Costing Complex Products, Operations, and Support

Abstract

Complex products and systems (CoPS), such as large defense equipment programs, are major capital goods in which customers play a central role from design through disposal (Davies & Hobday, 2005). A central idea of the research that this paper reports on is that the degree of complexity in CoPS may have a significant effect on the range of possible variance of their operations and support (O&S) costs. However, operational use and other factors also have an important part to play in the complexity of CoPS, which simple ''parts count'' approaches may miss. The research design presented is one of a pair of detailed case studies, based on the U.S./UK Harrier combat aircraft. In this work paper, the intention is to explore how different approaches in the U.S. and UK to O&S on the Harrier aircraft have impacted some of the key drivers of costs. In addition, initial comparisons are made with more complex (in parts count terms) aircraft.