Title: A system maturity index for the systems engineering life cycle

Authors: Brian J. Sauser, Jose E. Ramirez-Marquez, Devanandham Henry, Donald DiMarzio

Addresses: School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. ' School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. ' School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. ' Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems, Advanced Concepts Development, 925 South Oyster Bay Road, M/S U01-26, Bethpage, NY 11714-3582, USA

Abstract: In the United States (USA) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the USA Department of Defense (DoD) the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale is a measure of maturity of an individual technology, with a view towards operational use in a system context. A comprehensive set of concerns becomes relevant when this metric is abstracted from an individual technology to a system context. This paper proposes the development of a system-focused approach for managing system development and making effective and efficient decisions during a systems engineering life cycle. This paper presents a System Readiness Level (SRL) index that incorporates both the current TRL scale and an Integration Readiness Level (IRL) and provides a method for determining readiness of a system in the systems engineering life cycle. This paper concludes with a general discuss of the implication of the proposed SRL and how this may be applied to four case examples.

Keywords: SRL; system readiness level; TRL; technology readiness level; IRL; integration readiness level; systems engineering life cycle; system maturity index.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2008.020680

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2008 Vol.3 No.6, pp.673 - 691

Published online: 10 Oct 2008 *

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