Nimble Configuration Management
for the
Contract Supply and Service Chain
Best-in-Class CM
April 2018
www.cmstat.com
information@cmstat.com
+1.877.537.1959
Copyright 2018, TPT Technologies, Inc. dba CMstat
Nimble Configuration Management
Executive Summary
A basic requirement in any contract for the manufacture, support, or servicing of a complex
product—or an entire system or network of products—is managing all the data “deliverables”
that document its configuration and then track all changes to it over its useful life.
This is especially critical for industries like aerospace and defense (A&D) where many changes
to the as-designed configuration are made by supply and service-chain partners in the field.
These changes are often made long after the product has left the OEM’s physical production
floor, and even longer after the data and documents defining the original product configuration
first entered the OEM’s enterprise digital product data vault. In aerospace and defense, as well
as many other industries, deliverables requirements and changes are met with the use of
configuration management (CM) best practices and supporting software.
Basic CM functionality can be found in engineering and product-development tools such
product data management (PDM) and, at the enterprise level, product lifecycle management
(PLM) as well as in some enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management
(SCM) solutions. These software solutions long ago proved their value in the product
development, engineering, and manufacturing functions of original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs).
However, these traditional engineering and enterprise solutions typically offer CM professionals
too much general capability—with a high cost and support overhead—and too little of the
specialized capabilities required to manage configurations effectively.
Managing the
configuration of the as-deployed, as-serviced, as-repaired, and as-retired asset
“downstream”—in the field, after manufacturing—requires a different set of skills and software
tools than what is needed in engineering and in production of the as-designed or asmanufactured configuration.
CM professionals also are vexed by the difficulty and cost of sustaining enterprise tools over the
life of a major supply or service contract. The requirements and preferences of others working
further downstream in CM—in quality, test, field service, maintenance and logistics—can often
apply to programs whose data must be managed for decades. Moreover, the data, documents,
and other configuration-related information used in downstream CM are far more varied than
what is needed in development and production.
To meet the specialized CM requirements of the contract supply and service chain, the highly
focused solution provider CMstat has operated successfully for many years. CMstat offers a
best-in-class commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution which has met with a loyal following
among its users. CMstat’s customers cite its right-sized footprint, rapid deployment, and
lifecycle affordability, and note that little if any customization was needed.
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This paper will examine what the supply and service chain partners in OEM programs seek from
CM and how that differs from engineering-centric PDM. The qualifications of CMstat will be
outlined along with its capabilities.
Schematic outlining high-level, top-down configuration management processes
as required in a typical aerospace & defense contract. Complexity of the CM
environment—the many inputs, outputs, and feedback loops—shows why
“homegrown” tools, customizations and add-on modules are challenging to build
and then sustain. Image is from a U.S. Army / Department of Defense handbook
“Configuration Management Guidance.”
What Is Configuration Management?
CM is summed up concisely by the Configuration Management Process Improvement Center
(CMPIC) as “knowing what we did yesterday, what we are doing today, and what we will be
doing in the future, as well as understanding the reasoning and authority behind every
action/change that got us there.” This definition is much broader than the customary PDM
view that CM only manages real physical and virtual digital product structures.
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Many applications of CM require not only managing the hardware assets but also the
electronics and software components that comprise the final product. Maintaining the
installation history of software or firmware changes to a product or system in the field has
become as important as, if not more so, than the physical hardware.
For the contract supply and service chain, CM is used to specify and monitor the functional
requirements and attributes in the contract deliverables—what the contractor is producing for
the prime, OEM, or government customer. Deliverables are spelled out in great detail as
subcontract data requirements lists (SDRLs) and contract data requirements lists (CDRLs) that
are defined in the contract's statement of work.
In A&D contracts, CM is routinely required in the service, refurbishment, and maintenance of
not just the complete aircraft, ship, vehicle, or weapons system but also in the equipment and
support infrastructure that keeps these assets operational. Contractor data deliverables also
include tracking and managing not only parts, drawings, design intentions, product structures
and BOMs but also change requests, change orders, inspections, service advisories,
notifications, manuals, test procedures, and much more—in addition to all the physical contract
deliverables.
The U.S. Air Force B1-B bomber is still in service more than 30 years after it was
designed. Since then contractors manage the configuration of upgrades and
modifications with CM solutions including CMstat.
