Defect reduction over time. Figure 3 shows another measure of the effectiveness of our processes, which tracks defects found during the software development processes vs. those found after delivery to System Test. Initially, our processes were finding 89 percent of the defects, which meant 11 percent escaped. These defects contributed to a higher cost of testing and rework. With the improvements made to defect detection and prevention processes, the software processes now find nearly 100 percent of the defects, reducing the escapes to nearly zero.
Further improvements continue within the software processes to detect defects earlier.
Defects found before release. The performance of the IUS is determined by how accurately it places its payload into position in three-dimensional space. The bull's eye represents the amount of satellite reaction control subsystem fuel required to correct the final orbit. An enlargement of the target center shows that our performance has been in the inner 20 percent of the center of the bull's eye. This is the kind of performance that the customer has come to expect from this organization.