Category Archives: Programs@Risk – John Ayers

#213 – FIRM FIXED PRICE CONTRACTS CAN BE RISKY – JOHN AYERS

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AAA-150x150A Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract is a commonly used one by the government because the price is fixed and not subject to change unless the scope changes.  The government assumes very little risk while the contractor assumes the majority of the risk. But if you want to play in the sand box and the RFP (request for quote) requires an FFP contract then the contractor has to bid it that way and hopefully has included adequate risk budget in the price. This is a story about an FFP contract that did not work out well for my company resulting in serious consequences. Continue reading →

#212 – DESIGN ASSUMPTION RISKS – JOHN AYERS

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This story is about risk at the enterprise program/project level.  Design is based on primarily requirements and assumptions.  Meeting requirements is usually achievable if they are complete and clear. Soft or poorly written requirements are the source of cost and schedule growth for many projects. Assumptions made during the analysis or design phase if wrong are also a source of poor project performance. This story is one example of a bad assumption. Continue reading →

#210 – TAKING ON UNNECESSARY PROJECT RISK – JOHN AYERS

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AAA-150x150This story is about risk at the enterprise program/project level.  It is an example of centering your design around a high-tech solution to a problem when a low risk proven technology would have more than sufficed.   Technical expertise ego got in the way of a practical low-cost approach resulting in unplanned schedule and cost growth. Continue reading →

#205 – A MAJOR SUBCONTRACT GONE WRONG – JOHN AYERS

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TAAA-150x150his risk story involves a major subcontract that went awry impacting the program and one of my company’s growth goals.  The goal was to become the sole provider to the Navy for a mine killing system comprising two major components. One is an underwater kill vehicle and the second one is a launcher (from a helicopter).  To accomplish this goal, we landed a contract with the Navy to design, build and perform tests of a small quantity of units (called first article units). Continue reading →

#203 – ENTERING A NEW MARKET GONE WRONG – JOHN AYERS

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AAA-150x150This risk story includes risk at the enterprise level, the program/project level, and the product level.  From the enterprise level risk, it was a little naïve on my company’s part to think they could go from zero not having manufactured any sonobuoys previously) to full up production the first time around without investing the time and finances to go up the learning curve prior to making the bid.  From the program/product level risk viewpoint, the baseline plan did not include sufficient component and subassembly trial builds and testing before finalizing the concept, preliminary design and final design.  Continue reading →