Boeing Anaheim Receives CMMI Level 3 Appraisal Ahead Of Plan
Boeing [NYSE:BA] was notified Friday that its Anaheim, Calif., facility has reached an unprecedented level of achievement in four areas of integration and improvement processes as established by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI).
The SEI appraisal, known as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), is an industry-recognized framework for process integration and improvement. Boeing in Anaheim achieved Level 3 of the CMMI assessment model in the following four areas: systems engineering; software engineering; integrated product & process development (IPPD), and supplier selection management process disciplines against the industry/government developed standards.
The CMMI assessment, as defined by the Software Engineering Institute CMMI© Version 1.1 requirements, was conducted by a Software Productivity Consortium-lead appraisal team that included government contract customer assessors. CMMI is used throughout the world in military and government organizations, as well as commercial enterprises.
With this announcement, Boeing's Anaheim site, which is home to more than 4,200 employees, becomes the largest site in the United States and is among the first worldwide to successfully be appraised on all four disciplines of CMMI. Through third party appraisals the resulting evaluation, expressed as "maturity levels," provides insight as to the ability of the company to execute on proposed projects, thereby reducing risk and required oversight on behalf of the customer.
"Achieving Level 3 across the four disciplines means we can immediately use this appraisal to help us in our near term and future proposals where CMMI is playing an increasingly important role," said Jacob R. Volkert, vice president, Battle Management/Command, Control, & Communications & Strategic Systems, for Boeing.
Oliver Watson III, Director of Processes, Metrics and Tools, for Boeing agreed. "We recognize that we're the first of many Boeing sites that will be appraised and we will be working with those other organizations to make sure we take advantage of this accomplishment, providing valuable lessons learned and support for the other sites during their quest for CMMI certification. This accomplishment demonstrates to our customers our commitment to CMMI and continuous improvement."
"To put this into perspective, there are currently 70 organizations that have gone through an official CMMI SCAMPIA assessment, according to the latest SEI published data," said Oliver. "Of those 70, 35 are in the United States, and none were assessed against the full CMMI model. Only 13 achieved a rating of level three (3) or higher and only two (2) had more than 1,000 people versus our 4,200."
CMMI is an integrated approach to continuous improvement. It covers several facets of product development processes including Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD), Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, and Supplier Sourcing. Within IPPD, it is a systematic approach to product development that achieves a timely collaboration of relevant stakeholders throughout the product life cycle to better satisfy customer needs. Within Systems Engineering, the focus is on transforming customer needs, expectations, and constraints into product solutions and supporting those product solutions throughout the product life cycle. Within Software Engineering, the focus is on applying systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approaches to the development, operation, and maintenance of software. And within Supplier Sourcing, it is aimed at managing the acquisition of products and services rather than developing them.
The Anaheim site is home to several business units and programs critical to the company and the nation. It is comprised of 18 buildings and has been part of the Orange County landscape since the late 1950s. More than 4,200 employees work at the facility, making the site the largest employer in Anaheim, next to Disneyland.
The site includes the BMC3&SS, which is the IDS BMC2 Enterprise Capability Center (ECC) and is also responsible for the technological development and program execution of Network-Centric Communications, which leads all Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) cluster development, ICBM Systems, and Naval Electronics & Navigation. Also at this site, the Ground-based Missile Defense (GMD) unit develops integrated missile defense solutions for all phases of ballistic missile threats and Air & Missile Defense Systems that include PAC-3 and Sea-based programs, as well as several others. Additionally, the Advanced Information Systems (AIS) part of Space & Intelligence Systems which developed the Long Range Mine Reconnaissance Systems (LMRS) and other programs is located at the site. Anaheim also plays host to the Strategic Architecture team that is responsible for the development of a Boeing-wide strategic communication and information architecture.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems is one the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $25 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
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