Challenges & Solutions
Complex products require specific development solutions
Market conditions can change, customer expectations vary and the economic environment adds further uncertainties. The economically feasible and at the same time reliable definition and realization of product variants demands an engineering environment with specific capabilities.
Some of these are described here.
Resolve link relationships correctly
Why is this relevant?
- In many projects, it is imperative to prove the fulfillment of requirements completely and in detail at the level of the engineering artifacts.
- This applies in particular to safety-critical systems, but can also be relevant in other scenarios, e.g. in contract development, in order to demonstrate to the client the fulfillment of all requirements.
- Each requirement is linked to design elements, models, source code modules, test cases, test results, etc. so that proof of fulfillment is seamless and can be reproduced at any time.
- This traceability, i.e. the linking at artifact level across the various engineering disciplines, must always lead to the ‘correct incarnation’ of the linked artifacts, even across versions and variants.
- The correct resolution of link relationships is an essential prerequisite for the digital thread.
- Otherwise, problems may occur:
- Expired links: Artifacts are deleted or changed so that existing references become void.
- Versioning conflicts: Links either point to old or incomplete versions
- Variant management problems: Different product versions lead to incorrect or missing references.
- Branching & merging issues: Changes in separate development threads can invalidate links.
How can the solution look like?
- An essential prerequisite for solving these problems is the correct resolution of the links. It must be possible, at any time to access exactly the linked artifact via a link that belongs to the right version and the right variant.
- Ensuring the automated correct resolution of links is a key competence in engineering which helps to avoid costly risks, such as unclear dependencies, compliance gaps, violation of documentation obligations or costly manual error correction.
How can this solution be implemented?
- The Global Configurations Management feature of the IBM ELM Suite enables the definition of global configurations in which artifacts from different versions or variants of software and product lines are reused and managed.
- A global configuration is a combination of configurations from various lifecycle tools (e.g. IBM DOORS® Next, IBM ETM, IBM Rhapsody®, etc.).
- Global Configurations ensure that links between artifacts are always resolved to refer to the correct version.
- The linking is based on the OSLC standard (Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration), which is natively supported by the IBM ELM tools.
Rolling Baselines
Why is this relevant?
- Usually there are different engineering disciplines involved in a complex systems development project, and each of these uses dedicated tools.
- Therefore, the versions belonging to a particular development status or milestone are often created at different times in the various disciplines.
- At any given time, however, the individual engineering disciplines are likely to work on different stages of development.
- A baseline therefore does not document the artifacts and work results at a specific point in time, but in relation to a specific milestone. It is irrelevant when this milestone was reached in the individual disciplines.
Example Automotive industry
- The team is working on the implementation of prototype C while prototype B is still being tested.
- The prototyp B tests reveal an error that forces the verification to be stopped.
- In this scenario, engineering must be able to create a workaround within the prototype B context to allow verification of B to be continued independently of prototype C.
How can the solution look like?
- The solution is a Dynamic or Rolling Baselinerepresenting a specific milestone of the system under development (e.g. prototype A in an Automotive project).
- Each engineering discipline can commit their work results corresponding to prototype A into the baseline when these deliveries have been created (time-shifted baselining).
- Work then begins on the next milestone level (e.g. prototype B). This allows different engineering disciplines to work on different milestones at a certain point in time.
How can this solution be implemented?
- The Global Configurations Management feature implemented in the IBM ELM tool suite facilitates use of rolling baselines.
- When using global configurations, teams in different engineering disciplines can work in parallel on different development streams or recreate previous development environments.
- Work results can be committed to the baseline with a time delay so that the baselines each define a certain milestone or maturity level (and not a status at a specific point in time).
- The linking of artifacts is based on the OSLC standard (Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration), which is natively supported by the IBM ELM tools.
Global Baselines
Why is this relevant?
- A global configuration combines configuration elements from the engineering disciplines involved in the project.
- A hierarchical structure of local configurations is created.
- Each of these configurations has a local baseline that reflects the specific stage of development or milestone.
- Pooling the local baselines that belong to a global configuration facilitates collaboration in complex development projects and increases transparency.
How can the solution look like?
- A global baseline includes all local baselines associated with a global configuration.
- Similar to a global configuration, which includes the configurations locally managed in the various engineering tools, the global baseline is also structured hierarchically.
- The global baseline documents the artifacts and work results related to a specific milestone across all tools involved in the engineering process
How can this solution be implemented?
- The Global Configurations Management feature of the IBM ELM tool suite facilitates use of global baselines.
- Teams in different engineering disciplines can work in parallel on different development streams.
- A global stream used by one team can be adapted to a global baseline created by another team.
- For example, when developing a product variant, the stream can be updated with baselines of the common components that are also included in other variants to make sure that always the latest version of common components are included.
Global Configuration Management Change Sets
Why is this relevant?
- Changes to modules that are shared by several variants usually affect these variants simultaneously.
- However, it may well be the case that a change in one variant should not take effect in another variant at the same time.
- It should then also be possible to determine the time at which a change takes effect for each variant.
- Concepts for managing the differences between variants, such as VaMoS, usually do not provide a mechanism for decoupling the changes over time.
How can the solution look like?
- It should be possible to determine the time at which a change takes effect for each variant. It should be possible to define variant-specific groups of changes that are to take effect at the same time.
- It should be possible to define variant-specific groups of changes that are to take effect at the same time.
How can this solution be implemented?
- The Global Configurations Management feature of the IBM ELM Suite enables the definition of configurations across variants.
- With the concept of change sets in a Global Configurations environment, it is possible to precisely control which changes are to take effect when and in which variants.
- This means that changes to common components for different variants can be decoupled over time and introduced in a controlled manner for each variant.
- It remains to be seen whether VaMoS can be combined with Global Configurations to enable the temporal decoupling of the effectiveness of changes in different variants in this environment as well.
Digital thread
Why is this relevant?
- The digital thread is the digital representation of a product's lifecycle, from design to production to maintenance and beyond. It contains all digital data and artifacts across the entire lifecycle.
- In systems and software engineering, the digital thread comprises all digital artifacts that are created throughout the course of the lifecycle from the idea to the termination of maintenance.
- The digital thread enables a complete and transparent view of the individual engineering disciplines and is the basis for efficient collaboration and decision-making in all phases of the engineering project.
- The digital thread optimizes traceability across the entire lifecycle and enables monitoring of project progress at any time based on up-to-date realtime data.
How can the solution look like?
- The existence of a digital thread implies that all artifacts from the engineering disciplines involved in the creation process are available in digital form.
- Furthermore, these digital artifacts must be addressable and referenceable at a granular level.
- It must be possible to link artifacts from different engineering tools to create impact chains that enable traceability across the entire lifecycle.
- The correct resolution of links must be guaranteed at all times, so that the artifact is always referenced in the correct version and the correct variant.
How can this solution be implemented?
- The OSLC standard (Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration) allows artifacts to be linked and accessed across engineering disciplines.
- The OSLC standard is natively supported by the IBM ELM tool suite.
- Thus, linked artifacts can be visualized in another lifecycle tool without creating copies and without changing tools.
Please contact us:
We talk Global Config
Do you have questions about Global Configuration Management?
Tap into our decades of experience from many successful projects.
Contact us by email or phone: