2015 Program Excellence Award

Transcription

1 2015 Program Excellence Award I. Program Overview Organization Name/Program Name: Program Leader Name/ Position/Contact information , Phone Program Category Program Background: What is this program all about? (No more than one page). The overarching need for this program History of the program The product that is created by this program Scope of work original & updated Expected deliverables Current status of the program Paragon Space Development Corporation Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Laura Kelsey Orion Program Manager Sub-System level Production The Need for the program: Orion is NASA s next flagship vehicle to provide the capability to explore beyond low earth orbit. Paragon s challenge on the program was to provide exemplary quality and on-time delivery of the environmental control tubing and selected instrumentation, thermal analysis and overall vehicle schematic support. The History of the program: Paragon has been Lockheed Martin s teammate on manned spacecraft since the late 1990 s. Paragon was awarded a multi-facetted scope in 2006 upon winning the Orion competition. Paragon worked in an integrated fashion to design, produce, qualify and deliver for tubing and pressure and flow sensors for the environmental control system for EFT-1. The resulting integration of the systems demonstrated precise and high quality products which facilitated the on-time integration into the vehicle at the Integration and Checkout facility in Florida. The product that is created: Physical product created included over 200 components and assemblies making up the environmental control system for Orion EFT-1. This included the FLO-1 sensor package that measured primary and secondary cooling system flow rates and pressure as well as cabin pressure. Also produced was bent and welded tubing of both simple (e.g. single bend) and complex nature (multiple bend, multiple fittings and multi-junction tubing). Scope of work (original and updated): Paragon s scope was to work closely with the Lockheed Martin designers to route tubing throughout the vehicle, recommend and suggest clearances and attachment points, analyze the tubing for structural adequacy and flow characteristics, verify manufacturability using software-simulated bending analysis, and then produce drawings meeting both Paragon and Lockheed Martin standards and requirements. Production included cutting, bending, special cleaning and production processes such as passivation, orbital welding, final non-destructive Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 1

2 inspection, final cleaning and delivery. Roughly 9 geometry and material combination processes were qualified (Titanium and Stainless Steel in sizes from ¼ to 5/8 inch dia, thin walled and special geometry including non-standard fittings). Bending requirements were within to accuracy (vertex to vertex) depending on length and complexity. Expected deliverables: The deliverables already made included over 210 separate components, tubing assemblies or electromechanical assemblies. These were provided in lots commensurate with the integration schedule of the spacecraft with roughly 17 lots provided. Current Status of the program: After a successful Orion EFT-1 flight on December 5, 2015, Paragon is on contract to work with the Lockheed Martin team for additional scope on the EM- 1 vehicle to fly in II. Value Creation = 20 points Value: 50% of category score What is the long-term value, competitive positioning, advantage, and return created by this program to your: Customers National interests, war fighter Company Strength, bottom line, and shareholders Scientific/technical value (particularly for R&D programs) 50% of category score Excellence and Uniqueness: What makes this program unique? Why should this program be awarded the Program Excellence Award? VALUE The overall value that Paragon provided to the Orion team is a combination of product excellence, flexibility in program execution, and on-time delivery that facilitated equivalent value to the national space program. This further results in the longterm viability of NASA s exploration efforts back to the Moon, to asteroids and eventually to Mars. Paragon s immediate customer, Lockheed Martin benefited from a team approach that streamlined and documented design changes inevitable with tubing systems. Changes to physical routing of tubing was accomplished in weeks, manufacturability was integral to the design, and the precision resulted in problem-free integration on components that very often in the past included time-consuming late design, build and integration changes. The LONG TERM value to both Lockheed Martin and NASA is the reduction of not only the product costs, but the integration time (which can be $million/day) effected by rework. Due to the quality of Paragon work, Lockheed Martin was able to confidently schedule the next Orion vehicle s work in regards to our scope. EXCELLENCE / UNIQUENESS The Orion program is unique in that it will be the first to send humans to explore deep space. This program utilizes modern technologies and is the prime example of excellence to be recognized as such due to its advancements from the prior Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 2

