Re: Ada Core Technologies and Ada95 Standards

[Ken Garlington <garlingtonke@lmtas.lmco.com>]

John McCabe wrote:
> 
> I'm loathe to believe that any of the ACVC tests are truly useless
> (although I have to admit I haven't looked at them so far), but in a
> general case, where the particular test mentioned was _truly_ useless,
> then I would choose the performance improvement.

As I understand it, one of the changes from ACVC 1.x to ACVC 2.x was
exactly to address the problem you are loathe to believe (although "useless"
may be a little strong). There were tests in the ACVC 1.x suite that represented 
language construct used in ways  not found in nature. Vendors who failed these
strange tests had to fix their compiler, even though they believed this bug would
never be seen in user code. If you read the ACVC 2.x documentation, it says
that those tests are being written in such a way as to reflect how Ada
is really used. Of course, it's not clear to me how they know this...

And now, a message from our sponsor (well, MY sponsor, anyway...)

-----

Date      : 25-APR-1996 13:49:00.00
Posted on : 25-APR-1996 13:50:00.00
					April 25, 1996
To:	All Employees

The ISO 9001 Registration Audit of LMTAS by representatives of the British 
Standards Institution was completed yesterday.  The British Standards 
Institution is the objective, third-party audit agency that was chosen to 
assess our degree of compliance with requirements of the internationally 
recognized ISO 9001 quality standard.  

I am pleased, and proud, to report that this agency will recommend LMTAS 
for ISO 9001 registration and certification, based on the results of the 
audit.  This is a significant event that reflects very favorably on our 
processes, products and people.  We can also be proud that LMTAS will be 
the first major aircraft manufacturer to achieve registration in the United 
States.  My thanks and congratulations to everyone!

Besides serving as a strong endorsement of the effectiveness of our quality 
system, ISO 9001 registration demonstrates our ability to operate according 
to commercial quality standards, in addition to traditional military 
standards.  This could be an important factor when customer decisions are 
made about future aircraft programs such as the Joint Strike Fighter.

The auditors did identify some areas where improvements can be made.  We 
will be working these areas in the near future and will submit specific 
actions to the auditing agency, which is the final step in attaining 
registration.  

We must remember, of course, that ISO 9001 registration does not signify an 
end to the need to continually improve quality.  I believe our company 
achieved a heightened awareness of the importance of quality during the 
weeks in which we prepared for this audit.  It is critical for us to 
maintain this awareness and to strive toward ever-higher standards, so that 
our customers can continue to share acceptance of the LMTAS quality policy:  
Our Brand Means Quality. 

Again, congratulations.  

					Dain M. Hancock
     Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems