The importance of detail in definition

Requirements definition

Our holistic requirements engineering approach sees us explore, analyze, negotiate and define user and system requirements to give you a comprehensive specification of your needs. This broad perspective allows for complex linkages to be maintained between user and system requirements. As advisors, we are helped by our independence from external shareholders or manufacturing interests, enabling us to give an objective perspective. 

We create a structured and auditable evidence base on which to make clear, concise and timely decisions with confidence that requirements can be met within performance, budget and/or time constraints. Integrated management and modelling tools help avoid wasted time and a through-life approach helps identify potential risk early.

We develop and refine candidate system architectures at all levels in order to validate requirements and test assumptions, presenting requirements in a clear architecture which shows interrelationships. We develop robust and comprehensive functional and non-functional specifications based on these candidate architectures, providing evidence to support engineering decisions and undertake technology management and planning in order to support the realization of the requirements.

Options studies

We help you navigate your options to make informed, supportable decisions on what will deliver the best possible value for money in-use whilst delivering the required performance of your asset.

Which option best balances reliability and cost drivers to improve reliability, reduce downtime and improve availability? Which option will reduce your cost of ownership whilst increasing your assets resilience and safety? Which option will allow you to move from reactive to predictive maintenance, armed with a minimum safe and defensible scheduled maintenance strategy?

We help you answer these questions with confidence, whatever life stage your asset is at. We help you to correctly identify design shortfalls, influence design improvements, build a more effective repair process and robust support and supply chain.

Our services include:

• Reliability Engineering: Data Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action Systems (DRACAS)/Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action Systems (FRACAS); spares forecasting; functional failure analysis; configuration management; safety engineering.
• Maintenance Design & Optimisation: Root Cause Analysis (RCA); Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM), condition monitoring; Strategic Maintenance Review (SMR).
• Through Life Cost Management: Options Analysis (OA); Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA); Investment Appraisal (IA)

Feasibility

‘Feasibility’ should not only assure you that you have identified all cost risks and drivers of cost; it should support you in making value for money decisions that minimize non-value-added activities and identify lowest cost value-added activities. Our proactive approach to cost management helps you navigate choices with confidence, staying focused on reduced time to market and increased overall profitability. 

We apply Target Costing, Activity Based Costing, Cost as An Independent Variable (CAIV) and Value Management Techniques to reduce project cost by focusing specifically on the design and manufacture of the product or service and then considering what alternative approaches can be adopted. We ensure the model outputs we deliver are realistic and error free and incorporate sensitivity analysis to better understand the resilience of preferred courses of action.

To do all of this and do it transparently, we are helped by our independence from manufacturing and other interests. That independent status not only guarantees you an objective view, it also translates into valuable support in cost challenges and price negotiations.

Our services include: 

• Cost Management: setting a project cost and schedule baseline and then monitoring progress through processes such as Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Decision Support: investment appraisal; trade studies; cost/benefit analysis.
• Budget Governance: verification and validation; price investigation.
• Modelling: model and tool development; cost, risk and uncertainty analysis.
• Process & Guidance: process development; training and guidance.