21st century strategies for minimizing cost of test ownership while maximizing availability and technology refresh for test and measurement assets

With the aggressive schedule, in which the Department of Defense is moving away from GFE (Government Furnished Equipment) on new contracts, the Aerospace industry is in the need to find a new way to acquire test and measurement assets with a new eye on financial efficiency and effectiveness. This new way of doing business will drive companies to change the way they specify, acquire and dispose of test equipment and more importantly how they manage the overall cost envelope of those assets. Although commercial companies have always done business this way, not all the same strategies will work for the Aerospace industry because of their unique attributes of program development, production and support. This paper will explore a strategy of combining commercial best practices with industry specific needs. Specifically, it will combine the notion of developing a portfolio of financial equipment acquisition options (rent, lease, buy) with specific PLC (Product Life Cycle) needs and program business essentials of the defense industry.