Systems Engineering and Life Cycle Sustainment—The Need to Synchronize
Shawn Harrison
All of the functional areas within a program office must work together and with other stakeholders to design, develop, deliver, and sustain Department of Defense (DoD) weapon systems. But two communities in particular are the main “cogs” of developing supportable systems: Engineering and Technical Management (hereafter, Engineering) and Life Cycle Logistics. These two main cogs need to be synchronized more closely, from program inception and throughout the life cycle, for increased supportability.
Engineering, led by the Chief Engineer (CE), and Life Cycle Logistics, led by the Product Support Manager (PSM), are responsible for developing detailed plans to execute their responsibilities across the system life cycle. These plans are the Systems Engineering Plan (SEP) and Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP).
The SEP is the primary planning and management tool—tailored to meet program needs—that describes the engineering and technical management approach for requirements traceability; technical baseline and system architecture management; configuration management; and risk, issue, and opportunity management. It also describes the data management approach and digital engineering implementation plan consistent with the DoD Data Strategy and DoD Digital Engineering Strategy, respectively.
The LCSP is the primary planning and management tool—again, tailored to meet program needs—that describes the Product Support Strategy, sustainment performance goals and metrics, life cycle cost estimates, results of the Product Support Business Case Analysis, sustainment risks, and actions to achieve supportability and sustainment requirements. It also identifies Product Support Integrators and Providers, results of Supportability Analyses, and engineering and design considerations.
DoD has established outlines for both the SEP and LCSP. The current SEP outline (Version 4) was published by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in September 2021 and is required for all acquisition programs (including those in Acquisition Category (ACAT) I, II, and III) in accordance with DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5000.88, Engineering of Defense Systems, unless waived by the SEP approval authority. The current LCSP outline (Version 2.0) was published by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness in January 2017.
In accordance with DoDI 5000.91, Product Support Management for the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, an LCSP is required for all covered systems (ACAT I and equivalent Middle Tier of Acquisition (MTA) programs), and a tailored LCSP may be used for all other systems. (Note: As of the time this article was written, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Product Support, the new office of primary responsibility for LCSPs, has initiated development of the next version of the LCSP outline.)
Alignment and synchronization of the SEP and LCSP are critical
Aligned and Synchronized
DoD’s Product Support Vision, as stated in the PSM Guidebook, is “aligned and synchronized operational, acquisition, and sustainment communities working together to deliver required and affordable Warfighter outcomes.” Alignment and synchronization of the SEP and LCSP are critical. Within a program office, the CE and PSM, under the leadership and direction of the program manager (PM), jointly manage the inherent polarity (i.e., not “either-or,” but “both-and”) of designing a system to meet capability and performance requirements while designing a system that can be effectively and efficiently supported throughout its life cycle. The SEP and LCSP help drive critical thinking to achieve both desired outcomes.
SUBJECT | SEP VERSION (V) 4.0 REFERENCE | LCSP V2.0 REFERENCE |
---|---|---|
• Cost and Budget | • 3.1.3.3 | • 7.0 |
• Design Considerations | • 2.5 | • 9.1.1 |
• Human Systems Integration (HSI) including Design Interface | • 3.2.5 | • 5.0 / 9.1 |
• Intellectual Property (IP) | • Front matter | • 10 |
• Program Office organization and Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) | • 3.1.3 | • 8.1 |
• Reliability and Maintainability | • 3.2.3 | • 9.0 |
• Requirements • Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) |
• 2.1 • 3.2.2 |
• 2.1 |
• Risk, Issue, and Opportunity Management | • 3.2.1 | • 4.0 |
• Schedule | • 3.1.1 | • 6.0 |
• Software | • 3.2.7 • Appendix C |
• 3.3.2 |
• Supportability Analysis (FMECA) | • 3.2.3.1 | • 9.1.2 |
• Supportability Trades | • 3.2.3.1 | • 9.1.4 |
• System of Systems | • 3.1.1.2 | • Overview |
• System Safety, including Environmental Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) | • 3.2.5 | • 3.1.5 |
• System Security | • 2.5 • 3.2.11 |
• 3.1.4 |
• Tailoring | • Front matter | • Overview |
• Technical Data Management | • 3.2.10 | • 9.2 |
• Technical Reviews and Audits | • 3.2.12 | • 9.1.5 |
• Technology Insertion, Refresh, Obsolescence Management | • 2.5 • 3.2.8 |
• 3.1.1 |
Key: FMECA = Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (Note: This list is not all-inclusive. It is only meant to convey major subject areas, not all individual occurrences. SEP Version (V)4.0 and LCSP V2.0 are the latest versions of documents published by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.)