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Nimble Configuration Management
For the A&D supply chain, configuration management is often employed:
•
Downstream of manufacturing and engineering where it is used extensively in field
service; in support of maintenance, repairs, and upgrades; to guide refurbishment,
overhaul, rebuilding and remanufacturing; and finally retirement, disposal, and recycling.
• Standalone, deployed free of entanglements in enterprise ecosystems. CM professionals
working for contractors often confess they don't want their “live” field processes to be
integrated with, or polluted by, an avalanche of engineering-centric CAD, PDM, or PLM
data that is not needed to perform their job.
CM zeroes in on the myriad functional relationships among parts, systems / subsystems, and
assemblies / subassemblies as well as effectivity (dates, models, part numbers, barcode
identifiers, serial numbers, and so on). For A&D products and systems fielded for years, or even
decades, tracking this history means:
Verifying that the inevitable change proposals are evaluated and managed
systematically and their status tracked. Ceaseless change in A&D contracts keeps
boosting requirements for capability, performance, reliability, and maintainability as
well as to extend product life.
Ensuring that documentation is accurate, up to date, inventoried, vaulted and consistent
with physical design of each contract item. Without effective CM, major portions of
data documentation may have to be recreated or reverse engineered. This can waste
huge amounts of time and money and overwhelm technical people.
Establishing policies, procedures, techniques, best practices, and tools—and enforce
their use—to hold down costs, reduce risks, minimize potential liabilities, and help
prevent errors in the deliverables.
Outside of A&D, many discrete manufacturing as well as process industries have business
workflows that can benefit from CM. CM is widely practiced in industrial machinery,
transportation, marine, energy, life sciences, medical devices, electronics, infrastructure, and
architectural engineering and construction. Often the biggest difference among these contractdriven environments is that each has its own nomenclature, which can make their
requirements for and use of CM appear unique when they are not. Regardless of products and
industries, the processes and fundamentals of configuration management are very similar.
New applications for CM and in new industries are arising as well. One example is the Internet
of Things (IoT) where a new generation of CM processes, tools, and professionals will be
required to manage the hardware and software configurations of millions of devices along with
the aftermarket support/service networks in which they operate.
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CM Needs of the Supply, Support, & Service Chains
A&D programs specify, build, deliver, and support physical products and digital systems that
will be used for many years, even decades. As time goes by, modifications are developed.
Eventually these products and systems may bear only superficial resemblance to the original
products and systems or to their original specifications.
An inconvenient truth is that these contractors often can’t access the original product design
data (assuming the data still exists) in programs that may be decades old. Nor can the
contractors be sure they can retrieve CM records long ago formatted with now obsolete PDM
software or within enterprise PLM solutions that may no longer exist.
Configuration management processes and tools must retain a history of all changes in
the past, an accounting of the current state, and ability to perform impact analysis on
potential future change.
A&D primes, subcontractors, suppliers, and service partners all face two often-overwhelming
CM challenges in every program:
• Thousands of discrete data deliverables must be tracked in exhaustive detail—complete
systems, hardware components and subassemblies, communications modules, software
versions, and security measures.
The data items range from enterprise-level
enhancements down to the simplest components.
•
Every data deliverable undergoes relentless change cycles; some cycles are driven by
primes and OEMs downward while other cycles triggered by contractors reach upward or
laterally to other suppliers.
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Historically, these challenges fueled the building of customized software solutions—
homegrown tools often built up from spreadsheets or from add-on modules to engineering
software packages. In many A&D programs, millions of dollars were spent to acquire, deploy,
maintain and then update or sometimes even replace homegrown and customized CM tools
that had become “legacy” applications.
A&D contractors are placed at significant risk by ineffective CM, legacy or otherwise, that
cannot track the data deliverables. The risk lies in contract requirements for deliverables
containing enormous amounts of data. System program offices (SPOs) of government
customers can demand to see every configuration version and revision. SPO officials can
demand to see every file uploaded and downloaded, to whom each file was distributed, when
and how that distribution was done, and whether all approved recipients got the data they
needed, as well as the digital linkages to each file.
Failure to comply exposes contractors to fines, censure, and loss of additional work, which
makes CM essential to success. As an example, contemplate the fate of an A&D contractor that
provides inaccurate or incomplete data to a field-service or support-chain facility that repairs
combat damage to armored personnel carriers. It makes no difference if the CM is handled
with spreadsheets for managing bills of materials or with tools bolted onto PDM / PLM / ERP:
the contractor is in trouble.
