Fundamentals of
Mission Excellence:
Communicating &
Understanding the
Requirements
Conference on Quality in the Space and Defense
Industries (CQSDI), Cape Canaveral, Florida
March 26, 2007
Sonya Sepahban
Sector Vice President & Chief Engineer
Mission Excellence
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Undersea
Sea
Land
Air
Space
Cyberspace
Mission Systems
Newport
News
Integrated
Systems
Ship
Systems
Information
Technology
Space
Technology
Electronic
Systems
Technical
Services
125,000 Employees • 25 Countries • 50 States • 2006 Sales $30.1B
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
 A leading producer of
satellite, laser and
electronic systems
Redondo Beach
 Both a prime contractor
and a major subcontractor
 Strategically positioned to
leverage and capitalize on
advanced technologies
 7950 employees
 2006 sales of $2.9 billion*
 Headquartered in
Redondo Beach, California
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Manhattan Beach
* Without Radio Systems (transferred to Mission Systems sector)
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
What Is Mission Excellence?
 Mission Assurance
 Product Quality
 Chief Engineer
Mission
Excellence
 System Safety and -illities
Excellence
 Process Excellence
Do It Right!...
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
The Journey to Mission Excellence
Mission
Excellence
Mission
Assurance
Product
Assurance
Quality
Management
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 Collaboration across the value stream to
ensure mission success with stable,
predictable processes and flawless
execution
 End-to-end independent verification that
all mission performance, safety and
quality requirements are met
 Assurance that the enterprise
designs, tests and delivers the
product to customer’s requirements
 Inspection of manufacturing and
production processes to ensure they
build and test what is designed by
engineering
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Three Axes of Mission Excellence
Program
Axis
• Process focus on
people, methods and
quality
STSS
• Product focus on
outputs and
deliverables
JWST
• Program focus on
overall performance
to meet customer
and mission
requirements
AEHF
NPOESS
Lasers
Spacecraft
Electronics
Process
Axis
Bus
Dev
Tech
Dev
Eng Prog
Prod
Supply
Chain
Comm Payloads
Propulsion
Antennas
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Product
Axis
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
NGST Subcontracts/Suppliers Overview
Subcontracts
Suppliers
 206 open subcontracts
 Valued at ~$4B
 Large subcontracts
(>$100M) are distributed
over <10 programs
 1300 suppliers in
Approved Manufacturing
Directory
 65% mechanical, 35%
electrical parts
 $100M
(5%)
 $500K
< $100M
< $500K
(40%)
(55%)
Mechanical
$31M
Electrical
$24M
December
2006 data
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
NGST’s Source Management
Procurement
strategy
Source
selection
People
Flowdown of
customer
requirements
VP Production
& Supply Chain
VP
Engineering
VP Payloads
& Sensors
Material
Director
Subcontracts
Technical
Director
P&S
Subcontract
Mgmt
Director
Program
Subcontract
Manager
Commodity
Teams
Manager
Initial
requirements
verification
Ongoing
source
management
VP Mission
Excellence
VP Programs
P&S
Acquisition
Mgmt
Director*
Final
product
acceptance
Program
Mission
Excellence
Director
Program
Manager
Supply Chain
Mission
Excellence
Director
Program Mission
Excellence
Manager
Deputy Program
Manager Ops
Integrated
Product Team
Subcontract Mgmt Team
Lead/Acquisition Manager
Commodity
Team
Subcontract
Technical
Manager
Subcontract
Manager
Subcontract
Mission
Excellence Mgr.
Commodity Team Lead
Extended Team (Subject Matter Experts)
Technical
Specialist
Acquisition
Specialist
Quality
Engineer
Extended Team (Subject Matter Experts)
Program Reporting
Relationship
Functional Reporting
Relationship
*Only in cases requiring an Acquisition Mgr
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
NGST’s Source Management (Cont)
Procurement
strategy
Source
selection
Flowdown of
customer
requirements
Initial
requirements
verification
Ongoing
source
management
Final
product
acceptance
People
Processes
 Make-buy
 Subcontracts
analysis
Mission
 Approved
Assurance
source lists
Requirements
 Historical
Document
capability &  Subcontract
performance Request for
data
Proposal
 Assessments  Quality
 Facilities
Clauses (in
surveys
Purchase
Order for
parts)
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 Initial
Contract
Review
 Compliance
Matrix
 Process
Identification
Document
for complex
parts
 Parts,
Materials &
Processes
Control
Board
 Audits
 On-site source
 Reviews:
inspection
Manufacturing  Preship
Readiness
Readiness
Review,
Review
Technical
 Receiving
Readiness
inspection
Review, Failure
Review Board
 Cost &
Schedule
Performance
Indices
 Surveillance
 Inspections
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
NGST’s Source Management (cont)
Procurement
strategy
Source
selection
Flowdown of
customer
requirements
Initial
requirements
verification
Ongoing
source
management
Final
product
acceptance
People
Processes
Enabling Resources
Online Automated
Supplier Information
System
Subcontractor
PO/
C
Subcontract#
Subcontractor
PO/
D
Subcontract#
Subcontractor
PO/
E
Subcontract#
Program
Approved
Parts List &
Approved
Manufacturing
Directory
Supplier
Capability
Assessment
March 2007
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
In-depth Supplier
Capability Assessments
ent
&P
PM
Manuf
act
./I&
T
Sta
ffin
g
cal
em
k
Manag
Qualit
y/M
A
Ris
Tec
hni
Sch
edu
Cost
le
Subcontractor
PO/
B
Subcontract#
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NGST
Mgmt.
