Measuring performance change in the mechanical design process arena

2005 ◽  
Vol 219 (12) ◽  
pp. 851-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Egan ◽  
J. M. Ritchie ◽  
P. D. Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Process Measurement ◽  
Design Function ◽  
Engineering Institute

Measurement of the design process is an issue facing business and academic practitioners alike. This paper outlines an approach used to formalize design process measurement within a large electromechanical original equipment manufacturer (OEM) by applying a derivation of the Carnegie-Mellon/Software Engineering Institute systems engineering capability maturity model(R) (SE-CMM(R)), entitled the process capability model-mechanical design (PCM-MD). This new model was created using a similar structure and format of questions as the SE-CMM(R), with modifications to suit mechanical engineering terminology. This was then applied to the mechanical engineering design department of the partner company where it was successfully piloted and then reapplied to produce a picture of how the effectiveness or otherwise of the processes associated with their multidisciplinary mechanical design function altered over time. This work provided the building blocks for further detailed studies to be carried out at other sites in the same company and within the mechanical engineering departments of other firms.

Software and Systems Engineering Integration

2011 ◽  
pp. 3525-3530
Author(s):  
Rick Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Software Process Improvement ◽  
Capability Maturity Model ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Integrated Product Development ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Engineering Institute

With software an increasingly significant component of most products, it is vital that teams of software and systems engineers collaborate effectively to build cost effective, reliable products. This article will identify the key aspects of software engineering and systems engineering in an effort to highlight areas of consensus and conflict to support current efforts by practitioners and academics in the both disciplines in redefining and integrating their professions and bodies of knowledge. In response to increasing concerns about software development failures, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) pioneered a software process improvement model in 1988, with the fully developed version of their Capability Maturity Model for Software (SW- CMMâ) appearing in 1993. Since the early nineties, there have been comparable improvement models introduced in the systems engineering community as well, some of which have been published and widely accepted include: Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SE-CMM), also known as the Electronic Industries Alliance Interim Standard (EIA/IS) 731, Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM), and the Integrated Product Development Capability Maturity Model (IPD-CMM). The resulting avalanche of models and standards has been described by Sarah Sheard (Software Productivity Consortium) as a “Framework Quagmire”. In December of 2000, the SEI initiated the Capability Maturity Model–Integrated (CMMISM) project, which combines best practices from the systems and software engineering disciplines. (Note: CMMâ and CMMISM are copyrights and service marks of the Software Engineering Institute.) Recent studies (Carter et al., 2003; Goldenson & Gibson, 2003) have validated the SEI’s assertion the each of the disciplines benefit from incorporation of principles from the other. Moreover, there appears to be no fundamental differences between the disciplines that would prevent their integration.

The Technology of Language and How Advances Will Affect Mechanical Design

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Povilus ◽  
Jerome C. Conrad
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Mechanical Design

Abstract The Importance of Language To Mechanical Design Increasingly, an information-centric view of the design process is being offered as the key to improvements in mechanical engineering. In such views, the focus on the importance, requirements, and problems of language is clear.

Software and Systems Engineering

2003 ◽  
pp. 26-41
Author(s):  
Rick Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Capability Maturity Model ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Organizational Cultures ◽  
Capability Maturity ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Significant Point

This chapter will identify the key aspects of software engineering and systems engineering in an effort to highlight areas of consensus and conflict to support current efforts by practitioners and academics in both disciplines in redefining their professions and bodies of knowledge. By using the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model –Integrated (CMMISM) project, which combines best practices from the systems and software engineering disciplines, it can be shown that significant point of agreement and consensus are evident. Nevertheless, valid objections to such integration remain as areas of conflict. This chapter will provide an opportunity for these two communities to resolve unnecessary differences in terminology and methodologies that are reflected in their different perspectives and entrenched in their organizational cultures.

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