Is engineering a screw same as requirements gathering for a supplier software? Let us look at it in the following categories
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1.Pain: ‘Who has’ or ‘What are’ the major issues:
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a. Software: A list of major issues that people who are going to use the software will face.
b. Manufacturing: A list of major issues that will arise by using this screw to join two machines.
2. Interdependencies: Who or What will be affected by each of the issues:
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a. Software: For each issue identified by the business user who else in the organization, gets affected directly or indirectly if this issue is not resolved. This will help the software to account for related functionality that may be needed by other business users.
b. Manufacturing: For each mechanical issue created by joining the two machines which other component in theses machine will be directly or indirectly affected if there is an issue with the screw. This will help in identifying all the vibration, ware and tare on moving parts, and other considerations that is needed for engineering.
3. Security: Who or What can access this:
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a. Software: Which user has rights to add, update or delete information?
b. Manufacturing: Which sensors or parts and under what condition should interact with the screw. Should there be a sensor on the screw to stop the functioning of the machine under vibration reaching maximum value of frequency weighted acceleration (m/s2).
4. Existing System: What logic or parts can be leveraged of the existing system?
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a. Software: What are the existing business logics that can be leveraged from the existing system?
b. Manufacturing: Is there existing material or mechanical interface that can be leveraged to connect the two machines with this new screw?
5. Changes: How and what needs to be considered today for future changes.
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a. Software: How is the business going to change in the next two to five years? This will help in creating interfaces for the software to connect to other software system for future use.
b. Manufacturing: How will the usage of this machine change in the next two to five years? This will help in planning and designing a standard connectivity interface (screw) so that future re-engineering can be reduced.
6. Prototype: A non-working model to validate the screw or the software.
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a. Software: A whiteboard method can be used to show the business users how the information will follow and what they will see on their screen. This will help in identifying new requirements especially in prioritizing information that needs to be seen before other information.
b. Manufacturing: A non-working prototype will help with further analysis of the strength of materials, locking mechanism and other factors that will relate to manufacturing of this screw.
7. Processes: Where and how does this software or machine fit in the organization?
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a. Software: In the business process flow where does this software fit, which process is this software going to help improve efficiency, does this software get input from another process and/or feeds it’s output to another business process. These questions help in identify how this software will be used.
b. Manufacturing: Where in the manufacturing process this connected machine will be used, is this going to be used in a linear progression layout or others? This will give the engineer the knowledge on how this resulting new machine is going to be used and the factors that may impact the screw based on the input and output.
8. Rules: Is the software or the manufacturing governed under regulatory rules.
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a. Software: If an organization is governed by a regulatory body then the software may need validation and other specific requirements that may need to be implemented functionally into the software, to satisfy the regulatory requirements.
b. Manufacturing: In manufacturing the same will hold true, especially when dealing with heat generating machine or other electrical components. This will lead to putting right labels on the resulting machine after they have been joint using the screw.
Let us discover the answer to the above question over many blogs. In the blogs I will outline what is needed when a manufacturer manufactures a screw and compare it to software development, or selection process for custom or off-the-shelf software. 