In order to reduce cycle time, increase customer satisfaction and lower costs, Oerlikon Aerospace has initiated, in 1992, a project to define and implement software and systems engineering processes. The initiative started by performing a formal assessment of current software engineering practices. An action plan was developed and multi-functional working groups were tasked to define and facilitate the implementation of software processes. A second initiative was started, in 1995, with the objective of defining and implementing a systems engineering process, and integrating to the systems engineering process the software engineering process already in use.