This is just an Excerpt from a larger document, click here to view the entire document.R&M Challenges
Given that solicitations for new procurements or major modification scan only state the R&M performance requirements, and not how those requirements are to be achieved, there exist two challenges to those responsible for R&M. First, the contractor has to decide what needs to be done to cost effectively achieve a stated R&M capability. Second, the government must evaluate which one of potentially many different approaches provides the best value. Note that contractors are not prohibited from proposing to use military specifications and standards. Therefore,for those organizations that perform R&M activities as defined in the historical military R&M standards, a complete reengineering of that process need not take place. However, the onus is still on the contractor to perform proper tailoring of these documents to achieve an effective balance between cost and R&M. On the flip side, the government must also have a better feel for what activities are truly needed to achieve stated R&M performance to be able to effectively evaluate which approach provides best value. While this means that the days of comparing "apples to apples" is gone, it also means that true tailoring of R&M development and demonstration tasking is now achievable. This will result in more efficient use of engineering resources and better planning up-front in the acquisition process. Note further that the R&M program stated in the winning proposal will become a contractual statement of work, meaning that the contractor will be held responsible for providing what they said is necessary to achieve the R&M performance.
