Engineering Management through M-PDCA in Defense Industry: The Case of FNSS

In this study, we present the M-PDCA governance model that is constructed and deployed within the scope of Engineering Performance Enhancement (EPE) Project conducted at FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş. Having experienced a rapid growth in the number of concurrent projects and business volume, the major aim of the firm in undertaking the EPE project was to avoid schedule and cost overruns. In this respect, our governance model enables the R&D division to use a standard yet flexible platform for planning and executing the engineering content of projects, review performance at a pre-determined frequency and forecast the success or failure in achieving business plans and objectives, and take actions accordingly. For this purpose, we designed the model with its four "must have" elements: Plan, Do, Check and Act for all levels of the division through brainstorming sessions and workshops. The model is currently being executed at all levels of the organization and compliance to the model is being monitored through regular audits. Daily M-PDCA meetings are being held by the engineering teams and these meetings are supported by automatic KPI reports provided to the team leaders/meeting moderators. Apart from the daily meetings of engineering teams, bi-weekly meetings are held where work package level issues are being handled with the participation of department managers and division director. The M-PDCA model made it easier for us to foresee the risks and opportunities related to the projects, and manage the engineering effort more effectively. The model is in use for over 60 weeks and weekly audits are performed to measure adherence to the M-PDCA model. Last weeks' audit results indicate adherence levels around 85% which represents a satisfactory level of acceptance of the model. The user feedback that we receive regularly is also in alignment with these observations.