DCMA approves Bell Helicopter EVMS certification

Bell Helicopter today announced that its Earned Value Management System has been approved by the Defense Contract Management Agency.

'Approval of our certification is the culmination of three years of hard work by Bell employees and our investment into EVMS improvements,' said Dick Millman, president and CEO of Bell.  'Today Bell’s system is more than just compliant with DCMA requirements. It’s a definite strength for Bell.'

'Our success in EVMS parallels the successes Bell has achieved in streamlining its processes and organisation and delivering aircraft on time and at high levels of quality,' Millman said. 'Through broad team efforts and collaboration with employees at every level of the company, we are steadily building the foundation for Bell’s future.'

The approval came after Bell successfully passed a validation review conducted by DCMA from 30 March to 3 April. Bell earned certification by successfully passing all 32 of the EVMS guidelines.

'The company has achieved significant EVMS improvements across the board,' said Don Brosious, Bell’s vice-president of cost management integration. 'We’ve integrated a large set of new software tools, implemented a wide variety of process improvements and also placed a high emphasis on training our programme personnel.'

'I’m very proud of our team’s accomplishments,' said Brosious, 'but approval of our certification is just the first step on a path of continuous EVMS improvements that are taking place at Bell.' According to Brosious, plans are already under way for the introduction of an advanced EVMS training curriculum, along with a variety of improvements to Bell’s EVMS software tools.

'DCMA has provided valuable assistance to us as we’ve pursued our EVMS improvements,' said Brosious, 'and we’re committed to maintaining our strong partnership with DCMA as we continue to improve our EVMS program and work to establish new industry best practices.'