Systems Engineering (SE) has more than just caught up with the times. Why is this the case? One of the main reasons for its growing relevance is the increasing networking and embedding of systems, which requires a holistic approach. This is where systems engineering helps development teams - characterised by their individual disciplines of software and hardware - to gain a common understanding of the system. Nowadays, the development of complex mechatronic products can often no longer or only with difficulty be achieved by simply breaking them down into a product tree structure of components. It is crucial to consider the system as a whole and in its functional interrelationships.
Systems engineering as a future success factor
Industry and SMEs are discovering systemic thinking
as the key to sustainable product development.
Many industrial companies - including pioneers such as the automotive industry - have been capitalising on the benefits of systems engineering for some time. In the meantime, however, SMEs, for example in mechanical and plant engineering, have also identified the success factors. Dr Walter Koch is certain that with the help of systems engineering, companies can manage the increasing complexity of product development. Before this can happen, however, he believes the question is whether those involved can free themselves from the corset of old paradigms and think in terms of systems. Koch has been Chairman of the Society for Systems Engineering (GfSE) for several years and visited our management consultancy for high-performance product development for an informal exchange - with systems engineering taking centre stage.
Systems engineering is first and foremost a view of the product or the system and its environment. It does not contradict the V-model, but complements it and can support development with the help of existing or optimised processes.
The profile of a Systems Engineer
Key role with vision
But how does systems engineering play out its success factors? In addition to the guidelines of a suitable development process and corresponding role descriptions, the people behind the newly implemented roles provide the impetus: For Dr Walter Koch, the systems engineer is an extremely strong communicator - ideally equipped with very strong social skills to bring an interdisciplinary R&D team together and drive it forward. The aim here is to get people from different areas and with different qualifications to contribute their expertise to the team and also to want to understand the concerns of the other domains. "If it doesn't find a sounding board, it will fade away," says Koch. After all, a balanced, cross-domain response is often more effective than that of the individual department.
But what does the profile of a systems engineer look like beyond their social skills and their role as a moderator? What background and training should they have, what skills are required and what mindset is necessary? A native of the company who is familiar with the company and the product group in question is of course helpful. Whether it is a design engineer with product experience, an experienced project manager, an electronics developer who works more in functional blocks or a software developer with a background in software architecture does not play a decisive role here. First and foremost, "only" two points are important:
- The Systems Engineer must think in terms of functions - using the example of headlight development:
"How do I make electricity shine?" - The Systems Engineer is a strong communicator
The big advantage
From pre-development to the product life cycle
Systems engineering unfolds its full potential when it is integrated across the entire product life cycle. This starts with pre-development and module development and continues through product creation with an upstream and downstream "system part" to the industrialisation or even end-of-life of the product - including an upgrading and reuse strategy in the sense of a circular economy.
The strength of systems engineering clearly lies in the ability to manage high complexity during product/system development. Taking into account a suitable module strategy, pre-design of individual components or pre-parameterisation of individual parameters as part of an early simulation using model-based systems engineering (MBSE), shorter development cycles can also be realised and more robust starting conditions for development are common. Opening up new or broader product segments, adapting to greater product variance and encompassing a holistic product life cycle, including the circular economy, makes it possible to increase market share or open up new markets and even completely new business models.
Although the products, the market environment and the objectives associated with the introduction of SE may be very different for different companies, the challenges of the introduction are often similar. It is important to think the expectations and introduction through to the end - holistically and with a view to
- strategy of the company,
- Processes for collaboration,
- Leadership in Organisation und
- individual qualification of people.