MATERIALS, PROCESSES & FINISHES
FUNDAMENTALS FIRST As product design processes continue to evolve at
unprecedented speed, engineers must not forget the fundamental pillars of systems engineering
Engineering Design Project Workfl ow
Phase where detailed
requirements are defi ned and documented.
Stage where the product is tested to ensure it meets the requirements.
Highlights the iterative process that can occur if initial requirements are not correctly defi ned, leading to additional time and cost.
Starting point where a requirement or problem is identifi ed.
Core phase where the product is designed and developed based on defi ned requirements.
The engineering design project workfl ow explained A
longside the rapid pace of technology development and increasing complexity of the design process,
getting a product to market quickly is paramount. Whilst engineering design tools have evolved quickly in line with technology, however, the basic principles of robust engineering have not changed. Saying this, dependencies on tool
sets and the emergence of new project delivery frameworks have in someways distracted focus from the fundamentals, driving a need for a conscious grounding at an organisational level.
THREE PILLARS The fundamental three pillars of systems engineering – people, tools, and processes – remain constant and all need to be developed together to realised engineering goals and
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outcomes. Dependency on one or neglect of another can create an ineff icient system. The real world is far from perfect, however, and a pragmatic approach towards this ideal end goal is more realistic. A conscious understanding of this compromise enables engineers to take action to improve and evolve, so long as a growth and creative mindset is embraced.
MBSE TOOLSETS One example of a tool that can upset this balance is the implementation of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) toolsets, which deliver advanced capabilities in terms of manipulation and visualisation of information that - as the volume of data continues to grow - prove invaluable. They are a blank canvas, though, and need a structure or framework to be applied to enable successful integration into an organisation.
As such, there are fundamental
outputs that an organisation requires from an implementation of an MBSE system for the rest of the product development eff orts to be successful: The people and process pillars need to be integrated properly. Systems engineering is certainly not
new, yet it still has an air of speciality about it. As an engineering consultancy, Hallmark Engineering Group believes that systems engineering principles are aligned with general robust engineering principles and the two should not be viewed diff erently. Systems engineering processes and techniques support product development of both simple and complex systems, and if viewed as a set of tools that can be consciously selected as appropriate for the project in hand, the scale of activity can be set accordingly. To this end, these fundamental skills and toolsets should be accessible to all.
Endpoint where the product is completed and ready for use.
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