From within the contractor’s engineering and IT units, there is often pressure to deploy an
engineering-centric PDM solution, an enterprise PLM solution, or adopt customized CM utilities
developed by their IT group. It is hard to understand why such legacy thinking persists when
convenient, easily deployed, and lower-cost COTS solutions for CM are readily available.
Given today's harsh A&D contracting marketplace and constant technology upheavals, a
paradigm shift toward nimble, rapidly deployable solutions that perform equally well
downstream of engineering, in either a standalone or integrated mode, is overdue.
What Contractors Desire in CM
At this point it is time for a closer look at how the best Configuration Management solutions
help with the burdens faced by A&D suppliers in supporting products and systems that may be
far removed in space and time from the original engineering PDM / PLM data.
The top ten essential characteristics that contractors typically seek and most value from a CM
solution include:
1.
Capable in production use with the deep functionality and features needed by CM
professionals.
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Nimble Configuration Management
2.
Intuitive and easily mastered in everyday use by the CM expert or occasional use by
program managers.
3.
Deployable quickly and rolled out easily with minimal demand on IT resources and with a
no-user-programming approach.
4.
Compact, simple, and efficient for contractors who must often deploy many different
solutions to support all their OEMs and contracts.
5.
Affordable with low initial cost—as a COTS solution should be—and with a low total
lifecycle cost of ownership.
6.
Nimble and adaptable to accommodate unforeseen tasks, new workflows, and digital
connections.
7.
Durable and resilient over the life of even the longest A&D program regardless of the
original design requirements or the up-front contract stipulations.
8.
Portable across different program contracts and at different levels of maturity.
9.
Scalable and robust to accommodate the cycles of program growth, complexity, and
contraction as they percolate down through the supply chain.
10. Secure in both standalone and connected modes of operation.
There are many factors, which will influence the priority and weight factor assigned to each of
these attributes depending on the industry, product type, or supply chain. While no one
solution may excel at all requirements, each user should rank those factors that are most
important to their program or contract for use in comparing the available options.
Introducing CMstat
To this point we have outlined the configuration management challenges and opportunities but
said little about the leading provider of CM solutions for A&D contract service and supply
chains—CMstat. Founded over 20 years ago, CMstat is highly regarded for its best-in-class CM
solutions that are rapidly deployable and affordable.
Prior to CMstat, what usually passed for configuration management was a mishmash of
homegrown tools and practices. Wildly dissimilar applications and modules tackled BOMs,
engineering changes, documentation, metadata, and much else. To do this, some A&D
contractors invested in a collection of software tools. At best they were connected
haphazardly. With little or no centralized coordination, some information was duplicated and
some disappeared.
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Nimble Configuration Management
It is widely accepted that technology-driven companies invest from 4% to 8% of their
production costs in integrating change management and document control. Much of this
(needlessly) complex array is outdated legacies.
As in every large organization, users of these tools coalesced into “silos of expertise” that grew
overly protective of their information. Whenever a deadline loomed, a scramble ensued to find
the relevant deliverables data. Missed deadlines can put a contract into default and onerous
penalties can be assessed. This situation drove the formation of CM solution providers like
CMstat.
In aerospace and defense contracting, as in any highly structured business, configuration
management of the data deliverables is business critical. CMstat is intensely focused on this.
For navigating the configuration management complexities in any large A&D contract CMstat is
best-in-class.
Deadline data scrambles can affect large numbers of technical people so a few CM headcount
numbers are appropriate. In CMstat’s customer groups, a typical subcontractor has about 200
employees, between 20 and 100 of who regularly access CMstat databases.
About 10% of these users—the CM professionals—create and manage CM data; other users are
“consumers” doing searches and participating in reviews and signoffs. The 10% use CM daily,
some of them eight hours a day. The 90% use CM from once a day to once a week depending
on their jobs. The percentages stay the same for larger customers.
CMstat has built a proud history supporting A&D. The company was launched with a mission to
help companies migrate from mainframe-based homegrown CM tools to client-server
environments. These customers needed COTS software that conformed to military standard
requirements for configuration management. Standards encourage (and sometimes enforce)
widespread use of best practices. Standards also simplify training, troubleshooting, and
interface design; they are crucial to the success of CMstat’s customers and therefore to CMstat
itself.
