engineering

Key Performance Parameters

Key Performance Parameters is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Key Performance Parameters rather than just read about it. In short: Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) specify what the critical performance goals are in a United States Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition under the JCIDS process. The JCIDS intent for KPPs is to have a few measures stated where the acquisition product either meets the stated performance measure or else the program will be considered a failure per instructions CJCSI 3170.01H – Joint Capabilities Integration and De…

Key takeaways

Key Performance Parameters belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Key Performance Parameters to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Key Performance Parameters from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) specify what the critical performance goals are in a United States Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition under the JCIDS process. The JCIDS intent for KPPs is to have a few measures stated where the acquisition product either meets the stated performance measure or else the program will be considered a failure per instructions CJCSI 3170.01H – Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System. The mandates require 3 to 8 KPPs be specified for a United States Department of Defense major acquisition, known as Acquisition Category 1 or ACAT-I. The term is defined as "Performance attributes of a system considered critical to the development of an effective military capability. A KPP normally has a threshold representing the minimum acceptable value achievable at low-to-moderate risk, and an objective, representing the desired operational goal but at higher risk in cost, schedule, and performance. KPPs are contained in the Capability Development Document (CDD) and the Capability Production Document (CPD) and are included verbatim in the Acquisition Program Baseline (APB). KPPs are considered Measures of Performance (MOPs) by the operational test community." Commentary notes that metrics must be chosen carefully, and that they are hard to define and apply throughout a projects life cycle. It is also desired that KPPs of a program avoid repetition, and to be something applicable among different programs such as fuel efficiency. Higher numbers of KPPs are associated to program and schedule instability.

See also Analysis of Alternatives Requirement (example mention of Net-Ready KPP, a mandated KPP)

References

External links CJCSI 3170.01H at DAU collection Archived 2016-11-16 at the Wayback Machine CJCSM 3170.01C at everyspec.com

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Key Performance Parameters

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Key Performance Parameters claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Key Performance Parameters before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Key Performance Parameters ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Key Performance Parameters

In research: Key Performance Parameters appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Key Performance Parameters in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Key Performance Parameters is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Systems engineering, United States Department of Defense, United States defense procurement, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Key Performance Parameters outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Key Performance Parameters in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Key Performance Parameters means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Key Performance Parameters out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Key Performance Parameters in simple terms?

Why does Key Performance Parameters matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Key Performance Parameters?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Key Performance Parameters.