3 shuttle program. The award selection should be an obvious choice given all the benefits that have come and will be coming from the program: Deep Space Exploration Science and Technology Breakthroughs Foundation for future human space exploration Substantiate new space companies as a leader in technologies Success of program allows companies to invest in R&D to perform tests for future endeavors Technology upgrades for air and water purification to support earth and beyond III. Organizational Processes/Best Practices: Strategic Operations 30% of the score On an on-going basis how do you track and improve the value of this program to your customers, corporation, organization, and employees? Specifically, what processes, tools and practices have allowed the value of your program to increase? Paragon tracks its progress on this program through highly efficient, business processes designed to allow for actual continuous process improvement. Regular team meetings allow for milestone updates as well as technical updates, providing an opportunity to regularly identify issues and prioritize the efforts to improve them. Regular internal audits and Quality checks are performed on a regular basis to learn from experience and make changes where necessary. Regular staff updates are given to maintain communication as well as opportunity for input. Employees become an active part of the process improvement with the ability to provide suggestions to improve efficiencies. Regular customer meetings allow flexibility with requirements and more current updates. Team Leadership 30% of category score Teaming What unique processes and practices have you put in place to maximize team collaboration and efficiency? Supply Chain With the broader distribution of design, Team Leadership: Paragon structured the program as two programs (tubing and FLO-1) with IPT leads for each area, and overseen by a dedicated senior manager as the Program Manager to minimize the time and complexity of communications with the subcontract specialist at Lockheed Martin. This led, where possible, to consolidation of deliverables while leaving the technical IPTs to communicate with their counterparts at Lockheed Martin on an as-needed basis. All the while, the subcontract administrator was informed in consolidated reports. Paragon IPT leads and their delegates on the drawing tasks worked collaboratively with the engineers at Lockheed Martin Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 3

4 development and production responsibility across the supply chain what unique tools, processes and practices have you put into place to ensure integration of the total supply chain (up/down/across)? People Development Among the most important roles of a leader is the identification and development of talent. What unique processes, tools and practices have you put into place to ensure people are developed and given the opportunity to risk, fail, recover and fully contribute? What metrics have you put into place to ensure this effort is effective? to route the plumbing throughout the vehicle and integrate the FLO-1 unit with a unique degree-of-freedom interface. This was an iterative process that required timely exchange of models, preliminary analysis, manufacturability analysis and feedback. The job was divided into multiple parts, with Paragon AND LM doing drawings. This required agreement on standard drawing notes, process callouts, and coordination of release and change control. A dedicated set of individuals were in day-to-day contact to achieve the required integration. Paragon s standard Non-conformance material reporting identified non-conforming material, and Lockheed Martin informed of the initiation, resolution and implementation of any non-conforming material. This resulted in a well-informed customer able to make sound decisions based on root cause, corrective action and subsequent conformance where necessary. Paragon kept up-to-date Integrated Master Schedules that detailed the production sequence of each part. Using Paragon s E2 shop control software and barcode labels read by the software to monitor steps, the status of all parts could be reported at any stage of the job traveler sequence to give the IPT lead clear visibility into delays that could be acted upon during twice-a-week manufacturing status meetings. Paragon maintains a strict requirement for major review entrance and exit criteria. These reviews (PDR, CDR, MRR, TSRR) resulted in Lockheed Martin personnel s clear understanding of the status of the program in design, manufacturing and testing phases with understood and useful entrance and exit criteria that was held to strictly resulting in each reviewer and customer representative having the information at their fingertips before, during and after the review. Supply Chain: Paragon s Orion contributions had a complex supply chain. This included critical customer-supplied hardware, multiple outside processes, multiple special processes, and mixed characteristic lots deliveries (for example, some Titanium tubes, some Stainless tubes, multiple diameters and geometries, all in one shipment). The key to coordinating this effort was a highly detailed, manylined MS Project schedule for each individual piece of hardware. That, combined with Paragon s bar-code Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 4