Due to its hyper-sharp focus on CM for the A&D supply chain, CMstat has prospered over the
past two decades with minimal marketing or direct selling. New customers typically found the
company through referrals from satisfied customers who were the best possible “sales”
channel for a company without a traditional sales organization.
CMstat: Managing the True As-Configured Product
The CMstat software solution was developed to manage the as-designed, as-built, as-tested, asshipped, as-installed, as-modified, and even as-retired configuration of long-lived products;
these are the deliverables of any A&D program or complex contract.
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CMstat’s original software code was written by A&D engineers who were CM experts. Their
mantra: First understand, then code, is a strategy that has kept CMstat tightly aligned with the
needs of its customers and their four perennial A&D information challenges—define, secure,
report, and measure.
Configurations of the upgrades and modifications to radio telescopes, which are in
use for decades, are managed with CMstat.
Then as now, CMstat’s CM solutions were architected as a comprehensive, stand-alone
approach to staying on schedule and within budget while meeting or exceeding every one of
the ten criteria listed above.
In A&D, CM is largely a systems engineering process. CM verifies the consistency of
performance, design, and operational data of deliverables—physical and virtual / digital—
throughout their useful lives and far into the future as repair, refurbishing, and
remanufacturing can extend useful lives. This means tracking even the smallest tweaks in
configurations, functions, and components—a core requirement in every A&D contract.
Enterprise-class solutions such as PDM / PLM and ERP either lack these CM-specific capabilities
or impose too big a deployment and assessment burden on contractors.
CMstat software capabilities start with tight links to bill of materials (BOM) management tools.
BOMs list and count even the most trivial parts, so they are crucial to effective CM. BOMs spell
out product configurations in complete detail—as-designed, as-manufactured, as-produced, asassembled, as-tested, as-shipped, as-delivered, as-installed, as-deployed, as-provisioned, asmaintained / sustained, as-modified and so on.
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Nimble Configuration Management
Status of projects can be determined as soon as technical data packages are created, tracked,
and distributed. Contract terms that specify how configuration management is to be done are
easily met. Individual tasks are easy to assign and easy to monitor. These basic capabilities can
greatly reduce administrative burdens in A&D, increase CM efficiency, protect budgets, and
contribute to free cash flows.
Functionality of CMstat’s best-in-class configuration management solution.
These capabilities provide cradle-to-grave functionality for CM-controlled and
non-CM-controlled data with maintenance and sustainment capabilities. Also
included out-of-the-box are document, BOM, and change management with
workflow / business process automation.
In the final analysis, CMstat software simplifies the workloads of both the OEM’s program office
and the contractor’s project team. This is how the CMstat solution outperforms enterprise–
level solutions and the better-known names in data management and IT consulting. The
attractiveness of the CMstat solution will continue as enterprises increasingly realize the
inherent shortcomings of customizations, homegrowns, and add-ons as alternatives to
affordable COTS. By any set of metrics, our total cost of ownership (TCO) beats all of these
alternatives.
CMstat software maintains product structure histories by serial number, reference designator,
bar code and software version, upgrade, and patch.
Out-of-the-box, CMstat provides workflow / business process automation, built-in best
practices with over 200 rules and validations, and cradle-to-grave functionality. Traceability of
product structures is assured throughout the entire product life including removal of subassemblies, refurbishing, reinstalling, and recycling independently of engineering / CAD
changes.
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Nimble Configuration Management
Two key CM capabilities are at the heart of CMstat:
• Real-time operations to support timely decision-making.
• Open-systems architecture to simplify integration with existing design, engineering, support
systems, and tools.
CMstat software exceeds expectations for management of baselines, documents, configuration
items, as-builts, warranties, and much more—with or without access to the originating PDM
systems in engineering. Its users report that CMstat managed data is the only “reliable” data
they have.
CMstat Customers
CMstat is in use on dozens of major programs at leading A&D primes and OEMs. CMstat
customers range from small companies that manage product structures and BOMs totaling
fewer than 100 items to OEMS building complete weapons systems and military vehicles
comprised of 25,000 or more items. One A&D customer has a millions of aircraft parts under
CM.
CMstat’s configuration management customers include Boeing, the Canadian Space Agency,
Fleetway, General Dynamics, LJT & Associates Inc., Lockheed Martin, L-3 Communications,
NASA, NavAir, Raytheon and others. Among their programs are the B1-B Bomber, FAA STARS,
and the Target Missile Drone System. Several of these organizations have been CMstat
customers for twenty years.
