Systems Engineering Tools Research Articles

사용자 편의를 고려한 시스템 요구사항 관리 데이터베이스 구축

국가 연구 개발 사업을 통해 수행된 도시형 자기 부상 열차 실용화 사업은 중저속 자기부상열차시스템 개발기술을 확보하고 시범노선 구축 및 시험운행을 통해 상용화를 목적으로 자기부상열차로서 국내에서는 최초의 상용화이며 완전무인운전시스템 구현을 목표하고 있다. 본 연구는 사업에 참여하는 기업, 연구소들의 시스템엔지니어링 활동의 핵심이라고 할 수 있는 도시형자기부상열차 시스템요구사항을 개발하고, 요구사항을 기반으로 도출된 추적성 기법을 제안하였다. 본 논문에서는 사업 전주기에 걸쳐 관리할 수 있는 체계를 정립하고, 카테고라이징 및 DB화를 통하여, 사용자 중심의 엔지니어링 도구를 개발함으로써, 도시형 자기부상열차 시스템의 개발 및 구축을 효과적으로 지원할 수 있도록 하였다.

Systems Engineering to improve the governance in complex project environments

Projects delivered in complex environments are often late, over-budget and provide fewer benefits than what were originally expected. Systems Engineering is the emerging paradigm in complex project environments to transform the governance from “project based” to “system based” and thereby increase the chance of holistic success. Systems Engineering is a multidisciplinary approach to enable the successful delivery of systems in complex environments through a comprehensive set of approaches, techniques and tools, initially developed in the USA after the Second World War. This paper focuses on how Systems Engineering can transform the governance from “project governance” to “system governance”, improving the performance of projects delivered in a complex environment. This paper presents Systems Engineering tools and techniques focusing, in particular, on the most relevant for project management, project governance and stakeholder management. At the end it provides a rich research agenda for further studies.

Model-Based System Integration (MBSI) – Key Attributes of MBSE from the System Integrator's Perspective

Many system developments fail at the integration and qualification (I&Q) phases in the development and acquisition cycle. How can we, as Systems Engineers (SE), navigate the uncertainty and risk of system development to ensure I&Q success? One solution is applying significant influence of the system integrator (SI) member of the SE team at the very beginning of system design. If this is a solution, then what processes, methods, and practices can the SI apply in the overall SE process? Can the emerging Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methods and tools be leveraged by the SI? This paper discusses a Model Based System Integration (MBSI) approach that applies essential MBSE methods and tools to the unique goals of the SI. While MBSE is supportive of the entire SE process, it tends to be optimized for the design-side of the SE process and not necessarily for I&Q goals and objectives. MBSI highlights how MBSE tools and methods can be extended to benefit the SI. Lessons- learned from several SE graduate school projects applying these MBSI methods are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the MBSI approach.

Maintaining design intent for aircraft manufacture

Design and manufacture of aircraft requires deep multi-disciplinary understanding of system behaviour. The intention of the designer can get lost due to the many changes occurring to the product and the inability of the methods and tools used to capture it. Systems engineering and optimisation tools underpin industrial approaches to design, but are not without issue. The challenge is to find a route from concept to manufacture which enables designers to maintain their original intent. The novelty in this work is that the parameterisation used to build the CAD model reflects the manufacturing capability, ensuring design intent is maintained from concept to manufacture.

Requirements Analysis for Safer Ambulance Patient Compartments

Providing emergency care services in the confined space of the patient compartment of a moving ambulance has proven a hazardous activity. A National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)/Department of Homeland Security (DHS) project is applying systems engineering approaches to analyze requirements and develop design guidance that will improve Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers’ safety while optimizing patient care. The analysis of an ambulance's patient compartment requires multiple disciplines such as ergonomics and crashworthiness. Systems engineering tools provide a platform to perform the analysis by bridging these disciplines and bringing information sources together.In the first phase of this project we compiled a number of requirements from the results of literature reviews, a nationwide web survey, workshops and focus group meetings. The next phase entails our process for reconciling potentially conflicting requirements from use case scenarios and then determining which constraints and metrics to be used for trade-off analysis and optimization in a human simulation modeling tool. The results of this analysis are being used to develop ambulance patient compartment design recommendations that will be provided as inputs to current and emerging ambulance design standards. In this paper we report on our efforts to provide science-based recommendations that may be used as a basis to revise and enhance current ambulance design standards and practices.

