MISSION
Start with non-negotiables.
Separate critical requirements from preferences. Payload, operating environment, safety, deployment, data, and acceptance should drive the comparison.
DECISION GUIDE / PLATFORM PATH
Choose the least-complex path.
Compare existing platforms, bounded configuration, adaptation, and new development against one industrial mission and business case.
What is the build-adapt-source decision?
It is a structured comparison of the least-custom ways to satisfy an industrial mission. The review tests an existing product, a bounded configuration, a substantial adaptation, and a new build against one requirements baseline.
01 / FOUR PATHS
Compare options against the same mission evidence.
| Path | Use when | Main caution | Decision artifact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | An existing system meets the verified mission and support model. | Marketing specifications may not describe the actual operating context. | Platform fit record |
| Configure | Standard options or bounded integrations close the requirement gap. | Configuration changes still affect test, documentation, support, and ownership. | Configuration basis |
| Adapt | A proven platform needs material product changes. | Modification can alter airworthiness assumptions, maintainability, supply, and lifecycle. | Adaptation scope and risk register |
| Build | No lower-complexity path can satisfy the mission and economics. | New development creates product, validation, sourcing, manufacturing, and support obligations. | New-product program basis |
LIFECYCLE
Evaluate more than acquisition.
Include spares, repairs, software changes, training, batteries, storage, transport, field support, and replacement.
ECONOMICS
Compare total program paths.
Development effort, recurring product cost, support burden, adoption range, forecast confidence, and ownership all matter.
02 / DECISION SEQUENCE
How to make the platform decision
Write the mission in operational terms.
Describe who uses the system, what it must accomplish, where it operates, and how success is accepted.
Record constraints and priorities.
Rank payload, endurance, range, environment, communications, autonomy, deployment, maintenance, data, and safety needs.
Screen existing platforms first.
Compare real product evidence to the requirements without assuming that custom work is more valuable.
Define every gap and consequence.
A gap matters only when it changes mission performance, deployment, compliance responsibility, lifecycle, or economics.
Choose a path with explicit open risks.
The decision record should identify the selected path, rejected alternatives, evidence, owners, and next proof.
Decision-ready inputs
- Defined industrial mission
- Payload and operating environment
- Deployment and support model
- Internal owner and program basis
- Acceptance priorities
Signals to pause
- The mission changes with every stakeholder
- The product choice is predetermined without evidence
- Regulatory responsibility is assumed rather than assigned
- The business case depends on unsupported rate or cost claims
- Protected data is required before fit is established
FIELD DECISION
Make the platform decision before expanding custom scope.
A concise mission brief is enough to compare source, configuration, adaptation, and new development responsibly.
Email Your Component RFQ