5 identification and tracking system (E2) allowed for real-time knowledge of where every single part was located. For the customer-supplied hardware: Critical fittings and lotbought tubing (Titanium shortages were common across the industry) were coordinated and statused weekly with the customer until delivery. Schedule knowledge was critical, as well as designed-in margin to allow for the potential for late deliveries or lot shortages. Across Paragon, on-floor hardware was easily identifiable by unique paper colors of travelers and other instructions so that anyone glancing at a part would know it was Orion specific. Our inventory barcode-bin-system, combined with the traveller barcodes allows for quick location of hardware for kitting, and for temporary storage between processes. Lots were defined by the customer based on installation sequence in the vehicle. This resulted in mixed material lots which was challenging, but overcome by the individual tracking noted above. Suppliers: Our suppliers were coordinated with Lockheed Martin so that special process suppliers were already Lockheed Martin approved which reduced supplier audits and increased confidence. Hardware out at vendors was tracked both, out and in, the door as well as by shipping number to be able to predict deliveries on both sides. Delivery: Paragon negotiated the ability to directly deliver hardware from our last process (cleaning) to the integration facility at Kennedy Space Center saving one round-trip of shipping. Hardware Acceptance Reviews were performed in a distributed fashion prior to delivery with extensive use of paperless delivery of the necessary paperwork. People Development: Paragon is all about the people and ensuring they are developed and given the opportunity to risk, fail, recover and fully contribute through RER s (Roles, Expectations, Responsibilities) which is a tool allowing management to demonstrate a commitment to help employees do their best, contribute to company morale, and elevate individual selfesteem. Along with RER s Paragon offers Peer 360 Reviews where employees are involved in determining the knowledge, skills and abilities to be learned. This really allows for streamlined peer development, leadership input as well as Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 5

6 employee feedback on the company. Paragon has a corporate touchstone program which has become a standard by which we hold the company and its employees to. Employees are recognized for their contributions to these touchstones in their daily activities at Paragon. Paragon s flexible work environment encourages a family first mentality as well as a healthy, active lifestyle. Paragon believes in open door policies from the CEO to the shipping department. We provide ongoing training and professional development. Operations 40% of category score Cycle Time Please describe what your program has done to reduce and continue to improve the cycle time required for the phase of life cycle in which you currently are executing (design/develop, produce, sustain). Include in your description the tools, processes and practices used as well as the metrics. Efficiencies Affordability and breaking the cost curve are among the most important challenges facing all program managers. Describe the areas you have targeted to improve your costs and how you resolved these challenges for each target. Describe how your program has developed or implemented new and unique tools, processes and practices to reduce cycle time for your program s specific stage of the lifecycle (design/develop, Cycle Time Paragon continually works to develop better processes and procedures to allow us the ability to reduce cycle times on all of our programs by providing streamlined processes where integrated teams simultaneously perform drawings, process mapping, conceptual designs, etc. and downstream users are included early in the design phase manufacturing provides design input to ensure not only manufacturability, but also suggestions to improve efficiency/expense/time during manufacturing. Early involvement results in smarter design and fewer late-stage drawing changes. Same goes for analysis, test, quality etc. A variety of metrics are used to characterize the effectiveness of our engineering, manufacturing and quality processes including: Drawing release cycle time (days from submittal to release); Drawing throughput (drawings/month or day); # of ECNs and ECOs (engineering change notices and orders); Manufacturing hardware throughput yield; Number of operations closed; Operations per work center; Operations per employee; and Quality hardware rework. Efficiencies Cost efficiency is key for Paragon and our customers. Paragon realizes these savings by utilizing resources and tools that are currently in place in order to achieve maximum results without increased costs. An example of these efficiencies would be that, in order to maximize the efficiencies in the ECLSS tube cleaning process, we worked with our suppliers to identify the optimum lot size in order to maximize production efficiency as to achieve the lowest resource cost and optimize schedule efficiency. Paragon also utilizes in-house custom foam in packaging to quickly and at a low cost produce custom conformal packaging Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 6

