In this CMDM Coaches Corner we respond to a question heard many times that impacts the performance of the Configuration Management and Data Management function within an aerospace & defense program: “Why can’t the combination of spreadsheets and shared drives constitute a good CM/DM tool set?”

CMstat has announced the addition of Dave Allen to its team of Configuration Management and Data Management professionals. In his new role Dave will serve as the company’s executive representative and business ambassador to the Aerospace & Defense Industry.

There are numerous uses of Configuration Management (CM) within the Aerospace & Defense industry outside of an OEM’s product engineering organization where rudimentary change control and configuration management may have been implemented as part of an engineering-centric PDM system.

This CMsights article illustrates one example “As-Configured” case study including the customer business challenges, CM deficiencies discovered, why existing tools were inadequate, requirements for a new solution, and the results attained along with benefits to the customer.

The implementation of configuration management must start with a well-conceived Configuration Management Plan. The CM Plan should address a number of elements important in the development, implementation, interoperability, usage, maintenance and evolution of an organization’s configuration management goals, vision, strategy, processes, best practices, desired competencies and supporting technologies including software.

After our last post on the Challenges of Implementing Configuration Management, a reader asked if the impediments to deploying configuration management were very different between a modest-size single-production facility versus a large multi-national multi-site enterprise. Our answer was both “No” and “Yes.”

Learn more about these “Ten Configuration Management Truths for Aerospace Project Managers”... Configuration Management is the foundation for Quality Management at the product, project and program levels. CM is everyone’s responsibility, not just relegated to the engineering group or the CM expert. CM is not about the product history, or…

After the recent CMsights article on "What is a Configuration Management Plan" CMstat received several excellent questions about what should and should not go into a configuration management plan. Some readers were seeking help with developing a new CM plan from scratch, while others were attempting to perform a configuration…

In a recent CMsights post we looked back at the history of configuration management software to help understand the impact of PLM solutions when delivered as an open platform of interoperating applications. That is, instead of a single mammoth enterprise solution from a sole provider that attempts to perform every…

An Aerospace Product Manager's Fable on Why Configuration Management is Quality Management Your company spent two million dollars reaching six-sigma goals by implementing the best quality management system it can afford and earning its SAE AS9100 Registration. Your CEO is so proud of this accomplishment that the company has adopted…

A common error in Configuration Management planning is thinking that if your organization has implemented PDM software with change control capabilities, or even a complete industry-focused CM solution, then you must have a plan for configuration management. This implies there must be a written Configuration Management Plan in existence. Unfortunately…

Questions regarding the differences between Configuration Management (CM) and Change Management (also CM) arise so often that we decided to address it in a CMsights post. It is not uncommon that a new A&D program manager or engineering lead may think that configuration management and change management are synonyms. If…

Your new aircraft control system has gone through all the reviews and audits (e.g. SRR, PDR, CDR, FCA and PCA as referenced in Part 1 of this CMsights article) and you are ready to deliver your first unit/lot number to your customer. You have diligently assigned Hard Ware Configuration Items…

In this series of CMsights posts from CMstat on configuration management best practices we will describe what are hardware configuration items (“CI” or “HWCI”) and where they are used. Next, we will examine how are CIs best employed by A&D contractors in configuration management software used at the program, project…

Part 2 of 3 - The importance of As-Configured Management functionality for downstream users In this latest CMsights article from CMstat on hardware configuration management software we examine one of the most important aerospace configuration management functions that downstream users of product configuration data seek in their CM tools and…

While recently speaking with the CM manager at an A&D site I asked what type of users did they have of their CM software. The response was that there were some doing a lot of work, but most didn’t do much at all! After my shock from this answer, it…