Source: The author
SEP and LCSP Common Activities
A review of the SEP and LCSP outlines reveals no fewer than 20 points of interrelated content (Table 1), covering a broad range of activities and topics from requirements development to post-fielding support. Since both outlines encourage tailoring (a key tenet of the Adaptive Acquisition Framework), programs may intentionally establish other common or jointly managed activities within the two plans.
While the SEP and LCSP outlines are not organized chronologically, SEP and LCSP integration occurs throughout the system life cycle. Table 2 includes a synopsis of some of the jointly managed activities, in life cycle order, with the early life cycle activities at the top and later activities at the bottom.
SEP SECTION(S) | LCSP SECTION(S) | JOINTLY MANAGED ACTIVITIES |
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Key: APA = Additional Performance Attributes; CBM+ = Condition-Based Maintenance Plus; CDD = Capability Development Document; CDR =Critical Design Review; CDRL = Contract Data Requirements List; DID = Data Item Description; DR = Deficiency Report; ESOH = Environmental Safety and Occupational Health; FMECA = Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis; FCA/SVR = Functional Configuration Audit/System Verification Review; ICD = Initial Capabilities Document; IP = Intellectual Property; IT = Information Technology; KPP = Key Performance Parameter; KSA = Key System Attribute; LORA = Level of Repair Analysis; MTA = Middle Tier Acquisition; PCA = Physical Configuration Audit; PDR = Preliminary Design Review; PM = Program Manager; R&M = Reliability and Maintainability; RCM = Reliability Centered Matrix; SERD = Support Equipment Requirements Document; SOW = Statement of Work; SVR = System Verification Review.
Source: The author
Living Documents
As living documents, the SEP and LCSP are meant to be actively used as “playbooks” and not shelved after a successful decision point or review cycle until the next update is due.
Conclusion and Key Take-Aways
As the two primary management plans impacting supportability of a DoD acquisition program, the SEP and the LCSP require close integration and ongoing collaboration between the CE and PSM. There are significant areas of overlap. Therefore, potential or realized gaps, seams, or divergent activities may adversely impact system performance or affordability.
The following CE and PSM practices may help maintain alignment and synchronization:
- Establish a regular battle rhythm to meet and discuss jointly managed activities to assess adherence to the SEP and LCSP and identify required updates.
- Exchange action officer “liaisons” to participate in each other’s key meetings and continuously monitor for disconnects or gaps.
- When SEP and LCSP updates are planned, designate a lead action officer to support (and originate, if appropriate) updates to the other party’s plan (not just review the plan after it is written).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
For further information on PSM and CE collaboration, consult “Teamed for Success: The Imperative for Aligning Systems Engineering and Life Cycle Logistics,” Defense AT&L magazine, January-February 2013, CLICK HERE.
The SEP Outline is maintained on the Deputy Director for Research and Engineering Advanced Capabilities (DDR&E(AC)) site found HERE under the “Engineering Guidance” section. See the SEP ACQuipedia article.
The LCSP Outline is maintained HERE. Practitioners may also be interested in the online training course LOG 0050, Developing an LCSP, found HERE, and the LCSP ACQuipedia article, HERE.
Finally, for information on the jointly managed topic of Supportability Analysis, please visit HERE.
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HARRISON is a professor of Life Cycle Logistics at DAU and previously was the T-7A jet trainer’s product support manager. His other program office experience includes fighter, helicopter, aerial refueling, and special mission aircraft. He is certified in Life Cycle Logistics (advanced tier) and Engineering (practitioner tier).
The author can be contacted at [email protected].
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the Department of Defense. Reproduction or reposting of articles from Defense Acquisition magazine should credit the author and the magazine.