Fleetway Inc., using the CMstat solution, manages a complex in-service support (ISS), and
maintenance program for the Canadian Navy. This dictates deploying CM to sustain long-lived
capital assets that undergo many changes over their lifecycle. A key project included migrating
and cleaning up legacy data from two naval programs. One project was the Iroquois, a
destroyer originally built in the 1970s for anti-submarine warfare.
In a major upgrade in the 1990s the ship was modified for an air defense role at sea. All ship
data including baseline design and functionality is under real-time CM. The original Iroquois
CM efforts were manual and spreadsheet-based. CMstat was chosen because it offered the
deepest hardware capability out-of-the-box, that is, without customization. The deployment
took nine months, mostly to clean up and migrate legacy data from IBM and Intergraph
systems. The Iroquois is still in service today.
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Canadian Iroquois Class destroyer, built in 1970 originally for anti-submarine
warfare continues in service in an air defense role. In-service engineering and
configuration control is performed using CMstat by the Canadian Navy
engineering services contractor Fleetway, Inc.
Three more CMstat customers are profiled below:
•
Satellite Launch Support Services. Contractor needed CM of design data and its
documentation tracking baselines as well as configuration items and changes across multiple
sites on both U.S. coasts. CM was a government requirement calling for full compatibility
with all applicable standards. Customer was determined to avoid CM customization,
“supersized” solutions, and any implementation that would “darken the sky.” CMstat was
fully deployed and continues to expand its presence. CMstat's deep CM expertise and
industry reputation led to its being chosen over the better-known PDM solutions.
• Air Warfare Weapons R&D. CM goals were to bring test-lab equipment under CM, reporting
configurations of lab and test bench assets as-designed and as-installed. Customer also
needed to set up CM best practices and demonstrate site-design compliance. Standalone
CM had to be deployed rapidly, securely, and independently—and not as an enterprise-class
project requiring IT investment. This meant a small-footprint system with a modest price
tag. CM required easy access to expertise for new users but without access to original CAD
files. CMstat was chosen because its COTS product met very detailed customer
requirements.
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Nimble Configuration Management
• Military / Commercial Air Traffic Control Systems. Customer needed to dynamically track
reconfigurations national aviation control equipment installed at 300 separate locations. Asdesigned, as-built, and as-sold configurations of baseline hardware and software had to be
captured while controlling releases of key documents and files. CMstat was chosen for its
expertise, COTS product packaging, built-in functionality, adaptability, and smooth
deployment. Project was done within the six-month scheduled implementation time.
In Review, a CM Mission Accomplished
CMstat software was developed to meet a need at a technology turning point for the A&D
industry. Mainframe computers were being decommissioned and, along with them, highly
customized homegrown CM systems developed by prime contractors and big OEMs to support
their programs.
Based on years of CM experience, CMstat envisioned a COTS application that would fulfill the
needs of contractors who were desperate to replace their legacy systems. CMstat not only
fulfilled those needs, but did so in an economical and timely manner by providing the
administrative capability to tailor the application to support the most complex processes.
In this dynamic atmosphere, CMstat developed its mission focus, which was to provide the
most in-depth functionality in a framework that would allow maximum tailoring with no
customization of the CM software and no programming by users. CMstat is still the key to rapid
CM deployment and fast ROI for the customer.
CMstat continues to ensure it is more than sufficiently robust to adapt and scale to meet CM
needs. As CM requirements evolve, CMstat will retain its customers and marketplace
dominance by ensuring its offerings will continue to improve and keep pace with the latest
standards and best practices.
As CMstat continues to adopt new technologies and adapt to new standards, best practices and
industry challenges, our company mission has not changed. The focus remains on delivering
best-in-class CM solutions for contractors that are rapidly deployable, highly usable, easily
affordable, and inherently nimble.
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Nimble Configuration Management
The Space Shuttle was in service for more than thirty years after a decade of
original engineering design effort. Many PDM and CM tools were employed by
downstream contractors including CMstat for the Payload System Support Service
contract.
www.cmstat.com
information@cmstat.com
+1.877.537.1959
960 Howard Hughes Pkwy., Suite 500
Las Vegas, NV 89169
Copyright 2018, TPT Technologies, Inc. dba CMstat
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