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2006 Press Releases
WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 3, 2006─ Army
Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) reached a milestone on August 25,
2006, when its Conditioned Based Maintenance-Data Warehouse (CBM-DW)
program was certified for development by the Defense Business Systems
Management Committee (DBSMC). The program’s approval was AMCOM’s first
DBSMC certification.
The certification allows AMCOM to pursue development of the data
warehouse, which AMCOM’s Commander thinks is the cornerstone of the CBM
program. It also places AMCOM’s data warehouse in an excellent position
to become not only the Army’s solution, but one that could also become a
solution applicable for all branches of the service.
AMCOM’s CBM-DW, whose development is being led by defense contractor
Westar Aerospace & Defense Group, Inc., is the information management
side of Army Aviation’s transition from its current reactive,
fault-based maintenance program to a predictive and reliability-centered
approach to maintenance. The end goal of CBM is to increase aircraft
operational availability, reduce unnecessary component removals,
decrease maintenance man-hours, and lower operational and support costs
through integrated logistics.
When fully developed, the data warehouse will be an enterprise system
capable of recording aviation equipment condition, usage, maintenance,
environmental conditions and intelligent prognostics.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2005 requires certification
for any Department of Defense (DoD) IT business system acquisition or
modernization that is expected to exceed $1 million in development
funding. Certification is through one of four DoD Investment Review
Boards (IRBs).
The impetus behind the requirement for certification is to make the DoD
more accountable to the taxpayer. Through certification and annual
review processes, proposed IT business systems are closely scrutinized
at numerous levels from the Component (i.e., military branch) to the
DBSMC.
The IRBs support the decision-making process by making investment
assessments of proposed IT business systems. For example, where a
proposed system may be found to be redundant with another Component’s
existing system or initiative, the IRB may disapprove, thereby saving
tax dollars by only paying for the capability once.
The CBM-DW program’s funding, architecture and planning strategies were
reviewed nearly a dozen times as part of the certification process.
“Receiving DBSMC approval for certification is just the beginning,” said
Westar CBM team member Paula Lacey, who helped AMCOM achieve its DoD
certification. “Each system that is certified must undergo annual review
where the emphasis is on project performance as measured by cost,
schedule, risk management, and the system’s architecture.”
Headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., Westar Aerospace and Defense Group,
Inc. is a systems engineering contractor with more than $200 million in
annual sales and 1100 professionals around the world dedicated to
providing high-value engineering, software solutions, logistics and IT
support services to the U.S. Department of Defense, allied governments
and select commercial customers.
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For more information about Westar Aerospace & Defense Group:
www.westar.com
Media
Contact:
Mike Ruggeri
Vice President, Communications
Westar Aerospace & Defense Group, Inc.
636-300-5151
Ruggeri@westar.com