basic material acquisition process stems from the detailed parts list generated during the design process. During the design process part selection is evaluated with respect to specification and quality requirements, standardization, and multiple sourcing considerations. Specification and source control drawings are prepared. Nonstandard parts are identified, and formal request procedures are followed. Having established acceptable parts lists, composite bills of material are prepared. Individual quantities are increased to reflect anticipated shrinkage due to the build and test cycles as well as increases based on any negotiated spares needs. Purchase requisitions are then prepared and purchase orders are placed with the most cost competitive and schedule acceptable qualified vendors. Internal shop orders are released for items that are being made in-house.
Receiving Material & Actions
As material is received, it is inspected and / or tested for acceptance and stocked in kit packages for assembly. Defective material is reviewed for disposition and is either rejected as beyond repair, returned to vendor, or repaired in-house. Material expediting is utilized to track scheduled material requirements as they pertain to assembly schedules. Potential problems such as kit shortages are identified early and corrective action taken.
The Build Cycle
The build cycle is initiated by a design release for manufacturing and the prototype products undergo full quality assurance (QA) inspections prior to issuance to engineering for Integration and Test (I&T). The assembly activity for the program is inclusive of building breadboards, mockups, brassboards, engineering development models, prototypes, pre-production units, and ultimately production units. This applies to the prime hardware as well as to tools, test fixtures, test equipment, and spares.
Preparing for Transition to Production
Brassboards and the 1stprototype equipments are typically built under engineering control by engineering prototype technician personnel who can work directly from engineering drawings and do not require detailed methodization. Engineering maintains control over the first systems to prove out the basic design, make changes, and update drawings. Manufacturing engages to build the next lot of deliverables or pre-production systems to a cleaner drawing package and to improve upon planned manufacturing procedures in preparation for full-scale production. This approach helps have a smooth transition to production.
Integration & Test (I&T)
Major assembly and system tests of the initial equipments are typically performed utilizing the overall subsystem and interconnect cabling as a ‘hot bench test-bed” in conjunction with special purpose system testers that are developed to support assembly test, system acceptance tests, environmental test, reliability demonstration test, etc. Note: Testing of the testers also forms a part of the integration and test phase of the program.
Comprehensive Testing Concludes the Development
The test program is an integrated activity covering all aspects of engineering evaluations as well as in-process subassembly, assembly, and system level test. Test equipment requirements, capital requirements such as test chambers and the use of outside testing laboratories, are all planned into the program. Engineering evaluations are conducted on mockups, breadboards replicating special areas of concern, as well as installation checks. Safety tests, human factors tests, environmental tests, electromagnetic interference tests, functional and physical configuration audits (FCA/PCA), field tests all form an integral part of the test program. These activities are scheduled to permit changes that result from them to be introduced into the system and revalidated in a timely manner to meet the overall schedule.
Finally, successful completion of Verifying & Validating that the system meets its contractual performance requirements concludes the developmental lifecycle cycle of a technical developmental program and establishes the end item’s production readiness and enables its transition to production.
Developmental Phase Specific Check Lists
As an aid in helping a program manager manage this activity, phase specific checklists are included in this guide for completeness. They are phrased as questions that need answering to in each phase. It is key that a PM knows what questions to ask of the team and thereby invoke actions to assure positive outcomes. The checklists are key to applying what is learned to assure Engineers learn engineering lifecycle management and succeed when applying it. These important checklists are contained in the guide to managing high tech programs.