VALIDATE

1) To declare or make legally valid. 2) To substantiate. 3) To establish the fitness or worth of a product for its operational mission. This form of Validation can be tested by the question, "Are we building the right product?". See also Verify.

VALIDATED COST DATA

Resource Data which have been objectively analyzed and documented by the original Agency and independently evaluated by an external Cost Control agency.

VALIDATION

1) Verification or substantiation. 2) The process by which a Technical Manual is tested for technical accuracy and Adequacy. 3) The procedure of comparing input and output against an edited file, and evaluating the result of the comparison by means of a decision table established as a standard. 4) The process by which an external Cost Control Agency evaluates a Data base for use in an Estimate.

VALUATION

1) The measuring of anything in terms of money. 2) The Value set upon an item.

VALUE

1) The measure of the worth of a thing in terms of money. 2) An assigned or calculated numerical quantity. 3) Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor. 4) Merit.

VALUE ANALYSIS

A systematic and objective Evaluation of the function of a product and its related Cost, to ensure optimum value. As a pricing tool, value Analysis provides insight into the inherent worth of a product.

VALUE ENGINEERING (VE)

1) A Functional Analysis methodology that identifies and selects the best Value alternative for designs, materials, processes, systems, and program documentation. Value Engineering may be applied to hardware and software, Development, production, and manufacturing, specifications, contract requirements, and other Acquisition Program documentation, facilities Design and construction, and management or organizational standards, systems and processes to improve the resulting product. 2) An engineering Function which examines proposed designs, methods, and processes with the object of identifying lower Cost techniques or processes to produce an item more economically, but consistent with the necessary requirements for performance, reliability, quality, and maintainability.

VALUE ENGINEERING CHANGE PROPOSAL (VECP)

A formal proposal recommendation resulting from Value Engineering (VE) activity, which clearly sets forth a contractor's proposed contract change, and which is reviewed by the Government for its VE applicability. If the VECP is accepted by the Government, the contractor is normally compensated for saving the Government money.

VARIABLE

1) A Characteristic expressed numerically which may differ from one observation to another. For example, height is a variable in comparisons of human beings. 2) A quantity capable of assuming any of a set of Values.

VARIABLE COST(S)

A Cost that changes with the rate of production of goods, production quantity, or the performance of services. See also Fixed Cost.

VARIANCE

1) A variation or difference. 2) A Deviation between a standard or forecasted Value and the actual value. 3) A measure of the degree of spread among a set of values. 4) A measure of the tendency of individual values to vary from the Mean value. Variance in this sense, is computed by subtracting the mean value from each value, squaring each of these differences, summing the results, and dividing this sum by the number of values, in order to obtain the arithmetic mean of these squares.

VENDOR

An individual, partnership, corporation, or other activity which sells property to another establishment or contractor. See also Supplier.

VENDOR ITEM

Items that are used in, or attached to, an article produced by a contractor, but which are procured by the contractor in the open market or from established sources, and for which the contractor does not have Proprietary Rights.

VERIFICATION

1) The comparison of two or more items to test their truth and/or accuracy. 2) For the Government, the process by which contractual requirements and technical Characteristics, documentation, and manuals are tested and proved to be adequate and accurate for the operation and maintenance of equipment, and for certifying that selected technical requirements, documents, and manuals are Compatible with the hardware, software, or other items procured. Verification entails the actual performance, by Government personnel, of the operating and maintenance procedures necessary for the particular item.

VERIFICATION DATA

Information used to check or test items to assure their proper performance and Configuration, as specified. Examples of verification Data include specifications, standards, test equipment and Facility identifications, test procedures, and quality assurance provisions.

VERIFY

1) To prove the truth of, or substantiate. 2) To test the truth or accuracy of, as by comparison. 3) To establish the truth of correspondence between a product and its specification -- This form of Validation can be tested by the question, "Are we building the product right?". See also Validate.

VISUAL ANALYSIS

The visual inspection of an item or its drawings, from which a general Estimate may be made about probable Cost or value. In most instances, visual Analysis deals with obvious, external features, such as the moving of earth to build a road.

VULNERABILITY

The Characteristics of a system that cause it to suffer a definite Degradation, as a result of having been subjected to a certain, defined level of effects in an unnatural (man-made) hostile environment. Vulnerability is a subset of Survivability.