AAC SYSTEMS ENGINEERING RFP GUIDE, USAF AIR ARMAMENT CENTER (AAC) (VER. 1.0 - DRAFT) (MAR-2010)

AAC SYSTEMS ENGINEERING RFP GUIDE, USAF AIR ARMAMENT CENTER (AAC) (VER. 1.0 - DRAFT) (MAR-2010)., The Air Armament Center and its industry partners have made conscientious efforts to revitalize systems engineering (SE) during the last three years. As part of this effort, the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) was asked to identify issues that impact industry’s ability to institute good SE engineering practices into their programs. One of the major findings was that SE was considered part of the cost trade space, unless SE tasks were specifically called out in the contract. To remain competitive during the bidding process, companies have minimized or eliminated SE processes and practices to have viable business opportunities. To ensure adequate SE efforts are included in their programs, they recommended the government be more specific in its direction with respect to expected SE activities and products during the selection process. At the request of AAC/CA, NDIA also agreed to develop a model request for proposal (RFP) with recommended SE content and deliverables to be bid and placed on contract. This guide has been developed using their model RFP and includes language designed to encourage and enforce the use of robust SE processes and practices within industry. The focus is on activities supporting Systems Requirement Review (SRR) in the Technology Development Phase (Risk Reduction) through Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD). Program offices can tailor the language to accommodate other acquisition phases. Complementing this effort, MIL-HDBK-520 on preparation of the System Requirements Document (SRD), is currently being developed.