Systems engineering

The individual outcome of such efforts, an engineered system, can be defined as a combination of components that work in synergy to collectively perform a useful function.

Issues such as requirements engineering, reliability, logistics, coordination of different teams, testing and evaluation, maintainability, and many other disciplines, aka "ilities", necessary for successful system design, development, implementation, and ultimate decommission become more difficult when dealing with large or complex projects.

Systems engineering deals with work processes, optimization methods, and risk management tools in such projects.

A manufacturing process is focused on repetitive activities that achieve high-quality outputs with minimum cost and time.

The systems engineering process must begin by discovering the real problems that need to be resolved and identifying the most probable or highest-impact failures that can occur.

[2][3] When it was no longer possible to rely on design evolution to improve upon a system and the existing tools were not sufficient to meet growing demands, new methods began to be developed that addressed the complexity directly.

[4] The continuing evolution of systems engineering comprises the development and identification of new methods and modeling techniques.

These methods aid in a better comprehension of the design and developmental control of engineering systems as they grow more complex.

Popular tools that are often used in the systems engineering context were developed during these times, including USL, UML, QFD, and IDEF.

The traditional scope of engineering embraces the conception, design, development, production, and operation of physical systems.

This evolution of the definition has been a subject of ongoing controversy,[13] and the term continues to apply to both the narrower and a broader scope.

Oliver et al. claim that the systems engineering process can be decomposed into: Within Oliver's model, the goal of the Management Process is to organize the technical effort in the lifecycle, while the Technical Process includes assessing available information, defining effectiveness measures, to create a behavior model, create a structure model, perform trade-off analysis, and create sequential build & test plan.

[16] Depending on their application, although there are several models that are used in the industry, all of them aim to identify the relation between the various stages mentioned above and incorporate feedback.

[18] By providing a systems (holistic) view of the development effort, systems engineering helps mold all the technical contributors into a unified team effort, forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation and, in some cases, to termination and disposal.

In an acquisition, the holistic integrative discipline combines contributions and balances tradeoffs among cost, schedule, and performance while maintaining an acceptable level of risk covering the entire life cycle of the item.

When speaking in this context, complexity incorporates not only engineering systems but also the logical human organization of data.

In doing so, the gap that exists between informal requirements from users, operators, marketing organizations, and technical specifications is successfully bridged.

[24] Besides defense and aerospace, many information and technology-based companies, software development firms, and industries in the field of electronics & communications require systems engineers as part of their team.

[26] At the same time, studies have shown that systems engineering essentially leads to a reduction in costs among other benefits.

Typically programs (either by themselves or in combination with interdisciplinary study) are offered beginning at the graduate level in both academic and professional tracks, resulting in the grant of either a MS/MEng or Ph.D./EngD degree.

[6] As of 2017, it lists over 140 universities in North America offering more than 400 undergraduate and graduate programs in systems engineering.

Widespread institutional acknowledgment of the field as a distinct subdiscipline is quite recent; the 2009 edition of the same publication reported the number of such schools and programs at only 80 and 165, respectively.

The purpose of these tools varies from database management, graphical browsing, simulation, and reasoning, to document production, neutral import/export, and more.

These relationships can be as simple as adding up constituent quantities to obtain a total, or as complex as a set of differential equations describing the trajectory of a spacecraft in a gravitational field.

At this point starting with a trade study, systems engineering encourages the use of weighted choices to determine the best option.

A decision matrix, or Pugh method, is one way (QFD is another) to make this choice while considering all criteria that are important.

The trade study in turn informs the design, which again affects graphic representations of the system (without changing the requirements).

In that regard, it is almost indistinguishable from Systems Engineering, but what sets it apart is the focus on smaller details rather than larger generalizations and relationships.

In development, acquisition, or operational activities, the inclusion of risk in tradeoffs with cost, schedule, and performance features, involves the iterative complex configuration management of traceability and evaluation to the scheduling and requirements management across domains and for the system lifecycle that requires the interdisciplinary technical approach of systems engineering.