34th EDM Workshop: System Engineering based Smart Product Exploration

Intelligence and connectivity are essential properties of an increasing number of products in a wide range of applications. Making a product smart and connected opens possibilities but also raises questions: what do our customers really need? What value do we need to offer? How to reduce risks? What technology and expertise are needed? How to establish a successful business?
In this workshop we introduce a system engineering based methodology to master the fuzzy front-end of smart product development which we call the New Product Exploration stage. In this stage the stakeholder’s needs and problems and their potential solutions are explored. It addresses key questions like:
- How can we obtain a validated solution concept efficiently without cost and time budget overruns.
- What expertise and capabilities do we need to develop, produce and manage the life-cycle of the smart product solution?
After a short introduction to system life-cycle stages and processes, the New Product Exploration methodology is introduced based on the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 and 24784-1 system engineering. We discuss how the problems and needs of stakeholders can be explored and how a solution can be validated.
In a second part we focus on the organization developing the system solution. What are the capabilities an organziation needs to have to be able to develop smart products and create a successful business with and/or around a smart product, and what is the status of these capabilities? What is the status of our product development and its life-cycle management? We will present an organization and product maturity assessment tool.