Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] Integrated Defense Systems has achieved CMMI Level 5 ratings in all four areas of assessment -- software and systems engineering; integrated product and process development; and supplier sourcing -- at seven of the company's major U.S. sites.

This moves the company into an industry-leading position as Boeing has the greatest number of certified sites in all four assessed disciplines.

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) appraisal, known as the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), is an industry-recognized standard for benchmarking process integration and improvement in systems engineering; software engineering; integrated product and process development, and supplier selection management process disciplines. The certification process is recognized as a best practice in both the commercial and defense industries. Achieving a CMMI Level 5 appraisal provides insight into a company's ability to execute on proposed projects, thereby reducing risk and required oversight by the customer.

"Integrated Defense Systems set the goal of achieving CMMI Level 5 because this certification is becoming a competitive discriminator in today's market," said John Tracy, IDS vice president of engineering. "It also is a customer prerequisite for many of our complex integration programs. We have held ourselves to the high standard of achieving a Level 5 rating in all four areas of assessment because we knew this would give our customers greater confidence in our commitment to continuous improvement and our ability to deliver quality systems."

To date, the IDS sites certified at CMMI Level 5 in all four categories are Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Seal Beach, Calif.; Huntsville, Ala.; the Boeing Air Force Systems site in Washington's Puget Sound region; and Wichita, Kan. Also, the IDS sites in Philadelphia and El Segundo, Calif., have attained Level 5 certification in two of the four assessed disciplines, and other assessments are also underway. For Boeing, site certification means that multiple key programs at each site are individually certified, and that other site-based activities perform to a similar level of continuous process discipline and improvement. A number of independent third-party assessor organizations conducted the certification audits at these sites.

Approximately 385 organizations worldwide have gone through the official Standard CMMI Appraisal Methodology for Process Improvement assessment. To date, Boeing sites comprise the majority that have achieved the Software Engineering Institute's CMMI Level 5 rating in all four categories of the full CMMI model.

The Software Engineering Institute is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University, which developed the CMMI maturity ratings. The assessments enable government customers to determine reliable, low-risk suppliers of products and solutions. SEI ratings are earned through a detailed evaluation process that includes an extensive review and analysis of engineering and software development processes, documentation, measurement systems and quality assurance tools that are used by a company or organization. Additional information about the SEI's Capability Maturity Model Integration is available at http://www.sei.cmu.edu.