International Leaders in the Development of Performance Based Supportability

ALE's Philosophy is Unique

At ALE, we believe that the cost of owning a product is an independent variable that can be controlled through the product development process. Once this fact is accepted, the right steps can be taken to treat the cost-of-ownership as a product performance parameter, just as we would weight or size.

At Initial Production, the Typical Product has a 20% Production Cost Avoidance Potential. Capturing that Full Potential Requires a Systems Approach.

ALE's business is founded on this basic principle and we have developed the methods that allow product and process developers to deal with cost as a performance parameter and not as a by-product of the design.

But our Approach is Simple

Establish the objectives, develop a cost-effective strategy to meet those objectives, and manage the implementation of the strategy to ensure cost-effective achievement of the original objectives.

We apply this approach to all projects we undertake at ALE.

A Letter From ALE's President
Charles O. Coogan, CPL, Fellow

Contact Charles Coogan

In today's marketplace, competition is more intense than ever and consumers are more educated and more aggressive than ever before. The challenge that faces all service providers and product manufacturers is not only to field products or services that meet customer expectations at the lowest possible cost, but to retain the customer after the initial sale. Once a customer is attracted, that customer must be maintained. There is no better advertising than a satisfied, loyal customer.

Satisfied, loyal customers are attained through high reliability, low maintenance products and services coupled with efficient and timely servicing when the need arises. Achieving these attributes in a product does not happen by chance, and does not happen after the product is designed. Rather, these attributes must be consciously designed into the product and addressed at the very beginning of product development.

Since 1984, Acquisition Logistics Engineering (ALE) has assisted industry in designing reliable, easily maintained products with low ownership cost, and has developed the methods and processes necessary to make this part of every designer's tool kit. ALE's origins are in space and defense system development programs where product support considerations are key to a product's success. We have taken the best aspects from the aerospace and defense industry's approach to product support, have improved where improvements were needed, and have tailored other aspects to meet the needs of commercial industry. What results is a set of product development methodologies and analysis tools that foster product development from a system life cycle perspective that explicitly address the total cost-of-ownership of the product.

Techniques such as Front End Analysis, Performance Based Supportability, Life Cycle Cost Analysis, Value Analysis, and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, to name just a few, form a tool set that can be applied during product development to ensure customer expectations are being achieved and development costs are being controlled. Each product development requires a different combination of tools, and ALE's tool box contains the appropriate tools for each situation.

The bottom line is customer satisfaction and company success. These are not mutually exclusive, but instead, essentially dependent. Customer satisfaction from the perspective of product support is ALE's business. How to make products perform their intended functions over their anticipated life without requiring servicing is the focus of ALE's business. ALE will help you make your products safer, more reliable, and easier to maintain. ALE's business is assisting you in being successful in your business.

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