Kenneth Hoffman

Systems of systems engineering in the enterprise context: a unifying framework for dynamics

Systems of systems engineering (SoSE) takes place in the broader context of an enterprise, which we define very generally as a purposeful or industrious undertaking. Enterprises of greatest interest for SoSE are typically complex, multi-agent organizations or sets of organizations exhibiting the characteristics of complex adaptive systems, including evolutionary and emergent behaviors at multiple scales. The most fundamental of enterprise purposes are manifest in enterprise operations, in which the enterprise interacts with the larger world external to itself, and this aspect of enterprise dynamics is modeled. SoSE is but one aspect of an enterprises activities, and the whole set of enterprise activities is predominantly oriented towards accomplishing and supporting the enterprises mission in operations. This paper proposes a unifying framework for understanding and modeling the organizational, technical, and system complexities of enterprise dynamics across a range of enterprise types as major acquisition program initiatives are undertaken to provide improved operational capabilities

Management of enterprise-wide systems integration programs

Automation and Information Systems play both tactical and strategic roles in the success of a business enterprise. They also pose an extremely challenging set of management issues concerned with the selection and management of technologies, management of the workforce to achieve successful implementation and operational use, and the integration of automation and information systems with business operations to capture the full benefits. Systems Integration programs involve high levels of technical and management risk commensurate with the significant business benefits that may be achieved. New and emerging automation and information technologies for Computer Integrated Manufacturing/Distribution, image processing, real-time transaction processing, and customer service cut across all organizational and functional units of an enterprise and require full system integration to capture their potential benefits. A wave of re-engineering programs are underway within commercial enterprises and the government to modify their business processes to take full competitive advantage of these technologies.There are numerous examples of both well managed and hopelessly mangled systems integration programs in both the public and private sectors that lead to the need for better management approaches. The management of software development has been a particularly troublesome area. This article presents a general model of the management structure to implement a systems integration program, using an enterprise-wide Information Systems Architecture (ISA) as a roadmap, and supported by a defined set of measures and metrics. Standards, although no panacea for systems integratio, play an important role in the architectural framework.The Information System Architecture approach described in this article is comprehensive in covering application software and data architecture as well as the computing and communications hardware infrastructure and other automation technologies that support the overall business process. The objective of the accompanying management model is to define a management structure, its essential functions, and methods that support a traditional systems development approach, as well as new approaches using prototyping and evolutionary development. Any of these management approaches require an ISA that is comprehensive in supporting business objectives, resilient in accommodating changing business conditions and technologies, and useful in producing a practical information architecture that can be applied to business operations. Examples of the ISA approach that support systems management are discussed for representative types of enterprise in the manufacturing sector and the service sector:(1)The Manufacturing/Distribution Enterprise example uses automated manufacturing and materials handling systems supported by MRPII software to integrate engineering, distribution, and financial systems; and(2)The Financial Services Enterprise example applies automated transaction processing using image processing and document management systems to achieve improved products and a more productive workflow with enhanced response to customers and/or clients.

Emergent Enterprise Dynamics in Optimal Control Models of the System of Systems Engineering Process

An enter-prise engaged in a dynamic mission involving multiple internal and external stakeholders operates as a complex adaptive system. System of systems engineering in such a context, spanning the entire cycle from research and development, through acquisition, transition to operations, operational use and maintenance, and system retirement, is extraordinarily complex. Here, we apply high-level and simplified optimal control-theoretic models of complex system of systems engineering processes to the acquisition of new capabilities or enterprise transformation. The results suggest guidelines and research directions for planning and managing the system of systems engineering processes of an enterprise. The results also provide quantitative benchmarks against which all kinds of enterprise programs, encompassing acquisition of capabilities and operational use towards a mission, can be compared. Such modeling also could be used to support decision-making on selection of acquisition and management approaches for these extremely complex efforts.

An integrated materials information system for infrastructure planning

The vitality of a nation or region is based on the effective use of material resources for public and private infrastructure. There are an abundance of technological options and policy choices that can be defined. A value chain approach based on the Reference Material System, using state-of-the-art information systems, can be used to provide an integrated framework for information on material resources and finished materials markets to support planning and analysis of the physical infrastructure that is essential to social and economic development. This framework also provides a model for tracking annual flows and stock levels for the capital account of a region or nation.

An agent-based model for the evidence-basec long term planning of power and water critical infrastructures

The comfort, mobility, and economic well-being of the U.S. population depends on reliable and affordable electric power services. Sustainable water supplies are required for operating conventional power plants and long-term planning across these sectors is not well coordinated. It is increasingly important to analyze the security, sustainability, and resilience of mid- and long-term electric utility and water system capacity expansion plans in an integrated fashion with respect to potential challenges posed by climate change and other risks to this critical infrastructure. We develop an agent-based model (ABM) of a typical regional power system that incorporates the features of specific plant types and their cooling systems that are dependent on abundant water supplies at appropriate temperatures and quantities to support full power operation. The effects of potential water restrictions and constraints to power plant cooling systems (cooling towers, cooling ponds, and once-through condensers) are analyzed to estimate the potential impact of climate change or water temperature restrictions on a particular long-term expansion plan.