PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- A Picatinny Arsenal organization that develops software for numerous weapons systems used by U.S. military personnel worldwide has attained another top quality rating that no other Army organization currently holds. The Armament Software Engineering Center researches, develops and sustains advanced software products and services used by U.S. service members in Army weapons systems.
Examples include the M777 Howitzer Towed Artillery Digitization, M119, Mortar Fire Control System, Lightweight Handheld Mortar Ballistic Computer, Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, XM7 "Spider" Network Munitions System, and M109A6/M109A7 "Paladin."
"There is no room for error," said Nathan Becker about developing software that performs complex data processing operations in advanced weaponry used during military operations. Becker is chief of a branch that supports the development of weapons used by Soldiers.
The Armament Software Engineering Center or SEC is part of the larger U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC, at Picatinny. The software engineering center is comprised of select organizations with ARDEC's Weapons and Software Engineering Center and Quality Engineering and System Assurance Directorate.
The Armament SEC attained a "Level 5" rating on May 6 after being appraised in a method sanctioned by the CMMI Institute, using the model that consists of over 400 "best practices" for organizations that develop products. This is the fourth consecutive level 5 rating--2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016 -- marking 10 years of achieving the highest rating.
CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration, a process-improvement model administered by the CMMI Institute. The institute provides the tools and support for organizations to benchmark their capabilities and build maturity by comparing their operations to best practices and identifying performance gaps.
"This impressive achievement validates the hard work and dedication of our engineers here at ARDEC," said John Hedderich, the ARDEC Director. "This organization is truly world-class in its ability to deliver advanced software solutions to the warfighter."
The CMMI model was originally developed by experts from industry, government and academia, with the Office of the Secretary of Defense as an early sponsor. The models are used by more than 5,000 private industry and government organizations, according to the CMMI Institute website.
The appraisal evaluated the maturity of the Armament SEC's processes in relation to its organizational goals. "Maturity Level 5" is the highest rating an organization can attain.
"The implementation of Maturity Level 5 practices enable our safety critical projects to repeatedly meet our cost and schedule estimates, deliver high quality products, and reduce cycle time between software releases for the advanced weapons provided to the warfighter," said Lawrence Osiecki, Director of the Armament SEC.
The Armament SEC attained equivalent ratings in 2006, 2010, 2013, and will remain at its current appraised level for the next three years, even as it continues to work on recommendations made by the appraisers, according to Becker.
The critical nature of the software developed at the Armament SEC translates into a "little to no defects" mindset.
"At the Armament SEC, we have a culture that emphasizes continuous product and process improvement, where product quality is the main focus," Becker said.
This focus on quality is why the Armament SEC adopts the "best practices" recommended by the CMMI Institute and subjects itself to the institute's rigorous appraisals, according to Becker.
The appraisals included reviews of recent work on Army systems, including the Mortar Fire Control Systems, M777 Howitzer Towed Artillery Digitization, M119, M109A6/M109A7 "Paladin", M777A2 CBT VW, and TacApps, which is a "next generation" tool for situational awareness and collaborative software tactical decision making, planning, rehearsal and execution management.
The appraisers looked at the Armament SEC's operations, comparing them with 431 best practices in activities that relate to an organization's performance. Examples of the processes evaluated include training, project planning, risk management, quality assurance and software engineering.
"Appraisals provide objective evaluations of our implementations and point out areas of strengths and where improvements are needed," Becker said.
The appraisal team provided improvement recommendations that were new to this appraisal and observed the implementation of improvements that were recommended during the 2013 CMMI appraisal, he said.
In 2002, the Armament SEC became the first organization in the world to obtain a CMMI Level 3 rating in the disciplines of systems engineering, software engineering and acquisition.
In 2006, the Armament SEC became the first organization and only software engineering center within the Department of Defense to be appraised at Level 5 in the disciplines of systems engineering, software engineering and supplier sourcing.
In 2010, the Armament SEC became the sole government organization in the United States to be successfully re-appraised for Maturity Level 5 of the CMMI Development model.
In 2013, the Armament SEC remained the sole government organization in the United States to be appraised at a Level 5 maturity rating.
ARDEC is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, based in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, whose mission is to develop technology and engineering solutions for America's Soldiers.
Social Sharing