Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering

Abstract

Systems Engineering (SE) is regarded as a sound practice but not always delivered effectively, as documented in recent NASA, GAO, and DoD studies. Lean Thinking is the holistic work system credited for the extraordinary rise of Toyota to the most profitable and the largest auto company in the world. Lean Thinking has been successfully applied in other work fields such as general manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, and service industries. The emerging field of Lean Systems Engineering (LSE) is the application of Lean principles, practices, and tools to SE and to the related aspects of enterprise management (EM) in order to enhance the delivery of value (which is defined as flawless delivery of product or mission with satisfaction of all stakeholders) while reducing waste. This paper contains four parts: (1) historical background of the new field of LSE and a review of the fundamental concepts of Lean Thinking; (2) the development process of a new product called “Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering”; (3) a list of the Enablers organized into six Lean principles; (4) summary and conclusions. The Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering is a comprehensive checklist of nonmandatory practices and recommendations formulated as “do's” and “don't's” of SE, and containing tacit knowledge (collective wisdom) on how to prepare for, plan, execute, and practice SE and EM using Lean Thinking. Each enabler has the potential to enhance program value and reduce waste. The Enablers are formulated as a web‐based addendum to the current SE Handbook published by the International Council for Systems Engineering (INCOSE), and do not repeat the practices made therein, which are regarded as sound. They should be an equally valuable addendum to other SE handbooks such as NASA, DoD, or company manuals. The enablers' development followed a classical process: Concept, Alpha, Beta, Prototype, and Version 1.0. This paper reports on Version 1.0 of the enablers, which are regarded as mature enough for dissemination, but which are intended to be a living online document to be continuously improved by interested practitioners as new knowledge and experience are acquired. The enablers were evaluated by surveys in the Beta and Prototype phases. The Prototype version has also been benchmarked with recent NASA and GAO studies. This project has been carried out by two core teams involving 14 volunteers from the LSE Working Group of INCOSE. The teams included representatives from industry, academia, and governments from United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom, with cooperation from the LSE Working Group membership at large. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 14: 29–55, 2011

Why Lean Projects Are Safer

“…Respect For People is a fundamental lean principle applicable to all types of organizations and production systems, both project-based and non-project-based (Ohno, 1988;Oppenheim et al 2011;Cardon and Bribiescas 2015). In Liker's presentation of the principle, it is understood to mean challenging and helping workers and suppliers to improve their capabilities, particularly in problem solving and process improvement (Liker, 2004).…”

Investigating Lean Development Practices in SE Companies: A Comparative Study Between Sectors

“…However, it be attributed to the fact that typical SE product developments departments and processes are larger, more time consuming and more complex. As compared to both Automotive industry and Other industry, the Systems Engineering industry rates its capabilities low when it comes to product development performance, which is aligned to studies by Oppenheim et al [30].…”

Applying Systems Engineering to Survey Research

“…In recent years, there are a growing number of systems engineering research studies that employ surveys to collect data. Examples of these include a study to understand the effects of the application of systems engineering best practices on project performance [2], a study to build a business case for systems engineering [3], a study to evaluate the importance of various lean enablers for systems engineering [4], a study to determine the role of the product domain and the project domain in systems engineering management [5], a study to select elements of systems engineering that are important for upgrading legacy systems [6] and a study to understand how project management teams manage requirements [7].…”