6.6.1 RACE for Faster, Better, Value

The Rapid Assessment of Cost Effectiveness, ie RACE, is a key tool for the early concept and synthesis stages of systems engineering projects, during which the best candidate system has to selected for delivery from a ‘faster, better, cheaper’ project. The selected system should then offer the best value for money throughout an often long operational life. The paper outlines an integrated methodology for through-life cost-effectiveness analysis. Its structure is conventional, but it incorporates some novel features that provide (1) a powerful and fast ‘system builder’ to synthesise system candidates within mythical future operations, (2) tests to show that user, system and architecture requirements are matched, (3) a measuring multidimensional value criterion to serve for effectiveness, (4) whole-life cost-effectiveness analysis conducted in a true value for money sense. RACE has been tested on a real task, and specimen (but disguised) results are presented.