Abstract. The extent of the cultural change needed to deploy MBSE should not be underestimated. Reshaping years of habits and practices is a gigantic challenge. For the last ten years, Thales has been strongly committed to make MBSE a reality and has successfully generalized the approach in all its business domains worldwide. This paper aims at sharing the Thales experience by explaining who the actors of this engineering transformation are and how systems engineers are accompanied in this change. Four years of intense on-the-field MBSE coaching in different engineering contexts result in a first collection of MBSE pitfalls and best practices from which emerges a parallel with Agile methods.

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This article presents a case study on applying model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methodologies under real-life conditions. We present how engineers tailored existing MBSE methods and tools to both address the complexity factors of nuclear power plants engineering, and to contribute to the comprehensiveness of the design and safety assessment. We also provide feedback on the application of MBSE approaches and their key benefits on projects' execution.

Model‐based systems engineering has developed significantly over the last few years, resulting in an increased usage of models in systems specification and architecture description. The question of the positioning of requirement engineering versus MBSE is a recurrent one. This paper describes one vision of this articulation where textual and model requirements actually complete each other. The results are improved contracts across engineering levels and more formalized verification and validation practices.

Using the Arcadia/Capella solution as an example, this paper explores why standard UML/SysML languages are not necessarily the unique or best alternatives for implementation of a model-based systems engineering solution (MBSE). The Thales experience is used to elicit MBSE language and tooling requirements. This paper analyzes various implementation alternatives and justifies structuring choices made regarding Capella to efficiently support the Arcadia engineering method.

Thales is today in the process of rolling out field-proven model-based systems engineering method and workbench, on a large scale throughout its different business domains and countries. This article looks back at the past decade of coming of age, describes a few practical deployment cases in Thales entities and analyses success factors, both at people and organization level as well as at technical level. The close loop between operational users, solution experts and tooling development are identified as a key success factor. Back to OriginsBack in 2001-2003. Several Thales subsidiaries were about to face new expectations from customers, and new challenges in their products. Previously, Thales was mainly an electronic equipment provider (avionics cockpit displays, flight warning or management systems, instruments; train control systems and axle counters; radars, counter measurement systems and other sensors; communication devices and surveillance means, etc.). However, customers were more and more requesting global, turnkey systems, that would integrate those equipment with specific added value and coherency (avionics suites, railway traffic management systems, defense integrated mission systems, zone surveillance infrastructures, etc.). The scope of software in our systems was growing, stressing the need for a cultural change. At the same Biography Jean-Luc Voirin is Director, Engineering and Modeling, in Thales Defense Missions Systems business unit and Technical Directorate. He holds a MSc & Engineering Degree from ENST Bretagne, France. His fields of interests include architecture, computing and hardware design, algorithmic and software design on real-time image synthesis systems. He has been an architect of real-time and near real-time computing and mission systems on civil and mission aircraft and fighters. He is the principal author of the Arcadia method and an active contributor to the definition of methods and tools. He is involved in coaching activities across all Thales business units, in particular on flagship and critical projects. Stéphane Bonnet, Thales Corporate Engineering, is the Design Authority of the Thales MBSE workbench for systems, hardware and software architectural design. He holds a PhD on model driven techniques applied to smart cards. From 2008 onwards, he has led the development of Capella. He now dedicates most of his time to training and coaching activities, helping Thales systems engineering managers and systems architects deploy MBSE approaches on operational projects worldwide. He is animating networks of experts from all domains and business units to capture operational needs and orient the workbench evolutions and roadmaps.Véronique Normand is a senior scientist working as a Manager and Design Authority for the Thales Technical Directorate, where she is responsible for the research and technology strategy in model-based engineering for systems and software since 2009. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and a degree from the ENSIMAG informatics and mathematics school in Grenob...

Complex systems engineering programs not only deal with the inherent complexity of the systems they develop, they also face shorter time‐to‐market, increasing changes in environments and usages, and more sophisticated industrial schemes. The ability to adapt to new circumstances, or agility, becomes mandatory. In this paper we present how Model‐Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approaches can be enablers of the implementation of agility in complex systems engineering programs. Known to provide additional engineering rigor and quality, MBSE also brings key concepts favoring agility and co‐engineering.

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