Systems engineering in health care: Overview and examples from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

140 Background: The University of Texas has six health institutions and Industrial and Systems Engineering faculty throughout university locations across the state. These academic medical centers, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, and schools of engineering, business, and medicine are partnering to implement Systems Engineering in healthcare throughout the UT system. The “systems approach to implementing Systems Engineering” is an opportunity to serve as a world-class model for collaboration across academic institutions for engineering, business, medicine, and healthcare organizations to implement Systems Engineering and systems thinking in healthcare. The objective of the collaboration is not just to produce successful projects, but to achieve transformational change. Methods: This presentation will provide an overview of Systems Engineering and provide examples of the different tools and strategies from the discipline including lean, six sigma, mathematical simulation, optimization and operations research, human factors, facility design layout, statistical process control, design of experiments, scheduling, supply chain and inventory management, staffing models, etc. Funding, leadership, training, and communication efforts associated with the effort will be reviewed including the grant application process for transformational efforts. (The implementation follows the PDSA process.) Results: Currently nine grants have been awarded in the UT system for implementing Systems Engineering. Results will be shared (in terms of cost savings and/or avoidance and patient satisfaction) from specific projects such as a lean effort in the Diagnostic Center and simulation models to schedule nurses in the OR and to determine resource requirements in the ICU. Conclusions: Systems Engineering is a valuable discipline that is relatively new to healthcare. Practicing clinical oncologists can increase efficiency, patient flow, and patient and physician satisfaction by applying Systems Engineering tools and strategies.

Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production involving continuous processes – A process system engineering (PSE)-assisted design framework

A systematic framework is proposed for the design of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. Specifically, the design framework focuses on organic chemistry based, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) synthetic processes, but could potentially be extended to biocatalytic and fermentation-based products. The method exploits the synergic combination of continuous flow technologies (e.g., microfluidic techniques) and process systems engineering (PSE) methods and tools for faster process design and increased process understanding throughout the whole drug product and process development cycle. The design framework structures the many different and challenging design problems (e.g., solvent selection, reactor design, and design of separation and purification operations), driving the user from the initial drug discovery steps – where process knowledge is very limited – toward the detailed design and analysis. Examples from the literature of PSE methods and tools applied to pharmaceutical process design and novel pharmaceutical production technologies are provided along the text, assisting in the accumulation and interpretation of process knowledge. Different criteria are suggested for the selection of batch and continuous processes so that the whole design results in low capital and operational costs as well as low environmental footprint. The design framework has been applied to the retrofit of an existing batch-wise process used by H. Lundbeck A/S to produce an API: zuclopenthixol. Some of its batch operations were successfully converted into continuous mode, obtaining higher yields that allowed a significant simplification of the whole process. The material and environmental footprint of the process – evaluated through the process mass intensity index, that is, kg of material used per kg of product – was reduced to half of its initial value, with potential for further reduction. The case-study includes reaction steps typically used by the pharmaceutical industry featuring different characteristic reaction times, as well as L–L separation and distillation-based solvent exchange steps, and thus constitutes a good example of how the design framework can be useful to efficiently design novel or already existing API manufacturing processes taking advantage of continuous processes.

Architecting Diesel Engine Control System using A3 Architecture Overview

AbstractThe Digital Governor System from Kongsberg Maritime (KM), has had an evolution period of 25 years. Technology has changed during this period and many new features have been incorporated. Consequently the product has increased in complexity over these years and the architecture was not explicit available. We decided to do reverse architecting to be able to decide what changes are needed to the architecture to support the next generation(s) of the product. This project was an opportunity to use the reverse architecting tool described in the System Engineering tool; “A3 Architecture Overviews”. Reverse architecting aimed to recover knowledge that remained in the expert's minds, in order to understand the system and its context. By doing so we were able to visually see where appropriate changes could be made. We learned that “A3 Architecting Overview” is more usable than traditional document, and easier to use as it only required a single sheet of paper.The “A3 architecture overview” is a single page overview of the system relating several System Modeling views: a functional model, some visual aids, a physical block diagram and a quantitative section. This was important because it supported communication and gave focus during discussions.

1.3.2 Tailoring Systems Engineering Processes in a Conceptual Design Environment: a case study at NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center's ACO

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of Systems Engineering as it is applied in a conceptual design space systems department at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) Advanced Concepts Office (ACO). Engineering work performed in the NASA MFSC's ACO is targeted toward the Exploratory Research and Concepts Development life cycle stages, as defined in the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) System Engineering Handbook.This paper addresses three ACO Systems Engineering tools that correspond to three INCOSE Technical Processes: Stakeholder Requirements Definition, Requirements Analysis, and Integration, as well as one Project Process – Risk Management. These processes are used to facilitate, streamline, and manage systems engineering processes tailored for the earliest two life cycle stages, which is the environment in which ACO engineers work.The role of systems engineers and systems engineering as performed in ACO is explored in this paper. The need for tailoring Systems Engineering processes, tools, and products in the ever‐changing engineering services ACO provides to its customers is addressed.

