Title: An Introduction to Systems Engineering The Art of Managing Complexity
1An Introduction to Systems EngineeringThe Art
of Managing Complexity
- Presented By
- Cory R. A. Hallam
- B.Eng., M.Eng., ISU SSP, S.M.
- October 16th, 2001, for ESD.83 at MIT
2Overview
- Systems Engineering has emerged as a distinct
professional discipline in direct response to the
increasing complexity of new development
projects. - We will review some of the reasons for the
emergence of this discipline and discuss the
tools and methodologies that have been
established as a means for dealing with
increasing system complexity.
3Outline
- What is Systems Engineering?
- Emergence of the Discipline
- Role of the Systems Engineer
- The SE Process, Methodologies, and tools
- Setting standards
- SE, the ultimate solution?
- References
4What is Systems Engineering?
- It is not fundamental mathematics or strict
laboratory science - It is a mix of HR, project management, business,
rational decomposition, trade studies,
requirements traceability, integration, testing,
verification and validation, operations, and end
of life cycle disposal of systems - Standardizes the flow-down and traceability of
specifications for complex products from customer
requirements through production, operation , and
disposal
5What is Systems Engineering?
- Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary
approach and means to enable the realization of
successful systems. - It focuses on defining customer needs and
required functionality early in the development
cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding
with design synthesis and system validation while
considering the complete problem - Operations
- Performance
- Test
- Manufacturing
- Cost Schedule
- Training Support
- Disposal
6What is Systems Engineering?
- Systems Engineering integrates all of the
disciplines and specialty groups into a team
effort forming a structured development process
that proceeds from concept to production to
operation. - Systems Engineering considers both the business
and the technical needs of all customers with the
goal of providing a quality product that meets
the user needs
7Why has Systems Engineering Emerged as A Distinct
Discipline?
- The term itself was not formally used, nor was
the importance of the concepts recognized, until
after World War II. - Complexity increased orders of magnitude with the
creation of coupled mecho-digital systems,
especially in defense (P-51 Mustang versus the
Trident in 10 years) - Creation of systems of systems, with users,
acquisition, training, service, support, etc. - Explosions N!/2(N-2)!
8Emergence of Systems Engineering Issues
- The Mythical Man-month, written by Fred Brooks,
who was the first manager of the OS/360
development team at IBM in the 1960's - People seem to think that people and time are
interchangeable and substitutable resources in
projects - Face it, the addition of people to a late project
will only make it later - In computer systems, the issue of decomposition
and system management reared its ugly head with
optimistic programmers saying "This time it will
surely run," or " I just found the last bug." - The false assumption is that things will take as
long as they ought to take and things will work
as planned. - Nothing works out as planned the first time -
Systems Engineering attempts to mitigate this
issue
9The Role of the System Engineer
- Any engineer acts as a systems engineer when
responsible for the design and implementation of
a total system. - The difference with traditional engineering
lies primarily in the greater emphasis on
defining goals, the creative generation of
alternative designs, the evaluation of
alternative designs, and the coordination and
control of the diverse tasks that are necessary
to create a complex system. - The role of Systems Engineer is one of Manager
that utilizes a structured value delivery process
10The Systems Engineering Process
- The major steps in the completion of a typical
systems engineering project are the following
(1) problem statement (2) identification of
objectives (3) generation of alternatives (4)
analysis of these alternatives (5) selection of
one of them (6) creation of the system, and,
finally, (7) operation. - Some examples of Systems Engineering Process
activities are - Defining needs, operational concept, and
requirements - Functional analysis, decomposition, and
allocation - System modeling, systems analysis, and tradeoff
studies - Requirements allocation, traceability, and
control - Prototyping, Integration, and Verification
- System Engineering Product and Process control
- Configuration and Data Management
- Risk Management approaches
- Engineering technical reviews and their purposes
11Systems Engineering Methodologies
12Systems Engineering Methodologies
13Managing Requirements
- Decomposition techniques create chunks that can
be handled by design teams and eventually
individual designers
DECOMPOSITION
INTEGRATION
14(No Transcript)
15Who Sets the SE Standards?
- Depends on your customer (MIL-STD, IEEE STD, Ad
Hoc) - Individual private programs can be managed in an
ad-hoc manner - Government or large corporate contracts may
require Mil spec or other spec to ensure process
compliance - INCOSE
16Tools
- Functional "thread" analysis involving use of
stimulus-condition-response threads for
specifications, development, testing, and reviews - N-squared charts, QFD, Timeline analysis, and
Functional Flow Diagrams - Activity Network Diagrams and professional
quality project and task schedules - Object-oriented methodologies and distributed
networked IPDTs
17Using Systems Engineering Methodologies
- Some People think of SE tools and methodologies
as solution providers - plug in a bunch of
stuff and get THE answer, design, schedule,
cost estimate, etcthis is wrong. - Systems Engineering provides a means for
discretizing systems problems into chunks that
can be solved, managed, and implemented - the
scheduling, costs, and interdisciplinary issues
are identified, but continuously change and
emerge
18Is Systems Engineering the Solution to all of the
Worlds Systems Problem?
- NO...
- ... but it does help manage
some of them
19Suggestions for Further Reading
- International Council on Systems Engineering
(INCOSE) web pages (2001), http\\www.incose.org,
October 2001. - Brooks, F., ( 1995 ). The Mythical Man Month
Essays on Software - Grady, Jeffrey O. (1994). System Integration, CRC
Press. - QFD - Don Clausing
- Any new text on Systems Engineering