Use of Magnetic Tape for Reporting Cost Information
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Report Number: RM-6313-PR
Author(s): String, Joseph, Jr.
Corporate Author(s): The Rand Coporation
Date of Publication: 1970-09
Contract: F44620-67-C-0045
DoD Task:
Identifier: AD0713606
Abstract:
Many offices and individuals within the Federal Government are charged with analysis and control of costs, and the availability of well organized, current and historical data is essential to the discharge of this responsibility. The need for cost data has been particularly acute in the area of military equipment procurement, where it has led to the establishment of formal contractor reporting systems during the acquisition phase of procurement programs. The output of cost reporting systems generally consists of paper (hard copy) reports, Reporting costs in this form, however, constitutes an inherent weakness of these systems. Because cost information is used for a variety of purposes ranging from daily management and control of on-going programs to planning and analyses of distant future systems, requirements for data will vary widely in amount of detail and manner of organization. Hard-copy reporting introduces inflexibility with the result that such systems cannot satisfy all users. The reports that are generated must be directed toward one or, at best, a limited number of uses or attempt to effect a compromise among conflicting requirements. In some cases valuable detail will be lost, while in other cases tedious aggregation and restructuring will be required to extract required information. A second weakness in hard-copy systems is that reports are generated from contractor records by contractor personnel who are responsible for both interpreting reporting requirements and reducing data to conform with prescribed formats. No matter how carefully reporting requirements are formulated by the contracting agency and followed by the contractor there will still be ambiguity and misinterpretation. An alternative to current practices is to incorporate the capabilities of electronic data processing in reporting-system design and to use magnetic tape as the primary medium for reporting and storing data. Instead of submitting printed reports, a contractor would, at the initiation of a procurement program, provide documentation of his accounting system and the program work assignment structure and, periodically during the acquisition phase, provide magnetic tape copies of his internal accounting records. data storage capabilities of magnetic tape are more than sufficient for the reporting and indefinite retention of highly detailed cost records. The file management capabilities of current generation computers permit the inexpensive development of generalized data-reduction and report-writing programs that can meet the requirements of diverse data users. Organizational arrangements for processing contractor-provided magnetic-tape data may take various forms. However, the principal responsibility of the group vested with this function is to serve data users, and this implies more than merely printing and distributi8ng a predetermined set of reports. It encompasses the development of broad data processing and interpretation capabilities responsive to the diverse requirements of all potential users. Consideration of the demand for cost data and the extensive range of associated services argues for the establishment of a separate office that would provide a wide range of data reduction and interpretation assistance on both current and past procurement programs. To test the feasibility of cost reporting via magnetic tape, contractor-generated tapes and supplementary information were obtained on several major hardware development programs. From this sample, a single program was selected as a test case to provide insights into the nature of problems to be expected in developing and operating an automated reporting system. All major tasks associated with the system were performed, including in-depth reviews of the contractor's accounting system and the procurement program's work breakdown structure. Finally, a series of specialized paper reports, at varying levels of program detail, were printed utilizing a generalized report-generating program written for this project. Throughout this exercise no problems were encountered that could be attributed to either basic concepts of the system or the principal elements of its implementation. Cost reporting systems based on this concept avoid the problems inherent in current systems and appear to offer more useful and reliable data at lower cost. The principal features of the system are the use of magnetic tape as a report medium, the preservation of data in its original detail, and the establishment of a separate service group with the responsibility of providing assistance to data users.
Author(s): String, Joseph, Jr.
Corporate Author(s): The Rand Coporation
Date of Publication: 1970-09
Contract: F44620-67-C-0045
DoD Task:
Identifier: AD0713606
Abstract:
Many offices and individuals within the Federal Government are charged with analysis and control of costs, and the availability of well organized, current and historical data is essential to the discharge of this responsibility. The need for cost data has been particularly acute in the area of military equipment procurement, where it has led to the establishment of formal contractor reporting systems during the acquisition phase of procurement programs. The output of cost reporting systems generally consists of paper (hard copy) reports, Reporting costs in this form, however, constitutes an inherent weakness of these systems. Because cost information is used for a variety of purposes ranging from daily management and control of on-going programs to planning and analyses of distant future systems, requirements for data will vary widely in amount of detail and manner of organization. Hard-copy reporting introduces inflexibility with the result that such systems cannot satisfy all users. The reports that are generated must be directed toward one or, at best, a limited number of uses or attempt to effect a compromise among conflicting requirements. In some cases valuable detail will be lost, while in other cases tedious aggregation and restructuring will be required to extract required information. A second weakness in hard-copy systems is that reports are generated from contractor records by contractor personnel who are responsible for both interpreting reporting requirements and reducing data to conform with prescribed formats. No matter how carefully reporting requirements are formulated by the contracting agency and followed by the contractor there will still be ambiguity and misinterpretation. An alternative to current practices is to incorporate the capabilities of electronic data processing in reporting-system design and to use magnetic tape as the primary medium for reporting and storing data. Instead of submitting printed reports, a contractor would, at the initiation of a procurement program, provide documentation of his accounting system and the program work assignment structure and, periodically during the acquisition phase, provide magnetic tape copies of his internal accounting records. data storage capabilities of magnetic tape are more than sufficient for the reporting and indefinite retention of highly detailed cost records. The file management capabilities of current generation computers permit the inexpensive development of generalized data-reduction and report-writing programs that can meet the requirements of diverse data users. Organizational arrangements for processing contractor-provided magnetic-tape data may take various forms. However, the principal responsibility of the group vested with this function is to serve data users, and this implies more than merely printing and distributi8ng a predetermined set of reports. It encompasses the development of broad data processing and interpretation capabilities responsive to the diverse requirements of all potential users. Consideration of the demand for cost data and the extensive range of associated services argues for the establishment of a separate office that would provide a wide range of data reduction and interpretation assistance on both current and past procurement programs. To test the feasibility of cost reporting via magnetic tape, contractor-generated tapes and supplementary information were obtained on several major hardware development programs. From this sample, a single program was selected as a test case to provide insights into the nature of problems to be expected in developing and operating an automated reporting system. All major tasks associated with the system were performed, including in-depth reviews of the contractor's accounting system and the procurement program's work breakdown structure. Finally, a series of specialized paper reports, at varying levels of program detail, were printed utilizing a generalized report-generating program written for this project. Throughout this exercise no problems were encountered that could be attributed to either basic concepts of the system or the principal elements of its implementation. Cost reporting systems based on this concept avoid the problems inherent in current systems and appear to offer more useful and reliable data at lower cost. The principal features of the system are the use of magnetic tape as a report medium, the preservation of data in its original detail, and the establishment of a separate service group with the responsibility of providing assistance to data users.