A Custom Requirements Database for the California High‐Speed Train Project: Or: “You're going to need a bigger boat”

AbstractThe California High‐Speed Train Project (CHSTP) is a large‐scale, multi‐discipline infrastructure project to build 800 miles of high‐speed railroad from Los Angeles to San Francisco and beyond. It is the first true high‐speed rail line in the U.S., and as a result faces unique engineering and regulatory challenges. Existing U.S. federal and state safety regulations do not address the full range of safety requirements included in high‐speed rail safety regulations in Europe and Asia. For the CHSTP it was therefore necessary to develop a set of requirements that reflected existing U.S. regulations and incorporated best worldwide high‐speed rail practices. This paper describes how a requirements management database was developed to document, link, manage and understand the requirements, and support the U.S. Federal Rail Administration (FRA) regulatory change process. Expansion of the database highlighted the need for a more robust set of Systems Engineering (SE) processes and tools.

Development of Continuous Pharmaceutical Production Processes Supported by Process Systems Engineering Methods And Tools

Development of Continuous Pharmaceutical Production Processes Supported by Process Systems Engineering Methods And Tools

A perspective on PSE in pharmaceutical process development and innovation

The pharmaceutical industry is under growing pressure to increase efficiency, both in production and in process development. This paper discusses the central role of Process Systems Engineering (PSE) methods and tools in pharmaceutical process development and innovation, and searches for answers to questions such as: Which PSE methods can be applied readily? Where is more method development needed? The paper covers key subjects for development of economically and environmentally sustainable pharmaceutical processes, including Process Analytical Technology in its broadest sense, continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing and green processes, and is illustrated with a series of short examples taken from the literature and ongoing research projects.

도시철도 표준화사업의 데이터베이스 구축 및 추적성 관리에 관한 연구

SE(System Engineering)은 이미 선진국에서 우주항공, 국방 등 다양한 분야에 걸쳐 적용되고 있으나 국내에서는 초기단계로서 철도 및 국방분야에서 제한적으로 적용하고 있는 것이 현실이다. SE기술은 적용범위가 매우 광범위하기 때문에 본 연구에서는 SE기술에서 문서관리 및 요구사항 분석기술을 적용하여 본 연구의 목표인 표준화 기준 작성 및 핵심장치 개발을 효율적으로 수행하는 방법을 연구하였다. 표준화기준에 대하여는 SE 도구를 사용하여 표준화기준간의 추적성 및 이력관리를 수행하였고 사업에서 생성된 모든 문서들을 DB로 구축하여 참여기관들이 사업에 필요한 정보를 공유하도록 하였다. 기본설계단계에서 기능분석을 통하여 핵심장치인 지능형 역사감시시스템의 요구사항이 적절한 지를 검토하였고 요구사항에 따라 지능형 역사감시시스템이 개발되는 지를 관리하였으며 최종적으로 검증된 요구사항을 지능형 역사감시시스템의 표준화기준으로 고시할 계획이다. The study and techniques of system engineering have been applied to various fields including space-air, national defense division in advanced countries. Korea is currently in the early stages of introducing system engineering scheme in railway system and national defense division restrictedly. As theory and application of system engineering covers a wide scope, documents management and requirement analysis technology applied to establishment of standard and core unit development of the research target. The techniques which are historical management and trace among standards for establishment of standard are introduced using SE tools and participating agencies shared the information by constructing of database from all documents which are generated from the project. Through the functional analysis of the requirements for the intelligent station monitoring system in basic design stage, established requirements are verified and will be made official announcement as standard of the intelligent station monitoring system.

11.3.1 Transforming the Enterprise Using a Systems Approach

AbstractEnterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) is an emerging discipline that can be used to more confidently and rapidly create the essential changes for the modern enterprise to survive in these days of enormous economic and social uncertainty. Systems Engineering (SE) could have much to offer in enabling this transformation, but significant enhancements to traditional SE tools and methods must be brought to bear. This paper describes a set of principles and concepts that enables greater benefits when using the systems approach for enterprise transformation. These enhancements include technical activities, of course, but they also address the substantial leadership and managerial challenges at the enterprise level.

Using knowledge and expressions to validate inter-model constraints

AbstractModel Based System Engineering (MBSE) field recommends practices, framework, tools and standards to improve the modeling of systems. Nevertheless, even though one follows a modeling methodology, inconsistencies arise in models since they are shared and developed in a collaborative context. This paper focuses on an approach to manage models heterogeneity by taking into consideration the implicit knowledge of the engineers. We defend this knowledge as the key to check inter-model constraints in the framework of MBSE methodologies.

