What Can We Learn From Systems Engineering?

The Lean Aerospace Initiative and the Lean Aerospace Initiative Consortium define processes applicable in many domains for applying lean. At first glance, there is no natural connection between Lean and System Engineering. The ideas below are from a paper I gave at a Lean conference.

Key Takeaways

• Lean and Systems engineering are cousins.
• All but trivial projects are systems, and many are systems of systems. Thinking like a systems engineer is the basis of implementing Lean processes. Thinking without systems does little to add sustaining value to any process improvement.
• Product development is a value stream process, but how the components interact at the technical, business, financial, and operational levels is a systems engineering process. Lean itself does not possess the vocabulary to speak to these system's complexity issues?[1]

Core Concepts of Systems Engineering

1. Capture and understand the requirements for Capabilities assessed through Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) and Measures of Performance (MOP).
2. Could you ensure requirements are consistent with what is predicted to be possible in a solution in these MOEs and MPs?
3. Treat goals as desired characteristics for what may not be possible.
4. Define the MOE, MOP, goals, and solutions for the project's whole lifecycle in units meaningful to the buyer.
5. Could you distinguish between the statement of the problem and the description of the solution?
6. Baseline each statement of the problem and the statement of the solution.
7. Could you identify descriptions of alternative solutions?
8. Develop descriptions of the solution.
9. Except for simple problems, develop a logical solution description.
10. Be prepared to iterate in design to drive up effectiveness.
11. Base the solution of evaluating its effectiveness in units of measure meaningful to the buyer.
12. Independently verify all work products.
13. Validate all work products from the perspective of the stakeholders.
14. Management needs to plan and implement effective and efficient transformation of requirements and goals into a solution description.

Typical System Engineering Activities

1. Technical management
2. System design
3. Product realization
4. Technical analysis and evaluation
5. Product control
6. Process control
7. Post-implementation support

Steps to Lean Thinking?[2]

1. Specify value
2. Identify value stream
3. Make value flow continuously
4. Let customers pull value
5. Pursue perfection

Differences and Similarities between Lean and Systems Engineering

1. Both emerged from practice. Only later were the principles and theories codified.
2. Both have focused on different phases of the product lifecycle. SE is generally focused on product development and more focused on planning. Lean is generally focused on product production and more focused on empirical action.
3. Unlike Lean, SE focuses less on quality, except for Integrated Product and Product Development (IPPD).

Despite these differences and similarities, both Lean and Systems Engineering are focused on the same objective: delivering products or lifecycle value to the stakeholders.

The lifecycle value drives both paradigms and must drive any other process paradigm associated with Lean and Systems Engineering, including paradigms like software development, project management, and the very notion of agile. A critical understanding often missed is that Lifecycle Value includes the cost of delivering that value.

Value can't be determined in the absence of knowing the cost. ROI and Microeconomics of decision making require both variables to be used to make decisions.

What do we mean by lifecycle?

Generally, lifecycle combines product performance, quality, cost, and fulfillment of the buyer's needed capabilities.[3]

Lean and Systems Engineering share this common goal—the more complex the system, the more contribution there is from Lean and SE.

Putting Lean and Systems Engineering Together on Real Projects

First, some success factors in complex projects [4]

1. Dedicated and stable interdisciplinary teams
2. Use of prototypes and models to generate tradeoffs
3. Prioritizing product features
4. Engagement with senior management and customers at every point in the project
5. Some form of high-performing front-end decision process that reduces the instability of key inputs and improves the flow of work throughout the product lifecycle.

This last success factor is core to any complex environment, no matter the process. Without stability of requirements and funding, improvements to workflow are constrained.

Adapting to changing requirements is not the same as making the requirements—and the associated funding—unstable.

Mapping the Value Stream to the work process requires some level of stability. Systems Engineering, as a paradigm, adds measurable value to any Lean initiative by searching for this stability.

The standardization and commonality of processes across complex systems are the basis for this value.?[5]

Conclusions

1. Lean and SE are two sides of the same coin regarding creating value for the stakeholder.
2. Lean and SE complement each other during different project phases – ideation, product trades for SE, and production waste removal for Lean anchor both ends of the spectrum of improvement opportunities.
3. Value stream thinking makes the paths to transition to a Lean paradigm visible while maintaining the systems engineering principles.?[6]
4. The result is the combination of Speed and Robustness – systems are easily adaptable to change while maintaining fewer surprises, using leading indicators to make decisions, and decreasing sensitivity to production and use variables.

[1]?"The Lean Enterprise – A Management Philosophy at Lockheed Martin," Joyce and Schechter,?Defense Acquisition Review Journal, 2004.

[2]?Lean Thinking, Womack and Jones, Simon and Schuster, 1996

[3]?Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, Murman, et al.l, Palgrave 2002.

[4]?"Lean Systems Engineering: Research Initiatives in Support of a New Paradigm," Rebentisch, Rhodes, and Murman,?Conference on Systems Engineering, April 2004.

[5]?LM21 Best Practices, Jack Hugus, National Security Studies, Louis A. Bantle Symposium, Syracuse University Maxwell School, October 1999

[6] "Enterprise Transition to Lean Roadmap," MIT Lean Aerospace Initiative, 2004 Plenary Conference.