Aircraft design

Situation

Organization. A team of designers is tasked to design a series aircraft. The team consists of senior designers and junior designers. When confronted with design issues, junior designers tend to slow down if no senior designers are looking over their shoulders or sparring with them.

Environmental factors. Competition with other aircraft manufacturers.

Issues. Lesser accessibility of the knowledge of senior designers leads to more time and effort to resolve a design issue.

Ambition

Objective. Reduce the effort of designers needed to design a series aircraft.

Benefits. Less design effort and lower design costs.

Analysis. Worth pursuing.

Identify

Required capabilities to design a series aircraft:

• Deliver design service:
  • Design a new aircraft in an existing series [tacit].
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series [implicit].
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series [implicit].
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft [implicit].
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft [implicit].

Compare

Ranking of required capabilities:

• Organizational strategy:
  • Design a new aircraft in an existing series.
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft.
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft.

Appraise

Maturity of required capabilities:

• Group:
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft.
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft.
• Organizational:
  • Design a new aircraft in an existing series.

Route

Directions for competency development of required capabilities:

• Apply focus:
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft.
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft.

Unite

Formation of unique capabilities from required capabilities:

• Design a new aircraft in an existing series using the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series:
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft.
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft.

Secure

Organizational design:

• System. Elicit and include as instructions in the standard operating procedure:
  • Retrieve the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Reuse the design rationale of another aircraft in the same series.
  • Revise the design rationale of aircraft.
  • Retain the design rationale of aircraft.
• Skills. Train junior designers in executing the standard operating procedure.