7 produce, sustain). Planning, Monitoring, and Controlling What are the most significant change elements your program dealt with in the past 36 months, and what unique best practices and processes did you implement to make these changes. (Examples of change: intellectual property, shortages of critical supplies/raw materials.) for each tube. No tubes were ever damaged in transit, with over 600 shipments. Tools In order to continue to realize future savings, Paragon has incorporated Unanet, a resource tracking tool to assist in future project planning efforts. Unanet provides program leads with a central location to find information on comparable work alternatives. Resources such as personnel skill sets, time allocations, program costs, supplier data and planning tools are uploaded into Unanet on a regular basis. This not only allows each program the benefit of information to minimize waste and inefficiency, but allows the company to ensure that it is operating in a streamlined manor. Planning, Monitoring, and Controlling Supplies / Raw Materials Paragon dynamic inventory system as part of E2 keeps track of all supplies and raw materials to forecast potential shortfalls; Changes in Scope Paragon s change management system requires positive information of changes of scope, connects quotes to changes and updates authorizing documents. All changes are ANVO (accept no verbal order); Changes in Specs Each change in specification was processed for impact, and ROMs and/or quotes provided to keep our customer apprised of impacts. Spec changes were negotiated at the technical level (when applicable) to ensure rationale choices of requirements that allowed for our customer s input to change control boards at their level and NASA s level; Changes in Personnel changes in personnel are inevitable on a multi-year program. Paragon addresses this through continuous identification of succession on programs and cross training to facilitate smooth transitions; Funding Paragon provided funding needs forecasts monthly and dynamically changed program plans as needed to meet the customer s funding profile needs. Paragon implemented several new practices to remain flexible to the changing needs of the program. These practices are utilized today on all of our programs. Paragon installed extra inspection tools to allow for throughput peaks. Paragon implemented an EVMS Light process that gives 90% of the information required of formal EVMS at roughly 1/3 the time. EVMS performance metrics are available 24/7 for all personnel authorized to access financial data. Paragon implemented a measure-in-place system that allowed us to accurately position each welded tube and measure its Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 7

8 shape in 3 dimensions PRIOR to welding. Once the weld was complete, the unit was measured again for any deformations invoked by the welding process. Combined with monitored purging gases, the tubes could be held to predictable movements that kept them within tolerance. IV. Adapting to Innovation and Complexity Identify the Program s Market Uncertainty level How new is your product to your market and users, based on the definitions below. Then describe how you deal and address this specific uncertainty: - Derivative an improvement of an existing product/system. - Platform a new generation in an existing product line. - New to the Market a product or system adopted from another market - New to the World - breakthrough product, never seen before Identify the Program s Technological Uncertainty using the definitions below. Then describe how you deal and address this uncertainty: - Low-tech - Medium Technology - High-Technology - Super High Technology Level of Market Uncertainty Level - X Derivative Prior tubing for spacecraft and aerospace vehicles often require several tweaks to get the precisions needed. Combined with late design changes, tubing (as well as wiring) tended to require the most rework and late changes. Paragon s integration of our design efforts with our prime contractor during which we exchanged large and complex 3D models of accurate geometries. This process allowed us to improve built and installed accuracy and reduced overall integration cycle times, when Programs tend to see the most growth in schedule variance. The market uncertainty has required Paragon to approach each aspect knowing that technologies, budgets and overall scopes can change. In order to do this we follow some simple rules: Use techniques and tools that are easily adaptable; Prepare for multiple outcomes; Establish a baseline which can support almost any change; Focus on frequent communication to ensure timely responses; Trust our employees skills, our vendors quotes and our customers reputation to continue to pursue the more viable options. Technological Uncertainty Level - X Medium Technology Complete understanding of the current technology is necessary to provide the modifications and improvements necessary to sustain the new, longer duration, criteria. Paragon relies on multiple-stage reviews throughout the program to ensure that all the details are known to the entire team, that all updates/improvements/proposals are vetted by the entire team and that the company overall can support the risk (financial, technical) necessary to allow for the success of the program. This measure-in-place system was unproven but Paragon developed, verified and validated the process in a structured manner that gave Paragon, Lockheed and NASA the confidence that it was a superior method to those existing. Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 8

