We now have linked our scope through to the various levels of requirements. We are then able to prioritize the delivery of the various project obligations.  The prioritization may be based, for example upon: Technical need Customer need Regulatory requirements Complexity and Risk Technical needs are the dependencies to getting the product features working, for […]

Our configuration management is borne out of our requirements.  In our earlier blog post, we discussed how the project scope must be traceable to the requirements. In the case we present below, the project scope is a particular function or need to be met, for example a new feature or function for an automobile.  We […]

So how do we ensure we get meaningful requirements? We have a number of ways to understand our objective and learning about the Interviews customer clinics Simulation Digital mock ups Prototype physical mock ups Instrumentation Other information gathering (standards, regulations, etc.) We start with interviews of customers, stakeholders and project sponsors. Interviews also include customer […]

Requirements are fundamental to project success as the scope definition.  Additionally, there are dependencies that impact the ability to produce suitable requirements.  A few of those things are: Well defined scope of the work Sponsor and customer involvement Capability of the requirements authors Prioritized functions or abilities The needs or objectives of the customers or […]

Consider a rather large project that like so many projects had some difficulties. The project team had a major component (subsystem) delivered from a supplier. The supplier has one set of processes and the customer organization another. This supplier delivers multiple versions of this major subsystem. The customer integrates this subsystem into the larger system […]

People in education often like to implement “programs.” In fact, we call this syndrome “program-itis” because it leads to inflammation of the budget. As with many corporation, we see people who want to improve a situation decide to follow “best practices” without verifying that these are, in fact, best practices. They can only be best […]

We have been on a bit a tear (or rant) about FMEAs. We suggest the FMEA documentation is part of the core of a design process. The ultimate approach we have seen is that of Michael Anleitner (The Power of Deduction: Failure Modes and Effects Analysis for Design, Quality Press, 2010), which uses functional analysis […]

There is only one way to describe this scenario and that is via a story.  Consider the organization that is coming to the end of the project.  The product is a complicated subassembly that goes into a larger system and has numerous interactions and incarnations of the design.  They are late in the delivery of […]

We submit that a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) review is a form of design review. After all, one of the purposes of a design review is to try and remove defects before they appear in the product and that is the entire rationale for the FMEA in the first place. Yet, most of […]