3401. A Method to Develop a Margin Plan

Paper

Abstract

There are only four ways to reduce the weight of a system during the design/build cycle. The traditional methods address deleting things that are not required, substituting new materials to meet the requirements, and reconfiguring the system to be more effective in meeting the requirements. A fourth method is to reduce the uncertainty of the weight estimate by understanding how well the allocated solution meets the requirements. The definition of this uncertainty takes time and cannot be done all at once. So a plan is needed to assure that the uncertainty is addressed in a timely manner. This paper will address how to develop such a plan and how to integrate the plan with weight control plan and risk management plan of the project.