Subcontract Performance
Description
Subcontractor
PO/
A
Subcontract#
CSI
Policies &
Procedures
Comments
Status
Recovery
Status
Recovery
Status
Recovery
Status
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Recovery
Status
Recovery
Supplier
Rating
Program
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Cross-Value-Stream Challenges
Performance Visibility
Government
Customer
Prime
Contractor
Major
Subcontractor
Lower-Tier
Subcontractors
Requirements Understanding
The issue: There can be a significant impact to the
overall program due to an issue at lower levels of
visibility and understanding of requirements
Collaboration and communication
are essential!
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Lessons Learned on a Recent Program
Contributing Factors
 Fragile sensor supply base
 R&D orientation
 Loss of skilled personnel and
process control
 Dependence on sensor
heritage
 Heritage overstated
 Original bids underpriced
 Transfer of development
responsibility
 NGC assumed design maturity
(hence no need for exhaustive
design reviews) after taking over
development responsibility from
the Government
 Subcontract management
practices
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Lessons Learned
 Trust but verify supplier
capabilities early (via deep
assessments) and help solve
their problems
 Challenge claims, perform
detailed technical design
assessments and conduct
executability reviews
 Repeat last major gate review
to ensure proper design
maturity after transfer
 Use sound existing practices
and intervene strongly at first
sign of trouble
Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Understanding Predictive “Trip Wires”
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0.60
6
0.40
4
2
0.20
0
0.00
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
Cumulative %
0.80
L
Trip Wires by Type
1.00
12
0.80
10
8
0.60
6
0.40
4
0.20
2
St
af
fin
g
CS
I
Co
st
M
an
a
Q
ua
lit
y
ge
m
en
t
PM
&P
Te
ch
ni
ca
l
0.00
Ri
sk
0
Cumulative %
14
le
 Early warning
on problems for
preemptive
intervention by
“strike teams”
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Sc
he
du
 Healthy
suppliers
1.00
A
Trip Wire Count
 Predictive metrics
used with monthly
subcontract
scorecard to
identify:
Trip Wire Count
Trip Wires by Supplier
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
Cross-Value-Stream Collaboration
 Collaborative use of Six Sigma and Lean tools to help
reduce program risks
 James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – Five complementary
Lean events at three suppliers’ sites
 National Polar Orbiting Satellite System (NPOESS) – Lean event
with customer and sensor supplier
 Working with customer and industry teams to improve
processes and insights
 Joint initiatives with Space & Missile Command (SMC) to
improve program performance
 Joint Audit Planning Committee (JAPC) collaborative audits to
assess suppliers’ quality systems relative to AS9100
 Comprehensive, collaborative supplier audits led by the Missile
Defense Agency (MDA) through the Stakeholders Initiative
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation
The Journey Is Everything
 “Mission Excellence” is the
ultimate goal
 We’ll never be “done” –
there’s always something
more to improve around the
next bend in the road
 Collaboration across the
value stream is essential if the
space and defense industries
are to meet the nation’s
expectations
 Trust and verify
Let’s Do It Right Together!
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Topics for Discussion
 Requirements
 Government Specs & Standards
 Flowdown to subcontractors and suppliers
 Parts, Materials & Processes
 Counterfeit parts
 Lead-free initiative
 Prohibited material screening
 Assessments
 Make-buy decisions
 Supplier rating/source selection
 Predictive indicators of subcontractor/supplier issues
 Perceptive measures of subcontractor/supplier performance
 Value Stream
 Collaboration across traditional borders (customer-contractor,
prime-sub, cross-competitor)
 Management of lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers
Sound familiar? Attend the breakout Tuesday morning for further conversation…
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Copyright 2001-2007 Northrop Grumman Corporation