Original Date: 09/14/1998
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Between 1970 and the early 1990s, Hughes (now Raytheon) tried to adhere to twelve independent Army, Navy, and Air Force standards for its Configuration and Data Management processes. Variation in contracts and obsolete procedures made this task quite difficult. Today, Raytheon Missile Systems Company (RMSC) conducts its Configuration and Data Management system in accordance with the industry standard EIA-649 Configuration and Data Management Process manual.

The EIA-649 Configuration and Data Management Process manual documents the process flow architecture to support industry Integrated Product Development (IPD) teams as well as government requirements, and ensures that government configuration management requirements are aligned to industry processes, tools, and metrics. The manual also provides information for site-wide application of configuration and data management requirements, allowing RMSC to standardize its internal procedures, improve the effectiveness and applicability of personnel training, and maximize the commonality of automated tools for defining, recording, delivering, and accessing information. This approach provides the company with a common set of metrics across all product lines, allowing for evaluations and comparisons across product lines.

RMSC’s Configuration and Data Management system encourages program managers to focus on the process, not the rules, and strive for high performance levels. This methodology also helps reveal deficiencies in common processes, so process owners can correct them. The system ties to measurement tools and metrics, enabling it to be a fully integrated architecture which enhances electronic data delivery, drawing format commonality, and technical data package preparation.

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