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Original Date: 02/19/2007
Revision Date: / /
Best Practice : Auto Estimate-at-Complete Reporting Tool
The Auto Estimate-at-Complete Reporting Tool provides Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems Manufacturing Center in Largo, Florida, an automated Web-accessible means to produce a timely Estimate-at-complete financial report on an average 22-day cycle, with minimal analyst report-generation intervention once key control identification data has been established. With all reports produced using a consistent data set, the tool has improved the quality of standardized reporting across programs.
Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems (NCS) Manufacturing Center in Largo, Florida, produces vast amounts of data that management uses to make positive business decision. Data collection must be structured to produce a useful report that will aid the management decision process. When producing a key financial performance measurement like the Estimate-at-Complete (EAC) report, data covering all active charge numbers associated with a given program must be compiled into a spreadsheet from 17 different sources. In the absence of data collection tools, financial analysts must build the report on spreadsheets that reside on their respective computer desktops, relying on labor-intensive manual search/compile routines that could take up to 40 hours for programs with extensive lists of charge numbers. The EAC quarterly report resulting from this process is not easily shared since it resides on an analyst’s computer. Manual data entry and compilation is error-prone, and report inconsistencies may occur in these separate reports due to analyst preferences. The combination of these factors renders the manual methodology a less than optimum solution for generating a useful EAC report.
To gather structured and error-free data, Raytheon Largo has developed the Auto EAC Web-based report tool that greatly facilitates quarterly report generation with features that include:
Web-based maintenance of key data such as program cost identifiers
Automated retrieval and report compilation time reduction from a maximum of 40 hours to 5 minutes
Reduced report cycle time from 35 to 40 days to an average of 22 days
An intuitive Web access screen allowing anyone with data access rights to view the available reports
A centralized location for Value Stream Leaders (VSLs) to identify and maintain program risk and opportunity information
Standardized and consistent data reporting through spreadsheet and PowerPoint frameworks
Report archiving and retrieval from the Web site
Improved report accuracy due to a significant reduction in manual data entry
Reduced cycle times now provide Raytheon Largo’s financial analysts time to analyze more timely and accurate report data. With the reports now residing on a centralized Web site, business area managers, material program managers, and VSLs have ready access to report data previously hidden on an analyst’s computer and enhances their ability to make better risk assessments and implement proactive management decisions based on accurate financial data. The report generation utility ensures that the formal quarterly EAC report is produced in a consistent manner formatted to the specified report criteria.
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