A Cost Function for an Airframe Production Program

This research represents the expansion of previous work in the area of estimating program cost in military airframe production. The effort is unique in that it yields a model of the production process that considers the impact of learning and production rate on total program costs. To provide an empirical test of model validity, the parameters are estimated for the C141 airframe program. The empirical work is instructive in that it shows how particular care must be taken in formulating models of this type. This model should be particularly useful as a prototype for models of on going production programs. In particular, it can be used to estimate the cost impact of exogenous changes in the program delivery schedule, the 'crashes' and 'stretch-outs' that frequently characterize military aircraft programs. (Author)