Representatives from eleven major aerospace and defense companies have released the position of the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG) on the topic of enabling a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) conceptual design process for collaboration between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers. The group’s goal is MBSE collaboration and the bi-directional exchange of integrated digital models representing the system architecture, behavior, and design requirements.

This position paper details the problem statement for aerospace and defense OEMs operating within a large, globally distributed supply chain of design and development partners. Design collaboration is seriously hindered by relying on traditional, document-based development processes. The paper reports the outcome of a research study performed by a cross-industry team of MBSE subject matter experts to identify and characterize the gap in the capability of current MBSE standards and SysML-based authoring tools to support data exchange out-of-the-box. The paper then presents an evaluation of solution alternatives that defines both short- and long-term options to address the shortfall in current SysML-based authoring tools.

Mark Williams, Project Lead for MBSE Process and Tools at Boeing, who was a member of the project team stated, “To realistically reduce the cost of developing new products we must evolve from our document-based paradigm and embrace the principles of model-based engineering. This begins with the implementation of MBSE. We, therefore, need to define the near-term opportunities that enable the exchange of digital design information between the OEMs and the supply base. This is an industry problem that isn’t easily answered by relying on existing standards. Specifically, the aerospace industry needs to collectively define requirements for what needs to be exchanged, understand its own priorities, scour the market for alternatives, and agree on an interim set of solutions.”

Since its founding in 2014, the Aerospace and Defense PLM Action Group, which is administered by CIMdata, has sponsored research and jointly staffed projects on a diverse set of prioritized industry and technology topics, including Model-Based Definition; Multiple View Bill of Materials; PLM Technology Obsolescence Management; Global Collaboration; and MBSE. As an outcome of these investments, the Group has released a series of direction statements and position papers that are freely available for downloading from its website at www.ad-pag.com. Making these materials available is consistent with the Group’s mission to engage proactively within the PLM ecosystem and advocate for common direction and positions within the aerospace and defense industry on PLM-related topics of importance to the members.