Written evidence submitted by the Industrial
Strategic Advisory Board of the University of Bristol and Bath
University Systems Centre (TIC 51)
1. BACKGROUND
AND DECLARATION
OF INTEREST
1.1. This submission has been prepared on behalf
of the Industrial Strategic Advisory Board of the Systems Centre
which is operated jointly by the Universities of Bristol and Bath.
The Systems Centre runs an Industrial Doctorate Centre sponsored
by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
with funding support amounting to £8.1 million and undertakes
research and development in the field of systems engineering.
The Centre has established collaborative relationships with around
forty industrial partners across all key engineering sectors,
and is supported by a further ~£4 million in cash and around
£10 million "in-kind" contributions from private
industrial sponsors. Partner organisations comprise well-known
blue chip companies including Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Arup,
Halcrow, Broadcom, Buro Happold, British Energy, Thales, Toshiba
Research and Fujitsu Microelectronics, as well as a diverse range
of Small-Medium Enterprises.
1.2. The purpose of this submission is to express
our support for the set up of the Technology Innovation Centres
(TICs), and to identify the very important contribution that we
believe systems engineering can make in successfully establishing
and operating the UK's TICs.
2. THE SYSTEMS
CENTRE MODEL
FOR DELIVERING
IMPACT
2.1. The Systems Centre has identified the delivery
of impact as a key strategic goal, and seeks to achieve this through
its taught Engineering Doctorate in systems engineering, through
development of systems integration solutions for its partner companies,
and through fundamental research to develop underpinning systems
engineering methodologies with generic application. The Centre
considers it one of its primary purposes to ensure take-up of
"systems thinking" in the UK economy, this being now
widely recognised in industry and academia as an urgent requirement1,2.
EPSRC is working to establish a coherent research base for systems
in which the UK is regarded as one of the world leaders, and the
Systems Centre at Bristol under the direction of Prof. Patrick
Godfrey and Prof. Andrew Graves, one of UK's centres of excellence.
2.2. The Systems Centre works highly effectively
at the interface between science and industry and we fully endorse
the establishment of TICs and the goal that they should also work
in this space. Regardless of the precise model used in the operation
of these Centres, we would wish strongly to encourage that "systems
thinking" plays a role in their setting up and operation
whereby maximum benefits can be delivered.
3. THE STATUS
OF SYSTEMS
ENGINEERING IN
THE UK
3.1. Systems engineering approaches recognise
that all "hard" technical systems are embedded in soft,
complex real-world systems in which management of human and environmental
factors are critical to achieving successful outcomes. As such
systems-based approaches seek to deliver solutions that will prove
effective over the entire product life-cycle, and actively seek
beneficial emergent properties from the integration of systems
in the real-world.
3.2. Whilst other countries are comparable in
their hard systems engineering capabilities, the UK is widely
regarded as a leader in a number of areas of systems engineering,
particularly in the integration of hard and soft systems engineering
and in modelling of complexity. The UK is therefore well-placed
to capitalise on this lead, and could gain significant competitive
advantage if it is able to recognise and deploy effectively its
soft systems methodology and understanding. We believe that in
opening of the TICs, there is an opportunity to embed systems
engineering approaches from the outset and that this will deliver
significant operational and economic impacts as outlined below.
4. THE CONTRIBUTION
OF SYSTEMS
ENGINEERING TO
TIC DELIVERY
4.1. Systems engineering activities are ubiquitous
within industry due to the complex and complicated systems our
high-value industries supply. Application areas include engineering
design and development, design of advanced manufacturing processes,
through-life platform management, as well as risk, safety and
quality management. It is challenges such as these—complex
technical and socio-economic problems—which will need to
be addressed as technologies are matured rapidly through the mid-range
Technology Readiness Levels.
4.2. Innovation and Control of Risk. The
key success of the Fraunhofer model is the ability to exploit
innovative technology and to deliver it to market rapidly. Industrial
competitiveness is enhanced through innovation, and there is a
clear advantage in quickening the pace with which novel and complex
engineering products and processes can be brought to market, both
for suppliers and end users. We believe that systems approaches
provide the means to engineer "synergy" successfully,
ie to design and manage for desirable emergent properties as well
as to predict and reduce undesirable impacts.
4.3. Rapid Transfer of Technology to Market.
The explicit management of uncertainty, managing both to control
risks and in searching for innovative outcomes, answers the need
for both innovation and rapid product design, development
and testing. Benefits include quicker introduction of new technologies,
more rapid updates and modifications to "in-service"
systems, a greater capacity to engage successfully with high-value
riskier projects, and as a result, the potential to derive major
additional competitive advantage.
4.4. Efficient Design and Production Processes.
As engineered systems become increasingly complex and complicated,
successful project delivery requires the application of Integrated
Product and Process Development techniques to the entire supply
chain, such as those currently being implemented under the UK
aerospace industry's SC21 change programme. A recent successful
example of a systems engineering approach is the lean engineering
programme with tools and techniques widely deployed by industry.
Model-Based Systems Engineering (Integration) techniques, including
the use of synthetic environments for the evaluation, testing
and training of human-in-the-loop, ultra-scalable systems, and
"systems of systems" can also deliver enhanced economic
efficiency. These range from concept development, system design,
advanced manufacturing, through to Independent Verification, Validation
and Test (IVVT) of extremely complex systems. All are appropriate
approaches to deploy in the interface between novel technology
and delivering products and technologies to market.
4.5. Delivering Real-World Solutions. Typical
engineering problems require engineers to meet a wide range of
stakeholder needs, frequently with conflicting objectives, and
interaction with environmental systems in which there may be a
high degree of uncertainty. Two examples are meeting the through-life
requirements of operators and successfully deploying complex engineered
systems into unforeseen real-world situations. For the TICs to
work effectively and deliver viable technical solutions, they
will need methods and tools capable of dealing with complexity
and uncertainty. Again systems engineering could provide a significant
enhancement to the proposed TICs if it is adopted as integral
to their operating systems and culture.
5. CONCLUSION
5.1. In conclusion, we believe that the benefit
for TICs, from engaging with systems engineering, will include:
(1) more rapid technology transfer through the Technology Readiness
Levels 4 to 6 to industrial partners and therefore to market;
better design and more fit for purpose systems/products; (2) more
robust, safe and sustainable end products delivered by using multi-disciplinary
approaches and accounting for uncertainty and complexity of real
world applications; (3) fewer costly failures arising out of the
product design and development phase because of a more holistic
"end-to-end" view of the engineering processes. In addition
there is great value in the use of systems engineering to facilitate
cross-disciplinary communication and in capturing of the needs
of diverse stakeholders. It is for these reasons that we would
encourage the Science and Technology Committee to give serious
consideration to our recommendation that systems engineering approaches
are adopted in the set-up and operation of the UK's TIC programme.
This submission is presented on behalf of the Strategic
Advisory Board of The Systems Centre.
Prof David Oxenham
Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board,
Systems Centre
Patrick Godfrey
Director of the Systems Centre and EPSRC
Industrial Doctorate Centre Advocate
2 December 2010
REFERENCES
1. Creating systems that work: Principles of engineering
systems for the 21st century. Royal Academy of Engineering Report.
ISBN: 1-903496-34-9, June 2007.
2. "Creating a High-Value Economy", Address
to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce by Sir John Rose, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce plc,
10 November 2009.
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