Copyright © 2021 by SYSTEMS ENGINEERING A/S

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Systems Engineering Concept®

2nd GenerationRev. 2.1

Introduction

1

The Systems Engineering Concept® (SEC) is a knowledge-based concept proven to accelerate systems engineering (SE) journey in a

business. By implementing SEC, you accelerate SE with the resources you already have. There is no need for specialists, special

training or software. Your organization learns SE by doing it!

First step is to establish a common language across management and any technical discipline; a language that creates an

unambiguous understanding of the system design from idea to operation.

The SEC is a concept for the development of technical systems of any kind that ensures a gradual maturing of the system

requirements, its design and information. The concept provides a holistic approach to system analysis and development, which focuses

on the way systems’ constituent parts interrelate and how the system over time works within context.

The concept is key to leveraging systems engineering across the entire organization, as SEC assures that this is the language spoken.

SEC enables your organization to cooperate across disciplines ensuring on-time delivery of high-quality projects within budget. All

of which can be achieved by implementing the 2nd generation of our Systems Engineering Concept®.

It’s all about creating a

common language

The Concept

2

The Systems Engineering Concept® (SEC) is designed to

manage complex projects in a non-perfect world by means of

three elements:

Architecture: Systematic structuring of all systems, system

elements, and relevant requirements.

Process: Agile system development and management for the

gradual maturation of requirements, design and integration,

with continuous stakeholder verification and validation.

Information: Controlled stepwise accumulation of

information, e.g., documentation, which ensures just-in-time

information for each development stage.

The output is a thoroughly verified and validated system

design that is documented in a clear manner as the design

progresses. This ensures complete control of the

development and management of any system design.

The SEC is rooted in systems engineering fundamentals,

international standards, and recognized norms on which we

are well-known experts. The SEC is a knowledge-based

concept built on more than 20 years of experience working

with systems engineering, which we have reverse

engineered and implemented in the SEC.

With the SEC, an organization acquires explicit actions and

practical tools that enable any company to handle the

complex business challenges of today.

Architecture

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Process InformationArchitecture

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Process InformationArchitecture

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Process Information

The SEC provides methods for describing and handling the

complete architecture by means of structuring a system from

different viewpoints and structuring all the relevant

requirements:

System structuring: The premise for SEC is to structure

systems and system ownership systematically from different

viewpoints, e.g., functional, location, product, and modular

structures, in accordance with ISO/IEC 81346. This provides

a complete overview of all systems and system owners

involved in the project.

Requirements structuring: The SEC provides a systematic

way of organizing requirements for continuous maturation,

verification, and validation. This ensures that all requirements

are properly handled and allocated, and that they are fit for

purpose.

By enabling systematic structuring, SEC provides a complete

overview of all systems, system elements and relevant

requirements, which is key to creating a common language.

Architecture

§

3

Data integrity creation

and improvement

Process

4

The SEC process consists of loops where activities are

systematically conducted during the system development.

The SEC process is agile and can be tailored to fit any

context whilst other subject of relevance can be added or

integrated to the development process. The process

handles, amongst others: system development and system

integration, system requirements, and stakeholder

management.

System development and integration: Effective system

development depends on the ability to mature requirements,

and successful system integration requires systematic focus

throughout the development. The process therefore provides

the systematics for maturing the requirements through an

agile approach.

Stakeholder and requirements management: Stakeholders

are systematically identified and involved during the entire

process. During the development, input on requirements and

system design are critical for delivery of the right system

design. SEC ensures continuous management of all

stakeholders and requirements.

The process provides a clear baseline for review and test at

any level of information, as the design matures with

continuous stakeholder verification and validation.

§

Design changes overview

and management

Information

5

The SEC regards information as something that is gradually

built as the design progresses in the development process,

and is used for communicating with stakeholders.

Documentation, which is a subset of information, must

therefore only be produced when needed and address

relevant parts of a system that is of interest to the identified

stakeholders.

Information structuring: The SEC provides a systematic

approach to structure all information, e.g., documents, in

accordance with ISO/IEC 81355 & 62023. This ensures that

all relevant information is captured, structured, and allocated

properly for the gradual development of information.

Information management: System information reflects the

level of available design information for a system; it must

therefore be gradually developed and structured as the

available design information increases. The SEC prevents

overloading stakeholders with information, which means that

information becomes available when needed, just-in-time, for

a given stage in the development process.

The SEC allows for systematically building and reusing

relevant information as needed, so that information is

structured and managed consistently throughout the entire

system development process.

