Defense

The defense industry operates in a very competitive business environment and faces high levels of risk and uncertainty. Deliverables are highly complex, require long development cycles, and are often produced in low volumes. Relationships between product components are strongly interdependent, as are those between the company and its suppliers. And, with fixed-cost contracts and risk-adverse government sponsors, there is little margin for error in planning and execution.

Defense contractors are engaged in constant struggles to

• Increase bid-win ratios;
• Plan for and reduce risk.
• Reduce development and manufacturing costs;
• Shorten development cycles; and
• Improve reliability and performance of deliverables.

Risk-based Bid Planning

Before you can worry about execution, you must first get the contract. Contract bid preparation is perhaps the most critical phase in a defense project. Without the proper upfront planning and analysis, even the most attractive projects can quickly become unprofitable cost sinks. The only way to accurately plan for defense projects is using sophisticated risk-based planning and analysis tools.

Many tools on the market might show you the best and worst-case performance outcomes, but with project budgets in the millions or even billions of dollars, this simplistic analysis is insufficient. You need to analyze all possible outcomes and moreover, you need to know the probability of their occurring. For example, there is a substantial difference between a 5% chance or a 20% chance of a $30 million cost overrun. In the latter case, the overrun is four times as likely to occur!

Solutions

The Vanguard System™ is a comprehensive business solution for improving the quality, reliability, and speed of management decisions. It does this by helping you Collaborate with colleagues on important plans, Analyze alternatives using state-of-the-art modeling and simulation techniques, Automate routine decisions using expert system technology, and Improve overall management effectiveness by adding structure to a normally chaotic process.

Business improvement is all about working smarter. Vanguard brings together the people, analytics, and systems required to help your business operate intelligently.

Here are just a few of the ways Vanguard supports the defense industry:

• Cost modeling: Accurately estimate costs of very complex projects, contracts, and products.
• Rapid bid preparations: Reduce bid preparation time by reusing component models from previous bids and projects and by automating routine or complex analysis.
• Comprehensive forecasting: Predict needs for materials, labor, and equipment, even when historical data is scarce.
• Risk mitigation: Fully understand risks before engaging in new contracts. Implement risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans early on.
• Resource optimization: Determine how to most efficiently allocate scarce resources such as people, equipment, and cash to projects.
• Collaboration planning: Let many individuals simultaneously contribute to the planning effort. Like building blocks, easily combine their knowledge, assumptions, and historical data into a complete analysis.
• Supply chain planning: Optimize your supply chain network, inventory levels, distribution plans, and more.
• Operational efficiency: Conduct process improvement/Six Sigma projects to reduce costs, cycle times, and waste.
• Equipment diagnostics: Expertly guide operators, technicians, and support agents through complex troubleshooting processes using intuitive question-and-answer sessions.

Content Management System (CMS)

Vanguard Content Management System (CMS) is a Web-based expert system development tool for non-programmers. CMS Web-based applications guide customers or employees through complex decision-making processes using interactive, automated question and answer sessions. They are core software applications that can improve the operational efficiency of your key business processes.

CMS applications can help defense contractors by providing automated advice for the decision makers involved in development and manufacturing, and improve overall business efficiency by enforcing consistency in business decisions across the company. Development lifecycles can be shortened by CMS applications that automate routine decisions such as generating specifications, assigning tasks, and scheduling testing. Business workers can use CMS applications to improve consistency when allocating resources, scheduling, and following business policies. Defense contractors that improve efficiency and reduce inconsistency can make more accurate bids in less time.