In the photo lens the otherwise blurred forest is in focus

Clarity at the Beginning of Product Development?

System Design: Requirements Management & Systems Engineering

Customer's Challenge

Many projects for the development of products or subsystems start with a vague idea. Which technologies should be used to fulfill the requirements? And what are these requirements in the first place?

These were the questions our customers faced before we started a system design with them. On the one hand, we clarified the requirements (specification/requirements elicitation & requirements management) and then looked for solutions that fulfill the functional and non-functional requirements (systems engineering). Two types of non-functional requirements are often underestimated and confirm the Pareto principle.

Outcome

Based on the results, customers could make informed decisions about technology and project budget. This sometimes led to project terminations, because now the real parameters of the project became visible.On the one hand, such terminations are unpleasant for us as developers because there is no follow-up development. On the other hand, we find it more honest to cancel a project early on than to go through with a project that makes no business sense.

Investing in system design not only leads to more efficient projects, it also often creates the groundwork for important innovations to emerge. For example, we have transferred solutions from the automotive environment to aerospace several times in order to save costs and, above all, weight. And also to replace mechanics with electronics. Or we have developed modular concepts for machine controls, which can also be implemented in price-sensitive industries (e.g. household appliances).

Implementation

These projects (which we undertake time and again) benefit above all from our experience and our cross-industry knowledge, which allows us to transfer solutions between industries.