How can major programs cut costs without sacrificing structure or mission capabilities? Booz Allen's innovative Design for Affordability (DFA) approach arms program leaders and contractors with the data needed to reduce Total Ownership Cost.
By showing how design tradeoffs influence cost, schedule, performance, and risk, our approach helps organizations cut acquisition and sustainment costs program-wide. The DFA program targets the inherent (design-based) and structural (assembly-based) cost drivers that impact a product's or weapon system's costs.
After the first Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN-774) launched at a cost of more than $3.2 billion, the high price raised doubts about the affordability of the 30-plus boat program. The Chief of Naval Operations subsequently set a target cost of $2 billion (2005 dollars) per sub as a condition for increasing production to two boats per year in 2012.
Booz Allen's DFA approach enabled the Navy to attack Virginia-class costs by showing how the boat's design impacted cost, schedule, performance, and risk. The Navy and its contractors used the analysis to make informed changes in design, schedule, sourcing, and labor to reduce Total Ownership Cost while retaining required mission capabilities.
Design for Affordability enabled the Navy to realize $3.8 billion in savings across the Virginia-class program and to accelerate the construction rate to two boats per year in 2011—one year ahead of schedule. Today, this approach is being used by other DoD programs to meet Total Ownership Cost goals, offering a step-change performance improvement and up to a 30 percent cost reduction.
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