Complex Systems

Larger-scale products such as automobiles and airplanes are complex systems comprised of many interacting subsystems and components. When developing complex systems, modifications to the generic product development process address a number of system-level issues. The concept development phase considers the architecture of the entire system, and multiple architectures may be considered as competing concepts for the overall system. The system-level design phase becomes critical. During this phase, the system is decomposed into subsystems and these further into many components. Teams are assigned to develop each component. Additional teams are assigned the special challenge of integrating components into the subsystems and these into the overall system. Detail design of the components is a highly parallel process in which the many development teams work at once, usually separately. Managing the network of interactions across the components and subsystems is the task of system engineering specialists of many kinds. The testing and refinement phase includes not only system integration, but also extensive testing and validation at all levels. References and Bibliography Many current resources are available on the Internet via www.ulrich-eppinger.net Stage-gate product development processes have been dominant in manufacturing firms for the past 30 years. Cooper describes the modem stage-gate process and many of its enabling practices. Cooper, Robert G., Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, third edition, Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA, 2001.