Sustainable Product Portfolio And Process Design Of The Forest Biorefinery

INTRODUCTION The North American forestry industry has been challenged in recent years by high energy costs, increasing fibre costs, and aging mill assets that have not been adequately modernized [1]. The so-called forest biorefinery (FBR) has emerged as an interesting candidate for reviving the industry. The FBR may use ligno-cellulosic (woody, agricultural) biomass as raw material and implies full utilization of biomass for the production of fibres, chemicals and/or energy, and thus offers an alternative strategy for its utilization. Its design should consider both the retrofit design of pulp and paper mill processes and the product portfolio [2]. There is an apparent complexity in this development, and therefore a rigorous design framework is needed. The concept of sustainability consists of three dimensions: economic, environmental and social. However, design typically emphasizes economic objectives for decision making between process alternatives, and the environmental and social aspects of alternatives are considered as constraints (e.g. [3; 4]). Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods may be used to consider all sustainability dimensions as objectives. METHODOLOGY Design framework Figure 1 shows a design framework that takes into account the design of the product portfolio and biorefinery production process [7]. It consists of a set of process systems engineering (PSE) tools that together cover all aspects of FBR process and portfolio design. In this framework, an MCDM method is used for design decision making based on the analysis results using the PSE tools. MCDM methods raise the awareness of the decision maker(s) about the problem complexity and they can be used to address decision uncertainty.

Enabling Collaborative Decision Making through Applied Systems Engineering Tools, Methods, and Processes

AbstractIncreasingly complex problems involved in systems development drive systems engineers to develop novel decision making processes. The breadth of complex problems demands the interaction of various stakeholders, including both decision makers and subject matter experts, each focusing on specific areas but all addressing a higher level common cause. The process brought forth in this tutorial integrates a series of methods, some widely accepted and others which are novel in nature, in order to enable a collaborative process for technology selection. Quality Function Deployment is used to capture customer desires and focus engineering level requirements. Multi‐Attribute Decision Making is used to identify system configurations when multiple and competing objectives exist, which is a situation where traditional system optimization struggles. System modeling is a necessary step to analyze and understand the impact of various systems options. This seminar therefore introduces the process of surrogate modeling in order to rapidly access elements of modeling and simulation, a necessary step to analyze system options. The very integration of these applied systems engineering methods enables collaborative decision making throughout system development. A proof of concept is presented where each of these methods is applied in the technology selection portfolio analysis of renewable energy system options for a remote off‐grid site.

7.2.1 Robust Decision Making

AbstractThe Idaho National Laboratory is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy and other customers who have direct contracts with the Laboratory. The people, equipment, facilities, and other infrastructure at the laboratory require continual investment to maintain and improve the laboratory's capabilities. With ever tightening federal and customer budgets, the ability to direct investments into the people, equipment, facilities, and other infrastructure that are most closely aligned with the laboratory's mission and customers' goals grows increasingly important. The ability to justify those investment decisions based on objective criteria that can withstand political, managerial, and technical criticism also becomes increasingly important. The Systems Engineering tools of decision analysis, risk management and roadmapping, when properly applied to such problems, can provide defensible decisions.

Development of NASA Glenn Research Center auditory demonstration laboratory facility and operational capabilities.

The NASA Glenn Research Center Auditory Demonstration Laboratory (ADL) is a dual purpose facility, constructed in 2007 to support hearing conservation programs across the agency. Configured as a reverberant room, the ADL is an appropriate space for evaluating the performance of personal hearing protectors, using either human subjects or a test fixture. Hearing protector evaluations are conducted using NASA REATMASTER software, developed in partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. This software is available free on request to qualified laboratories, which are encouraged to participate in a collaborative program to fund continued software development. The ADL can also be configured as a free-field room to support the development of auditory demonstrations, widely used for a variety of training purposes within NASA and externally. The ADL provides an environment, sound system, and audio engineering tools for presenting and developing calibrated demonstrations of various acoustical and auditory phenomena that include fundamental acoustical and concepts, noise control principles, and simulations of hearing loss. Current work at the ADL will establish the capability of making three-dimensional surround sound recordings, which will expand the scope of the laboratory’s educational products into additional areas of psychoacoustics such as binaural hearing and localization.

A technology readiness levels (TRLs) calculator software for systems engineering and technology management tool

Turkish defense industry and policy makers seek effective and successful system development programs by implementing a validation mechanism to verify the maturity of new technologies being developed in national laboratories and industry. Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) developed by NASA as a general metric of technology advancement and it has been widely accepted as a systems engineering and technology management metric tool. In order to explore the sufficiency of this tool, first of all, academic and applicable studies of army and civil organizations have been searched out and the lessons learned have been analyzed in this study. Thereafter, questionnaires of awareness of TRLs and TRL Calculator have been applied to defense firms in Ankara, and interviews held with the technology developers, firms' speakers and defense authorities. Finally, the applicable algorithm of TRL calculator has been recommended for Turkish defense industry.