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Synergy Between Systems Engineering, DFSS and Concurrent Engineering

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Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • March 1, 2012 at 3:51 am #53981

    Samantha
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    I am doing an assignment and I have to investigate the links between Systems engineering, DFSS and concurrent engineering and discuss any overlaps or synergy. I would be very grateful if anybody could help me with the topic.

    Thanks and a lots of kisses.

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    March 1, 2012 at 6:22 am #192428

    Stan Mikel
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Member

    Thanks for the kisses.

    A little advice on here. Do some work before you come. Let us know you’ve actually got a clue what each of these things are and ask for clarification and elaboration.

    We don’t do your homework for you, but we will help with evidence you are trying and need help.

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    March 1, 2012 at 3:52 pm #192430

    MBBinWI
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    @stanmikel – wow, are you going soft. When I saw that you had replied before me, I reached over for my asbestos jacket and welding helmet and was looking forward to a good “flame.” But, alas, I guess the kisses got to you.

    Samantha: Why don’t you post a quick summary of your thoughts and I’ll tell you where you’re off track or not. Just a hint – two are necessarily related, and one enhances the others, but is not essential for the others.

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    March 3, 2012 at 4:17 pm #192437

    Samantha
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    I am very confused about System Engineering and DFSS. They seems very similar. Also, concurrent engineering and DFSS both seem like a part of systems engineering. I am totally lost.

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    March 3, 2012 at 6:05 pm #192438

    Abir
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    Hi,

    I am doing a similar assignment. As far I understood, System Engineering is concerned about the whole system and normally used for large and complex systems. It breaks down the system to different sub-systems to reduce complexity. It doesn’t only work on the design but considers other aspects of the system as well.

    The DFSS and Concurrent Engineering work basically on the design process. While the DFSS comes with a stage by stage approach, the concurrent engineering does the same thing concurrently. The goal of DFSS is to reduce defects and future reworks by improving the design at the very beginning of the product development. On the other hand, the main goal of concurrent engineering is to reduce the product development time which eventually reduce the product development cost.

    To the experts: I would be very grateful if you could correct my misconceptions. No kisses though!. :P

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    March 3, 2012 at 9:32 pm #192439

    Eric Maass
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    Hi Samantha,

    I’ve found that there is a lot of similarity between systems engineering and DFSS. I have been involved in DFSS for quite a while, and was Director of Systems Engineering for a wireless business, and saw a great deal of overlap, to the point where I (and others) have proposed merging them.

    You can learn more about Systems Engineering at http://www.incose.org/, the non-profit International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

    If you have some specific questions you\’d like help with, you can email me at [email protected] or at [email protected].

    Good luck with your assignment, and with your research!

    Best regards,
    Eric

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    March 4, 2012 at 5:21 pm #192441

    MBBinWI
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Abir – DfSS is more than just an organization method for prod dev.
    Samantha – You should be able to figure this out just by looking at the definitions here on iSS.
    Eric – With all due respect, I must disagree on the systems engineering compared to DfSS. Either can be accomplished without applying the tenets of the other. While it is certainly more advantageous to use them in concert with one another.

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    March 5, 2012 at 9:25 am #192448

    Eric Maass
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    MBBinWI,

    With all due respect, I do not see what you are disagreeing with.

    My point for Samantha is that Systems Engineering and DFSS are synergistic, and we can merge the systems engineering and DFSS efforts.

    If you have something you substantially disagree with, try to be clear. Clarity is important. If you are one of those annoying people who just like to disagree in order to assert their supposed superiority – fine, feel free to claim superiority.

    Jennifer – feel free to post follow up questions if you want more details to help you with your assignment.

    Best regards,
    Eric

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    March 5, 2012 at 11:31 am #192449

    MBBinWI
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Eric: Sys Eng does not specifically make attainment of a design robust to variations/noises (a key tenet of DfSS), and DfSS does not specifically identify a requirements cascade and optimization at component, sub-sys, and system levels. Thus, the core tenet of each is not emobdied in the other (although, as you correctly identify, they are very synergistic and I can’t think of a rationale where you wouldn’t apply both in a prod dev process).
    Now, the same cannot be said about concurrent engineering and one of these. In the interest of not “giving everything away” I’ll let Samantha do her own research and ask questions should she have more.
    Not trying to sound superior, just trying to get Samantha to figure things out for herself.
    BTW – if you see Tom Judd tell him we need to find a time to get together for dinner.

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    March 6, 2012 at 3:44 am #192451

    Eric Maass
    ★ 20 Years ★
    Guest

    MBBinWi – Thanks – so, it sounds like we are generally in agreement on the synergy between Systems Engineering. (Incidentally – Tom Judd insisted that I include the term “Systems” in the title of the book, “Applying DFSS to Software and Hardware Systems”….to emphasize the synergy between DFSS and Systems Engineering).

    Samantha – as I think each of us has been suggesting – please feel free to post follow up, more detailed questions. I hope you check out http://www.incose.org (for example, this overview or “primer” of systems engineering: http://www.incose.org/ProductsPubs/products/seprimer.aspx)

    For DFSS, you can check out the summary in this isixsigma website, but also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_six_sigma…or check out a book on the topic.

    Best regards,
    Eric Maass

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    March 6, 2012 at 4:04 am #192452

    Eric Maass
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Ah…I finally was able to log in under my former username – Yea!

    Samantha – I think MBBinWi was right about Concurrent Engineering – you can research it, but it likely won’t fit in well with the overall theme of your research paper.

    The overlap between DFSS and Systems Engineering starts at the front end – understanding the customer requirements, transforming those customer requirements into measurable requirements, and flowing them down through the system. DFSS methods can help the development team have confidence that the measurable requirements will be met over the range of uncertainties due to variations in manufacturing and usage or application. If you read about Systems Engineering, and then read about DFSS, you can build on this brief summary and develop a clear and strong paper on the topic.

    Best regards,
    Eric

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    March 6, 2012 at 7:16 pm #192457

    Mike Bonnice
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    DFSS is the integration of many methodologies that were each independently invented to improve the enterprise of design. I think a Venn diagram would be an excellent way to represent the answer to your assignment. Completing such a diagram would require an expert, and once produced it would draw much fire from people of various schools of thought. In the mean time you could start by just addressing the simplest representation. Which of these things are only in DFSS, which are in both DFSS and System Engineering, which are both in Concurrent Engineering and System Engineering, which are in all three, and which are not in any of them:

    Cross-functional work teams
    Structured flow-down of customer requirements
    Assessment of manufacturing capability
    Experimental optimization
    Verification of predictions
    Collecting fuzzy needs of customers
    Identifying noise factors
    Following a structured development process
    Writing requirements
    Segmenting customers
    Responsibility assignment
    and every other tool or activity that you’ll find in every reference of all three topics

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    March 7, 2012 at 3:12 pm #192478

    MBBinWI
    ★ 10 Years ★
    Participant

    Samantha… You still out there? Or did you get scared away?

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