9 Identify the level of your System Complexity using the definitions below. Then explain how you are dealing with this level of complexity: - An Assembly - A Sub-system - A System - An Array Identify the Pace and Urgency of your team s effort using the definitions below. Then describe how you deal with the program s pace requirements: - Regular timing Fast/Competitive - Time Critical - Blitz System Complexity (choose one) - X System All of Paragon s deliveries not only have to interface with multiple subcontractor and prime contract systems, but it had to AVOID other systems through smart routing with sufficient understanding of potential changes to allow for minor changes in overall spacecraft subsystem geometry. This resulted in rare instances of complete re-routing or relocation of units. When it comes to long-length, complex programs the approach we take is to focus on the planning. A well-executed plan will inevitably lead to a successful outcome. Paragon strategizes and prepares its plans to complement the customer s requirements by performing systematic, reliable approaches to address requirements, maintaining rigorous time and cost management processes, minimizing scope to reduce costs and development time, and practicing lean development techniques to increase efficiency. Pace and Urgency (choose one) - X Time Critical Providing just in time deliveries requires a concentration on planning and implementation with enough forethought as to potential issues to absorb the unknowns or surprises of the delivery of over 200 pieces of unique hardware. In the rare instances when margin was low, Paragon worked directly with Lockheed Martin to negotiate work-arounds well before the issues became problems that impacted the program overall IA&T schedule. The current programs pace requirements are well within Paragon s capabilities. With careful planning and established processes and procedures Paragon remains flexible and competitive in order to fulfill the customers requests. When presented with challenges in this program, Paragon immediately reviews the scope of the work and provides the customer with a timely, detailed account of risks, resources and presents a suggested plan to support their goal. V. Metrics 40% of category score Customer/Performance Paragon understands that performance and customer satisfaction complement one another and ensuring exemplary performance in both is essential. Success in this is measured on many levels such as delays to prime contractor schedule objectives caused by Paragon hardware delivery issues; Quick real-time EVMA cost performance and schedule performance data; Customer surveys are reviewed and used to improve processes and procedures; Expedited resolution time to maintains communication to ensure work flow remains uninterrupted Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 9

10 20% of category score Team - How do you measure and assess the impact of your program on your team development and employee satisfaction? 40% of category score Unique Metrics - Describe unique metrics you are using to measure your program s progress and how you focus it for outstanding and future success. Employee satisfaction is key to Paragon s success and not only allows for a healthy work environment but also for a loyal relationship between the employee and the company. Based on Paragon s own employee surveys and benefit resources such as the RER and the 360 s, we have realized the crucial impact that our employees have on customers when they are satisfied in their work. We measure retention rate and report on in monthly. We do employee satisfaction surveys 1-2 times per year. All reviews are open and employees are encouraged to bring forth problems and solutions Paragon has developed specific tools to track the progress of all programs from the level to which we perform all the way to how we document and learn before acquiring new business. These tools include our company Strategic plan, developed with the Executive leadership this tool allows for suggestions on the program specific desired outcomes while forecasting for future months/quarters/years. Monthly management meetings that allow management to determine and document specific program activities, and indicators. Regular lessons learned sessions to review each programs personnel, processes, company processes, technology efficiency, etc. Copyright 2015, Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved 10