A major North American defense contractor
Schedule recovered
Residual cost overrun (from 30%)
Penalties avoided
Challenge
A flagship weapons programme ran 30% over budget and 24 months behind schedule, with the prime customer threatening multi-billion-dollar penalty clauses.
Approach
We conducted a root-cause analysis of program delays, identifying systemic issues in requirements management, supplier coordination, and engineering change control. We restructured the program governance model, implemented earned-value management rigor, renegotiated key supplier contracts, and established a risk-mitigation war room with weekly senior leadership cadence.
Impact
The program recovered 14 months of schedule within 18 months. Cost overruns were reduced to 8% of the original budget, and the government customer renewed confidence in the program, converting penalty clauses to incentive-based milestones.