From Process Aggregation to Process Integration

摘要

A process is a kind of system. As such, it derives its added value from the relationships among its elements (e.g., activities). For a group of activities to be truly integrated (versus merely aggregated), their interfaces must be well defined. In engineering processes, these interfaces usually indicate a flow of information. Engineering processes are extremely complex because of the large number of interfaces, as many types of information flow to many destinations. While the general structure of a process architecture is specified top-down, the description of what actually flows must be extracted from the existing, implicit way work really gets done. Detailed descriptions of various processes must then be integrated into a process model that will have some prescriptive value. (The systems engineering "V" model applies to processes as well as to products.) This paper applies a powerful technique for representing and analyzing complex processes, the design structure matrix (DSM). The paper shows how to use the DSM to account for both internal and external inputs and outputs, providing the basis for process "puzzle pieces" that can be assembled to form large, integrated processes where value can flow.