Acquisition Customer
The Department of Defense separates the procurement of materiel (“Acquisition”) from the use of materiel (e.g., Combat, Logistics). The End User owns the Operational Requirements, but has no contractual relationship with the Developer. The Acquisition Customer is charged with “translating” the Operational Requirements into contractually obligated Technical Requirements for use by the Developer. The basic... read more
Associate Contractor Agreement (ACA)
A contractual document coordinating the work between two developing organizations both of which are sub-contracting from the same superior organization but otherwise having no direct contractual relationship with respect to the Prime Contract in question. An ACA is developed by concurrence between the two at the direction of their immediate contractual superior which may, or... read more
Commercial Development
Development financed on speculation1 by the developer, so that any errors or flaws are entirely at the developer’s risk. The antithesis of Contracted Development. Footnotes “on spec”, not to be confused with “within spec” or “to spec”, both of which refer to some form of Specification or Envelope Drawing.[↩]
Contract
A legally binding agreement between two or more parties forming the context for most non-commercial development. The contract’s T&C are what tie everything together including (but not limited to) SoW, End Items, and deliverable data. Note that it is possible for no party in the contract to be an Acquisition Customer of any other party... read more
Contract End Item (CEI)
An item (a product, as opposed to a “service”) which, when accepted by the Acquisition Customer, results in the Supplier getting paid.
Contract Line Number (CLIN)
Contract Line Number: a unique number assigned by a contract to identify exactly one chargeable1item on the contract. In this context, “item”2 may be either goods or services, either of which may originate with the contract supplier3.”. Footnotes Meaning that, when it has been delivered and accepted by the customer, the supplier gets paid (eventually).[↩]... read more
Contracted Research and Development (CRAD)
A type of contract in which one party (the Acquisition Customer) pays the other party (the Developer) to conduct R&D in response to some form of Development Specification or Envelope Drawing. Because the customer paid for the effort, the customer owns any intellectual property discovered under the CRAD. Contrast with IRAD and commercial development.
Contractor And Government Agency (CAGE)
The Defense Logistics Agency assigns a unique identifier (the “CAGE Code”) to provide for “…a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location. The code may be used for a Facility Clearance, a Pre-Award survey Engineering Rights, automated Bidders Lists, pay processes, source of supply, etc. In some cases, prime contractors require... read more
Cost
A financial outlay or expenditure to achieve some objective1, or the loss or penalty incurred by the failure to do so. Footnotes In the context of System Engineering, a product or a service.[↩]
Cost Avoidance
The process of holding down the cost estimate for activities not yet attempted. From a System Engineering perspective, it dodges costs for things we haven’t tried to do yet, without compromising the expected (eventual, anticipated) satisfaction of development requirements. The concept of avoidance is generally found in the context of development (or planning for it).... read more
Cost Reduction
The act of decreasing an on-going cost (usually a baseline cost). In the Engineering context, this is sometimes referred to as “value engineering”. Cost reduction is usually encountered during a production phase, with the objective of reducing the unit cost of a production item. It is typically associated with re-development: the design can change in... read more
Critical Design Review (CDR)
A type of Technical Review held in order to determine a Configuration Item’s readiness to for manufacturing of Qualification Articles. Legacy DoD practices for CDR were according to MIL-STD-1521.
Customer
The agent holding recognized1 moral authority (e.g., the sugar daddy footing the bill) over a supplier’s activities with regard to products and services (including, if specified in the Contract, Intellectual Property). See also Acquisition Customer, End User and Regulatory Customer. Footnotes Including, but not limited to, legal recognition.[↩]
DD1149
A DD1149 is a US Government form that formally records a temporary transfer of possession of an item and accountability for its safe-keeping during that possession. Contrast with DD250.
DD250
A DD250 is a US Government form that formally acknowledges a transfer of legal responsibility and authority for an item from a supplier to the US Government (sometimes referred to as “transfer of title”). Completion of this form is what gets the developer paid. Contrast with DD1149.
Deliverable Items List (DIL)
A listing of things (products) contractually owed to a customer by a supplier (e.g., CEI’s or documentation), or to a supplier by a customer (e.g., GFE, facility upgrades, or documentation). The DIL can be sub-divided into various categories (e.g., data, material).
Design Certification Review (DCR)
A NASA term, roughly equivalent to FCA plus PCA. NASA developmental techniques were historically geared toward mission-specific hardware, or very small production runs. The review essentially constitutes the point at which the Developer warrants (within the terms of the development contract) an entire system for the intended use.
Deviation
A prior granting of permission to fail before any official attempt (see run for score) to verify compliance with an allocated technical requirement. Use of a deviation avoids giving the appearance of changing the requirement and is, therefore, an important component of an Acquisition Customer’s Pearl Harbor File and (also therefore) much despised by developers.... read more
Directed Design
A condition in which the acquisition customer provides contractual direction with regard to one or more design features in addition to those written into the development specification. Sometimes this happens because the customer wants to make best use of technical thoughts they’ve had; other times it happens because the System Engineering theoreticians try to avoid... read more
Disposition
A decision made with respect to some formally identified, formally managed issue. The issue can be any of many forms (e.g., Review Item Discrepancy or Non-Conformance).
Internal Research and Development (IRAD)
Internally funded R&D, such that any Intellectual Property belongs to the company. In the context of government work, IRAD is often at least partly compensated by the government. Contrast with CRAD.
Prime Contract
A contract let by the Acquisition Customer for an entire project. This type of contract is, therefore, distinct from all sub-contracts let by the Prime Contractor or any sub-contractor thereof. All money for the project tracks back to one or more Prime Contracts. It is possible for a single sub-contract to trace to more than... read more
Statement of Work (SoW)
Make your life simple. Go read MIL-HDBK-245. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, the precedence of a SoW is lower than that of the T&C, but higher than that of a Specification.
Stockable Part
A part that is (or can be) be manufactured in advance of need and stored for subsequent sale as being interchangeable with any other of the same part number.
Subcontract
A contract that is contractually and financially subordinate to some other contract (e.g., a Prime Contract) that governs its objectives, practices, and disbursement of funds.
Supplier
A source of hardware, software, or services that can generally be exchanged for currency.
Terms and Conditions (T&C)
Of the three things that provide direction to developers, the T&C have the highest legal precedence, and can over-ride all other considerations. The T&C are found directly in the contract. The term is sometimes completed with “…of the contract” in order to be explicit and precise. It may be sad, but after all is said... read more