IBM Engineering Systems Design

Success looks like different things to different people. To the consumer, it appears as a continuous stream of bold innovation that provides life-enhancing benefits. To the manufacturer, it's a profitable product, flawlessly made to be compliant with industry and government regulations. And to the systems engineer, success is a streamlined process that‘s strictly followed by everyone on the team. On every project. All the time.

While the consumer and the manufacturer may demand cutting-edge products at an affordable price, it’s the engineer who must envision and create these advancements. The engineer is responsible for meeting all the established product requirements — on time and on budget — so the organization can succeed in a competitive global marketplace.

If you’re a systems engineer, we applaud you. We appreciate your commitment to meeting the onerous challenges of modern production. We commend you for the creative spirit that drives you, and for your methodical, detailed approach that brings your ideas to fruition.

We also support you with new advancements in technology could make your job a little easier. Keep reading to learn about our comprehensive model based systems engineering (MBSE) solution, IBM Engineering Systems Design. It’s a sophisticated approach that uses the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to help you more quickly develop the competitive innovations your market so voraciously demands.

The world is a complicated place

And it‘s getting more complicated all the time. Systems engineers who grapple with the complexity of software and product development know this more than most people. These talented professionals have a particularly daunting task: they’re confined by a labyrinthine of regulations from industry and government regulatory bodies, they work within a vast ecosystem of suppliers and partners, and they must juggle rising costs and restrictive timelines to create products that generate corporate profits.

These complications compel systems engineers to find a better approach to their work: one that facilitates collaboration, streamlines processes and reduces cycle times. When supported by technology that enables these critical functions, projects can be completed more rapidly, more cost effectively and with fewer errors.

A challenge to meet the standards of success

With the ability to introduce innovation comes the responsibility to deliver safe, reliable products quickly, without sacrificing quality. Systems engineers are tasked with the job of ensuring that everything they design and develop meets stringent industry and government specifications. This compliance is essential not only to protect the consumer, but also to protect their organization from litigation and penalties.

The problem is that these guidelines are constantly evolving, expanding, and requiring greater accountability. Complete, accurate documentation is often needed up front, and becomes even more important should an error or omission ever make it to market.

Some of the standards that systems engineers work with today include:

Engineers rely upon a vast ecosystem of stakeholders

Creating innovative products requires the collaboration of cross-discipline teams that include everyone from product marketing and sales to electrical and mechanical engineers. Traditionally, systems engineers have depended upon manual processes to coordinate this process. These typically involve:

Now, with the advent of a global economy and increased technology, systems engineers are also challenged by:

Barriers to brilliance

Traditional processes and new demands combine to create a negative impact on design and development:

Introducing MBSE solutions

We’ve presented the problems... the big, ugly barriers to success. Now we’re going to tell you how to overcome them.

Thanks to new technologies, models that drive the entire engineering lifecycle have been developed to improve quality, agility, consistency and compliance. These sophisticated new MBSE solutions help:

MBSE is considered a highly efficient engineering practice that uses very descriptive, precise system model artifacts to improve processes. It helps solve the collaboration, cost and calendar problems that people like you must face and overcome each day.

The model-based process and its results are so much more reliable than traditional approaches that MBSE solutions are recommended by the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the US Department of Defense.

IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody

With decades of global experience in virtually every industry, and expertise in the development of complex products (both hardware and software), IBM is uniquely qualified to create a powerful, reliable MBSE solution.

This innovative solution is based on models that provide precise, easy-to-understand, digital representations of the process and requirements, based on industry standards such as SYS ML, UPDM and Autosar.

IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody® improves the design and development process by facilitating collaboration, automating documentation and providing test simulation. This comprehensive approach helps manage the entire development and design process to ensure speed, accuracy, agility and cost reduction.

The IBM Rhapsody solution achieves these goals with tools that facilitate:

IBM Rhapsody solutions resolve traditional systems engineering problems

From the beginning of an initiative to the final launch of the product, IBM Rhapsody helps assure a smooth, agile process. All stakeholders are included, regardless of physical location, as automated processes help ensure that each phase is completed, and appropriate approvals are obtained. Visibility and trackability are maintained throughout, as customized dashboards can be created for real-time insights into the process.

1. Connect stakeholders

Stakeholders in any organization that is contributing to the initiative can connect easily through a web browser, regardless of geographic location. Each individual is given appropriate access depending on their role and responsibilities.

2. Input data

All data is entered into the system where it is integrated and consolidated, and accessible for review at any time. Data can be Word documents, spreadsheets, diagrams or many other formats.

3. Establish requirements

Automated tools ensure clarity as stakeholders develop, and then approve, the requirements for the initiative. All changes and approvals are captured to ensure accuracy and compliance.

4. Model creation

An animated version of the original sequence diagram will draw itself as the model executes, revealing the messages that are being exchanged, and showing the system functions as they occur. Reusable models are developed based on requirements and industry and government regulations. Variations in IBM Rhapsody are available to accommodate the guidelines for a variety of industries. Any change to one model is automatically reflected on others that will be impacted. All changes are recorded.

5. Model testing

The model is executed to verify and validate the behavior and the architecture of the design, ensuring that the requirements are correct and that they're fully formed, don't overlap, and have no gaps. Interfaces between parts of the system are validated. A test conductor executes the model and passes or fails the sequence using the scenario described in the original diagram.

6. Defect discovery

When a defect is discovered, the software can investigate, test and help make the needed correction. This occurs early in the development process, helping to eliminate the high costs of errors that make it to market.

7. Review

Throughout the process, reviews — with all comments tracked — can be closed only when sufficient approvals are received.

8. Document generation

IBM Rhapsody solution offers document generation that can produce federated, cross-domain reports in several formats at once, including PDF and Word.

9. Release

Release occurs only after sufficient testing and approvals are completed. The release has a greater change of accuracy and compliance as a result of the automated processes, tracking and visibility that have occurred from beginning to end. Post-release, any necessary documentation can be created and provided to appropriate regulatory bodies.

IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody solutions for specific industries

As a result of our extensive industry experience IBM is able to develop comprehensive MBSE solutions relatied to specific sectors. These versions incorporate the required standards to help ensure complete compliance with regulations:

Further, the IBM Rhapsody solutions support DoDAF (Department of Defense Architecture Framework), MODAF (Ministry of Defense Architecture Framework) and UPDM/UAF standards for structuring enterprise and systems of systems design. At the software implementation level, the solutions provide support for Real-Time Systems (DDS) for developing applications that take advantage of publish-subscribe communications of data.

When your organization is depending on you to develop innovative, error-free software or product introductions, you need to follow a reliable, integrated process. The complexity of today’s marketplace and manufacturing environment demands that you choose an approach that takes into account disparate tools and processes, distributed stakeholders, and demands for regulatory compliance.

IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody solutions help facilitate collaboration, integrate information, streamline processes and accelerate time-to-market to improve corporate profitability.

Learn more about IBM Rhapsody and how it can help you drive innovation to consistently deliver success.

Learn more about IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management solutions