Ships Lifecycle Affordability Model (SLAM) Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Topic No.: N091-044 Topic Title: Ships Lifecycle Affordability Model (SLAM) Proposal No.: N091-044-1494 Firm: Knowledge Based Systems, Inc. 1408 University Drive East College Station, Texas 77840-2335 Contact: Patrick Cahill Phone: (979) 260-5274 Web Site: www.kbsi.com Abstract: Early design stage cost modeling tools in use by the Navy typically ignore lifecycle and sustainment costs, as the acquisition community functions separately from the operations community and with a completely separate budget. Recently, congressional committees and Navy senior management (civilian and uniformed) have recognized that there is a wide disparity between purchasing what you can afford, and then affording what you purchase. This gap between acquisition, production and operations needs to be addressed as early as possible through innovative and modern approaches to ship cost estimating, effectively eliminating the term ship design cost estimate and replacing with ship lifecycle affordability model. Knowledge Based Systems Inc. (KBSI) proposes to incorporate a systems dynamics approach to cost modeling, effectively combining discrete, linear, and hierarchical cost estimating methods with non-linear system dynamics modeling tools that account for variables that influence producibility and sustainability and change over time or refine themselves based on the current state of other influencing variables. This system dynamics approach to a Ships Lifecycle Affordability Model (SLAM), combined with production based, rather than systems based, early stage models will create visibility of cost drivers and potential cost drivers that currently remain hidden using existing cost estimating tools and methodologies. Benefits: KBSI's initial market for commercialization is narrowly focused on the topic sponsors at NSWCCD and their counterparts at SEA05D to support their mission requirements for early stage ship cost estimating. However, the SLAM concept of integrating systems dynamics with ABC and parametric hierarchical estimating methods is generic enough that the framework of any tool developed should be equally applicable to early stage estimating of weapons platforms for other DOD branches. KBSI has purchased a development version of VenSim which has a VenApps application development module, as well as an application protocol interface (API) that allows development of integration modules using other programming languages such as Visual Basic and C#, which are common tools in KBSI's development arsenal. Return