The FIM-92 Stinger missile system is widely recognized as a technological success. It’s a lightweight, shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missile that can take down air threats with deadly precision. It has been in service for decades, but it almost didn’t make it out of testing.
Our world and our systems are safer than ever. A major reason why is that we’ve learned from prior mistakes. Many of our practices, rules, and standards are “written in blood” from past, tragic failures. We learn so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. Of course, we first identify the proximate causes—the specific events directly leading to a casualty. To truly learn, we must take a step back to examine the larger context: what were the preceding holes in the Swiss cheese, and how do we account for them in our systems engineering practice? This approach is increasingly important …
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The Navy installed touch-screen steering systems to save money. Ten sailors paid with their lives. ProPublica Ten sailors died after the crew of the destroyer USS John S. McCain lost control of their vessel, causing a collision with the merchant tanker Alnic MC. There was nothing technically wrong with the vessel or its controls. Though much of the blame was put on the Sailors and Officers aboard, the real fault rests with the design of the Integrated Bridge & Navigation System (IBNS).
Human performance is a major factor in overall system performance and humans are increasingly the bottleneck for system performance. Human factors engineering design drives human performance and thus system performance.
The US Department of Defense is overhauling it’s acquisition policy from a stale, process-driven approach to a new, outcome-driven approach. The new concept is called the Adaptive Acquisition Framework (AAF). Its goal is to remove bureaucracy and give government program managers more flexibility to adapt to the needs of their particular acquisition.
The vast majority of catastrophes are created by a series of factors that line up in just the wrong way, allowing seemingly-small details to add up to a major incident. The Swiss cheese model is a great way to visualize this and is fully compatible with systems thinking. Understanding it will help you design systems which are more resilient to failures, errors, and even security threats.
A system lexicon is a simple tool which can have a big impact on the success of the system. It aligns terminology among technical teams, the customer, subcontractors, support personnel, and end users. This creates shared understanding and improves consistency. Read on to learn how to implement this powerful tool on your program.
This article is required reading for anyone who needs to hire, wants to become, or is going to be working with an HSI expert. Understand what the job entails, the key skills required, and how it relates to the rest of the systems engineering effort.
HSI is a natural part of the systems engineering process. It adds minimal up-front cost for significant benefits and cost savings. Optimizing the system for performance and lifecycle cost benefits the customer. Ensuring early consideration of HSI factors reduces the risk of costly rework to the contractor. Delivering a system which is mission effective with reasonable lifecycle costs benefits everyone.
DoD acquisition policy requires Human Systems Integration (HSI). Various human-centered engineering approaches are also gaining traction outside of military projects. But is HSI just a fancier way of saying Human Factors Engineering (HFE)?