Information provided at

the right time and level

of detail

Implementation

6

The SEC is easily implemented as it allows for tailoring and

integration to meet and support existing processes in your

organization:

Tailoring: The main purpose of tailoring the SEC is to adapt

SEC to the organization, and not vice versa. The SEC will

support and strengthen existing project management

processes and organizational arrangements with practical

hands-on methods and checklists while executing systems

engineering.

Integration: To support daily life, the SEC integrates with

commonly used project management frameworks and

disciplines exemplified by IPMA®, PMI®, PRINCE2® and ISO

21500. Detailed integration overview for each project

management framework is available from our homepage. The

SEC integrates smoothly with recognized development

models, such as the SE V-model and the classical waterfall

model, while supporting commonly known areas such as

model-based systems engineering (MBSE), Industry 4.0, and

digitalization in general.

The SEC has a high degree of adaptability and strengthens

and improves the current state of your company.

Project management frameworks

with which SEC integrates

Module Overview

7

The SEC can be implemented in your organization following incremental steps as defined by the SEC modules. The SEC consists of

five modules, which address various aspects of the concept.

It is a prerequisite to apply the M1 System Structuring Module, as this establishes the basis for launching your systems engineering

journey. The remaining SEC modules can be combined to fit your organization's needs.

M3a M3cM3b

System Structuring Module

System Process Module

System Integration Module System Information Module System Interconnection Module

M1

M2

Module Matrix

8

M1

M2

M3a

M3b

M3c

Link to M1

Link to M2

Link to M3a

Link to M3b

Link to M3c

System Structuring Module

A structuring and Reference Designation System

(RDS) module including functionalities for handling

multiple aspects of the same system.

Visible Impacts

- Design clarity and consistency in projects

- Stakeholders’ common language and system understanding

- Allocation of system ownership and responsibility

Visible Impacts

- Design discrepancy elimination

- Elimination of delays due to missing information

- System progress monitoring

System Process Module

A process module for agile system development.

Manages stakeholders and requirements through

a number of iterations.

System Integration Module

A single domain system integration module

for managing interface types and progress.

Visible Impacts

- Acceleration of systematic system integration process

- Elimination of misalignments in system integration design

- One shared system integration model

System Information Module

A module for managing information per system

at any given state in the product lifecycle.

Visible Impacts

- Information provided at the right time and level of detail

- Process for information management

- Common understanding of system information

System Interconnection Module

A multi domain system integration module for

managing relations between multiple domains

throughout the lifecycles of a system.

Visible Impacts

- Relation model across domains

- Relations between system domains and stakeholders

- Transparency between all production objects and activities

Module Elements

9

Provides easy-to-use instructions for

systems engineering. It contains tools,

processes, and checklists based on

technical knowledge from more than 20

years of experience working with

systems engineering.

Each of the SEC module comes with

an implementation package, which

includes support from INCOSE certified

Systems Engineering Specialists. The

service package can be tailored to any

organizational needs.

The SEC modules are supported by

the SEC-Hub. The software is cloud-

based toolset, which handles the

system information on an easy-to-use

platform, which has a wide range of

integration possibilities through an API.

Each of the SEC modules comes with elements of SEC/methods, SEC/services, and SEC/software to equip your organization. The

SEC always comes with adaptable methods, whereas the level of service is adjustable to your needs. The SEC is designed to run

without software at all. However, you can accelerate some of the SEC methods with our web-based collaboration software.

Opportunities

10

Costs: The SEC has over the years enabled a wide range of

companies to radically reduce engineering and project costs,

including the cost of contingencies.

You can calculate the benefits of implementing SEC using

your own figures in our SEC module calculators. The

calculators are based on real case studies and on experience

with implementing SEC in the industry.

Use the SEC calculators to evaluate your return on

investment and see what opportunities SEC may bring.

Time-to-market: The SEC has proven efficient in radically

reducing time-to-market for large-scale engineering

companies.

Our time-to-market calculator will provide you with the

required inputs on how the SEC can impact your current

project lead time. The calculator is based on real life cases in

the engineering industry.

Use the SEC calculators to evaluate your future time-to-

market when implementing the SEC.

YOUR FIGURES

+

SEC CALCULATORS

YOUR ECONOMICAL BENEFIT

Baseline SEC project

+80%

-15%Cost

www.SystemsEngineeringConcept.dk

(+45) 25 94 80 30 / SEC@syseng.dk

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING A/S

LIVJÆGERGADE 17B-2, 2100 COPENHAGEN, DENMARK