Original Date: 08/20/2001
Revision Date: 12/14/2006

In 1999, Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Surface Systems implemented the Technical Operations Program Review. The Review provides a condensed, standardized review of all aspects of program status for the vice president of Technical Operations, and fosters metric utilization.

Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Surface Systems (NE&SS-SS) originally used three separate engineering groups to gather program-related data and assess engineering performance across its business. However, no standardized process existed across the three groups. In addition, the vice president of Technical Operations faced the challenge of managing a matrix organization. Personnel and resources were allocated from the parent functional group to a specific project, for the duration of that project, before being made available to another project. This approach increased the difficulty of maintaining detailed situational awareness by the vice president and senior staff. In 1999, Lockheed Martin NE&SS-SS combined the three groups into the Technical Operations and implemented the Technical Operations Program Review (TOPR).

TOPR provides a condensed, standardized review of all aspects of program status. Financial, schedule, technical, staffing, cost estimate, business opportunity, and engineering status data are gathered and contrasted against top-level program assessment criteria across the entire Technical Operations organization. This information is then organized by project and sub-project. In support of TOPR, finance and engineering staff work together to summarize financial performance on all program tiers. Actions items are an important part of the standardized data process. These items are recorded and tracked with an on-line, company-wide database.

Monthly four-hour meetings are held to review the synthesized information by the vice president of Technical Operations, the senior staff, and responsible project personnel. The great volume of information is displayed in summary boxes based on risk status (green for low, yellow for medium, red for high). Here too, action items are reviewed and updated. If deemed necessary, management can determine the underlying components of the data via Microsoft Office software.

By using TOPR, Lockheed Martin NE&SS-SS can obtain key status information from a concise review within four hours. The review covers approximately 380 status elements and 1,700 personnel. The Review also provides two- way communication between senior management and the Technical Operations, and standardizes the process for gathering program-related data and assessing engineering performance. In addition, TOPR meetings allow senior management and project personnel to interact so decisions can be made on reallocating resources and resolving roadblocks.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.