Key Components of the Product Delivery Process

The Product Delivery Process is made up of the following key components:

• Management Decision Process
• Process Elements
• Process Enablers

The Management Decision Process (MDP) provides guidance for the management and control of D&M product programs through all phases of the product life cycle. Although the process is continuous, MDP identifies seven distinct phases. This process phasing establishes the decision points at which management review and approval control will be exercised, and incorporates the key linkage requirements with both Technology Generation and CDP.

The phases of the Management Decision Process product life cycle, and their output requirements are described here.

	Business need/market opportunity identified and validated consistent with strategic needs of competitive events Product Goals defined Prime architecture and technology sets selected to meet end customer requirements Program's decision and customization process confirmed Process linkages with CDP established
	Product Delivery Team formed Technology readiness demonstrated Production-Intent Design layout completed Program Quality, Cost and Delivery (QCD) targets established Business case finalized based on QCD targets Operating Unit involvement continues with increased emphasis
	Production-Intent Design completed Specification definition finalized P1 production-intent model built and tested to confirm group-level commitments to QCD targets Integrated program planning completed Program worldwide launch strategy developed Operating Unit representation on the Product Delivery Team begins
	Production-Intent Design validated by iterative build and test of follow-on prototype models Product design stability confirmed Manufacturing readiness for production scale-up verified Program quality launch plan for worldwide market engagement completed
	Manufacturing scale-up to full production capability completed Product acceptability verified through formal acceptance testing Field readiness for worldwide product introduction and market engagement is confirmed
	Worldwide product launch completed Market engagement completed through implementation of Operating Unit launch plans Product performance verified against QCD commitments/customer satisfaction commitments Field and market performance assessed Fleet Upgrade (End-of-Life) strategy completed
	Production build to meet worldwide customer demand continues Revenue and profit optimized through product improvement and/or maintenance activities Fleet Upgrade (End-of-Life) strategies coordinated and translated into implementation plans for product withdrawl and service discontinuance by Operating Units

The Management Decision Process helps PDTs understand what needs to be accomplished within each phase of the program -- or, in other words, where they need to go and by when. At the same time it provides management with the information it needs to make decisions to release funds and resources for a program to proceed to the next phase. These decisions are made during each of the phase transfer reviews. Each review provides a program status and data concerning accomplishment of specified outputs called phase transfer criteria. In preparation for certain phase transfer reviews an independent Product Assurance Assessment is conducted by the D&M Quality office with the PDT to determine program readiness to enter the next PDP phase. Each of these MDP reviews provide the review points for both the PDT and management to determine program progress to date as well as plans for the next phase. This allows for the PDT to conduct their own self assessment as well as provide important information to management to facilitate good business decisions.

Process Elements and Phase Deliverables

If MDP helps PDTs understand where they need to go, then process elements identify what they need to do to get there. Process elements are the detailed descriptions of what needs to be done on a program from Pre-Concept to Maintenance on one particular area of specialization. A list of current process elements can be found below. Each element defines work steps, inputs and process outputs required to meet the phase deliverables. Integration of the process elements has been carefully coordinated to identify the sequence and timing of activities so that major program deliverables are accomplished.

The figure below illustrates the key components of the Product Delivery Process: life cycle phases, phase transfer reviews, review objectives, process elements, phase deliverables, and process enablers.

In order to successfully implement any process there are enablers that facilitate and aid use of the process. The process enablers for PDP include documentation, organization effectiveness and the network of computer systems.

The PDP documentation provides information to a wide variety of users at many levels of detail ranging from process overview to element specific information. Distribution of the documentation is made in conjunction with completed PDP training courses. Information is provided in the following documents:

PDP Overview

This is the booklet which you are reading right now. It contains general information about PDP and provides familiarity with the basic concepts of PDP.

PDP Guide

This contains detailed information related to the integration of the following:

• Management Decision Process
• Deliverables by Program Phase
• Process Elements
• PDP Training
• PDP Computer Systems
• PDP Roles & Responsibilities

Process Element Folders

These contain specific detailed information about a specific process element within PDP.

Reference Cards

These contain an alphabetized list of PDP reference documents and provide diretions to acquire them from the technical information center library.

The first release of PDP documentation is available in hard copy. A full electronic documentation system is being developed and is expected to be operational by 1990.

One key to the ongoing success of a process as complex as PDP is teamwork. Organization effectiveness supports teamwork by implementing the following actions:

Training

Training is a key enabler for successful implementation of PDP. A PDP curriculum of courses has been designed to provide the PDT members with the skill and knowledge required to implement the process. Courses are provided on a "point of need" basis and will encourage direct application to current work activities. A customized training plan is developed by each PDT based on the skill mix and experience profile of the team. Training is delivered by subject matter experts from within the line organization. PDT training participation is tracked and reported at each phase review.

Management Support

Training PDT members in the required skills and knowledge is necessary but insufficient to ensure the successful implementation of PDP. Managerial role modeling of the desired behaviors is critical to the success of any change effort. The success of PDP is dependent on the demonstrated commitment and support of the management staff.

While building on the foundations provided by Leadership Through Quality, Competitive Benchmarking, and Employee Involvement, PDP presents further challenges to the organization for changes in the way wo do business.

The goal of the Management Support strategy is to gain the support and visible role modeling of upper and middle managers in facilitating acceptance and adoption of PDP by PDT members.

Communication

In order to support PDP, employees need to understand what PDP is and what impact it will have on them and their jobs. Our aim is to provide PDP information to all D&M employees on a consistent basis through communication channels such as Xerox World, and Spectrum (D&M's Newsletter). PDTs will receive more frequent and detailed information as they begin to implement PDP. PDP Overview Communication sessions, a PDP newsletter, and individual PDT communication meetings will provide the forums for communication of current information.

This document is one of the first steps in providing all D&M employees with a basic understanding about PDP -- what it is, where we are, and where we are going.

Team Building and Organization Development

The product that is developed through an effective Product Delivery Process is more than a simple sum of all the activities, events and decisions that go into producing it. Even with a technically-sound set of product development and delivery tasks, teams with low levels of cooperation, trust, communication, and collaboration will not succeed. The goal of team building is to increase the effectiveness of the working relationships between and among team members. By focusing on group process, team building makes a distinct and vital contribution to the overall success of PDP. Some activities available in support of team building include a Team Good Start workshop for PDTs, Manager as Facilitator, and Customized Team Building sessions.

The process of desining and delivering a product to the marketplace generates a vast amount of information which is an essential resource to the Product Delivery Teams. Timely exchange of this information among all the people on a program requires a data processing environment where the network computer systems "talk" to each other.

Our goal for systems that support PDP is to provide an integrated and efficient computer environment for design and production. We are not there yet. Many systems are not integrated. Work is underway to identify which systems are available today to support PDP, as well as what systems are still needed. To date, over 30 major computer systems have been linked to each other out of 100 different computer applications and databases used by PDTs.

In the short term PDP will help us specify the computer systems required to support the process today. Our long range goal is to have in place by the 1990's an integrated, efficient and common computer system approach to make software, tools and databases available to all PDTs.