Analyzing Component Importance in Multifunction Multicapability Systems Developmental Maturity Assessment

Recently, a system maturity scale, i.e., system readiness level (SRL), was proposed to measure the maturity that a system achieves during development. However, this SRL assesses maturity for systems from only a single function and capability perspective, and is unable to assess maturity for multifunction multicapability (MFMC) systems. With ever increasing systems that provide multiple functions and capabilities, it is challenging for managers to properly allocate resources to ensure the achievement of critical capabilities and functions. In order to prioritize the allocation of resources for component development, it is common to perform importance analysis during system development and maintenance. Therefore, this paper first enhances the original SRL definition for maturity assessment at the capability, function, and system levels, and then, proposes the use of component importance analysis for the identification of the most important components for system development. This paper approaches component importance by introducing three important measures with respects to three main factors: technology readiness level/integration readiness level, developing cost, and developing effort. The paper uses an illustrative example of a MFMC system to show the proposed methodology and enhanced definitions and concludes with a discussion of the added value and future work.