Insights from Large Scale Model Based Systems Engineering at Boeing

Abstract

Development and design of increasingly integrated aerospace systems, by globally distributed engineering teams, presents challenges in bounding the effort required to produce, integrate, manage and validate the large and detailed accompanying specification datasets. Model Based Systems Engineering has become essential in allowing Boeing to meet these challenges. Through verification and validation of sufficiently detailed large scale system architecture models, Boeing has been successful in accelerating data release schedules, while at the same time eliminating specification errors that result in costly rework. In the process of developing these large scale system architecture models, Boeing has acquired some insights into what is required to effectively develop, deploy and manage an MBSE environment, and these insights are detailed in this paper. Additionally, recommendations are made as to how standards organization, the MBSE tool industry, and academia could better support the MBSE community.