Strategic Planning Kamran on 20 Dec 2007 11:20 pm
Strategic Planning Tops USAF Testing Agenda
U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tennessee has decided to go back to 20-year strategic planning instead of running its Air Force jet engine testing program according to tactical short-term policies.
AEDC Commander Col. Art Huber said the Center is trying to achieve the following by re-emphasizing strategic planning (also referred to as “strategic landscaping”):
- What is the Center’s central mission?
- What are the mid-and long-term goals of the Center?
- What capabilities and resources are necessary to achieve them?
- Who are the main stakeholders? What are their interests and needs?
- What are the gaps, constraints and barriers standing in the way of meeting the strategic goals?
Thanks to the strategic planning in the past, today the Center has world-class altitude jet engine test cell capability, Huber said. Similarly, the needs of the future must be determined today through similar strategic planning if such superiority is to be maintained.
Strategic planning at times can suggest processes that could not be brought to the surface by mere tactical considerations. Here is an example:
Currently the Center also serves commercial customers, besides the U.S. Department of Defense. A decision to serve DoD exclusively may bring a change in the way the Center utilizes its client’s resources.
Currently the Center and its Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) emphasize reducing the the cost of testing by 3 to 5 percent, which makes sense from a conventional point of view.
But is it really the best way to maximize service value for DoD, given the fact that low-cost testing may also mean idle days with no testing scheduled?
“From a strategic viewpoint, when an aerospace program is spending a million dollars a day, whether they are testing or not. It may be much smarter for us to spend a little extra money and have resources on hand to expedite their time through AEDC rather than save a small amount of test dollars and drive a larger overall bill to the program,” said ATA General Manager Dr. David Elrod.
To read more on the merits of strategic planning in hi-tech defense industry: http://www.t-g.com/story/1298911.html
on 21 Dec 2007 at 8:30 am 1.Joel Fortner said …
Hi. I’m the director of public affairs at Arnold Engineering Development Center. I just wanted to add a bit of clarity here. The strategic plan we’re in the process of developing covers much more than just jet engine testing. If covers the entire test portfolio here from aerodynamics to space systems to propulstion systems to include rocket propulsion, in addition to jet engines.
For the full story, go to http://www.arnold.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123079854.
Happy holidays.
Joel
on 27 Dec 2007 at 9:53 pm 2.Ugur said …
Joel, thank you for your kind clarification. Happy Holidays to you too. Best regards. UA for cpSphere