Leonardo-Finmeccanica - Aircraft Division needs for Integrated Systems Engineering: the CRYSTAL user experience

In the aerospace sector the products complexity clearly highlights the need to manage a wide variety of technologies in evolving and changeable scenarios. A way to successfully govern this multiplicity is by designing products thoughtfully integrated and ready to operate in scenarios that grow more and more entangled by the day. Fully embracing an integrated Systems Engineering (SE) approach is one way to untie this knot. Leonardo-Finmeccanica – Aircraft Division has been involved in different innovation initiatives aimed at promoting the use of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methodologies and tools integration as standard practices, in order to define an internal structured and robust Systems Engineering Process. The participation to the ARTEMIS CRYSTAL research project is part of these initiatives and is focused on validating innovative workflows and modeling approaches in a multi tool – multi user scenario. The definition of an appropriate Project Management environment and of a minimum set of Configuration Items to be properly managed starting from the Preliminary Design phase also represents a primary objective. This paper explains the industrial needs, the applied solutions and the experience made in implementing the demonstration scenario in the CRYSTAL research project focused on a specific aerospace Case Study. Keywords—Model Based Systems Engineering; Interoperability Specification; Tool Chain; OSLC; SPEM; Product Lifecycle Management.