Managing Project Technical, Cost and Schedule Risks

An innovative technique for managing project risks in the aerospace and defense industry, that has been used on over 100 projects, is developed in this paper.

The technique is, in effect, a "second generation PERT" that accounts for, and deals with, the many uncertainties that impact project schedule, resource and cost performance. Included are factors such as: specification uncertainties; design, material and process uncertainties; escalation of cost factors; availability of qualified contractors and specialized equipment; contractor productivity; timeliness of material, equipment, and information deliveries; transportation and logistics support; environmental factors; rejects, rework and other delays due to quality of materials and products; and, mechanical breakdown and malfunctions during system/component testing and commissioning.