MBSE Grid: A Simplified SysML-Based Approach for Modeling Complex Systems

After an organization makes the decision to adopt model-based systems engineering (MBSE), it must go a long way before this decision proves right. There are many obstacles in this way, like stories about unsuccessful MBSE applications, insufficient information on how to proceed, and employee resistance to the cultural change to name a few. Neither of them is a true issue, if suitable enablers for MBSE adoption are chosen. Nowadays, MBSE is enabled by Systems Modeling Language (SysML). However, SysML is neither a framework nor a method: it provides no information about the modeling process and thus must be combined with some methodology to become truly applicable. This paper summarizes the experience of various MBSE adoption projects in the form of a new approach for MBSE. The approach is based on the framework organized in a matrix view and is designated to guide system engineers through the modeling process and help them answer the questions, like how to start, how to structure the model, what views to build, which artefacts to deliver, and in what sequence.