System Integration

Dedicated to the dissemination of System Integration information

In this world very few completely new products are produced.  In my lifetime (I was born in 1960) I can think of: -

 

1. The Personal Computer.

2. The Video Cassette recorder.

3. The DVD + DVD player.

4. The CD + CD player.

5. MP3 player.

 

There are probably a few more, their again you could say that some of my list are related and one is just an evolution of another.  The point is that most systems are evolutions of previous systems, they do something quicker, better, more efficiently etc.

 

When thinking about the System Integration (S.I.) of a system the experience of the S.I. department, and indeed the experience of the company as a whole, needs to be considered.  Very few departments will be able to perform S.I. on a completely new product in a timely manner.  The system cannot be simply put into the S.I. department and the engineers told to get on with the job.

 

If a company is moving into a new area, thought should be given to producing a ‘technology demonstrator’ (or prototype), i.e. produce a system that not only proves the company has the technology to produce the system but allows the company, and departments within the company, to build up the necessary experience.  The technology demonstrator not only proves the technology but also allows the various departments, including the S.I. department, to build up the necessary experience.

 

If the company has experience with the product, but the S.I. department is inexperienced, think about how you will manage this situation, how you will get the S.I. engineers up the learning curve as quickly as possible.

System Evolution