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Lean Thinking Applied to System Architecting
Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering. (BESS - Business-Oriented Engineering of Software-Intensive Systems)
2011 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Software intensive systems are an increasing part of new products, which make the business impact significant. This is especially true for the automotive industry where a very large part of new innovations are realized through the use of software. The architecture of the software intensive system will enable value creation when working properly or, in the worst case, prevent value creation.

 Lean thinking is about focusing on the increase of customer value and on the people who add value. This thesis investigates how system architecting is performed in industry and how it can be improved by the use of Lean thinking. The architecting process does not create immediate value to the end customer, but rather create the architecture on which value in terms of product features and functionality can be developed. A Lean tool used to improve the value creation within a process is Value Stream Mapping (VSM). We present a method based on VSM which is adapted to enable analysis of the architecting process in order to identify improvements.

 A study of architecting at two companies shows what effect differences such as a strong line organization or a strong project organization has on the architecting process. It also shows what consequence technical choices and business strategy have on the architecting process. In order to improve the understanding of how architecting is performed a study including architects at six different internationally well-known companies have been interviewed. The study presents the practices that are found most successful. The context of the different companies as well as the architecting practices are compared and analyzed.

 The early design decisions made when developing software-intensive systems are crucial to the outcome of development projects. In order to improve the decision making process a method was developed based on Real Options. The method improves the customer focus of critical design decision by taking the value of flexibility into account.

 This thesis provides a toolbox of knowledge on how Lean thinking can be applied to system architecting and also presents how architecting is performed in industry today.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Västerås: Mälardalen University , 2011. , p. 56
Series
Mälardalen University Press Dissertations, ISSN 1651-4238 ; 95
National Category
Computer Sciences
Research subject
Computer Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-11717ISBN: 978-91-7485-003-1 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-11717DiVA, id: diva2:394773
Public defence
2011-03-18, Beta, Mälardalen University, Västerås, 14:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2011-02-04 Created: 2011-02-03 Last updated: 2018-01-12Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. A Comparative Case Study of Architecting Practices in the Embedded Software Industry
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A Comparative Case Study of Architecting Practices in the Embedded Software Industry
2011 (English)In: Proceedings of 18th IEEE International Conference and Workshops on Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, 2011, p. 226-231Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The goal of this study is to improve the understanding of how architecting is performed within the field of software-intensive systems. Architects at six different internationally well-known companies have been interviewed to understand their way of working. This paper presents the practices that are found most successful. The context of the different companies as well as the architecting practices are compared and analyzed. Many of the architecting practices found in the study can be explained by the context of the different companies. The study shows that architects at all companies mention a general lack of understanding of software-intensive systems within industries that used to be mechanical. The architects' view of their work is very similar independently of where they work. Also the way architecting is performed is very similar, but surprisingly only one company has a defined process for architecting.

National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-11715 (URN)10.1109/ECBS.2011.11 (DOI)000298802400027 ()2-s2.0-80051979426 (Scopus ID)978-0-7695-4379-6 (ISBN)
Conference
18th IEEE International Conference and Workshops on Engineering of Computer-Based Systems (ECBS) Location: Las Vegas, NV Date: APR 27-29, 2011
Available from: 2011-02-03 Created: 2011-02-03 Last updated: 2014-05-16Bibliographically approved
2. Improving the system architecting process through the use of Lean tools
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Improving the system architecting process through the use of Lean tools
2010 (English)In: Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, Phuket, Thailand, 2010, p. 1601-1607Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The impact of embedded systems within the automotive industry has grown very rapidly and is today influencing most part of the product development process. This technological change puts high demands on the development process in order for the company to stay competitive. The architecting process is performed during the early phases of the development process when uncertainty is very high. The architecting process will not create immediate value to the end customer, but rather create the architecture on which value in terms of product features can be developed. The architecture will enable value creation when working properly or, in the worst case, prevent value creation. Lean is a product development philosophy that aims at creating value for the end customer. A Lean tool used to improve the value creation within a process is Value Stream Mapping (VSM). VSM has in this work been adapted and evaluated to analyze and identify improvements of the architecting process within embedded systems development. In this paper we present practical experiences from using this adapted VSM. The evaluation was conducted through interviews at two automotive manufacturers. VSM is shown to be a valuable tool to identify waste and thereby improve the architecting process.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Phuket, Thailand: , 2010
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-10831 (URN)000287527800167 ()2-s2.0-78549296747 (Scopus ID)1890843229 (ISBN)
Conference
Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology - Technology Management for Global Economic Growth, PICMET '10; Phuket; 18 July 2010 through 22 July 2010
Available from: 2010-11-10 Created: 2010-11-10 Last updated: 2018-08-15Bibliographically approved
3. Architecting automotive product lines: Industrial practice
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Architecting automotive product lines: Industrial practice
2010 (English)In: Software Product Lines: Going Beyond: 14th International Conference, Splc 2010, Jeju Island, South Korea, September 13-17, 2010. Proceedings / [ed] Jan Bosch, Springer Verlag , 2010, p. 92-105Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Verlag, 2010
Series
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, ISSN 0302-9743 ; 6287
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-10832 (URN)10.1007/978-3-642-15579-6_7 (DOI)2-s2.0-78049371049 (Scopus ID)978-364215578-9 (ISBN)
Available from: 2010-11-10 Created: 2010-11-10 Last updated: 2011-10-12Bibliographically approved
4. Evaluation of Design Options in Embedded Automotive Product Lines
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Evaluation of Design Options in Embedded Automotive Product Lines
2010 (English)In: Applied Software Product Line Engineering / [ed] Kyo C. Kang, Vijayan Sugumaran, Sooyong Park (Editor), Boca Raton: Auerbach Publications , 2010, p. 477-496Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This chapter discusses how to deal with scenarios as previous presented by putting a value on flexibility in the system solution. Thereby, it becomes clearer when to focus on short-term solutions and when to keep the long-term evolution of a product line in mind. The approach taken is to evaluate flexibility using a concept called Real Options. The method is motivated and described by using as an example an industrial area where very complex product lines occur, namely automotive embedded systems. To improve the usability of the method, a structured evaluation process is defined to aid practitioners such as developers and architects. The evaluation process provides a way of valuing system designs and enables the practitioner to think about the future in a systematic manner. The value of a flexible design can thereby be quantified, and the proposed process shows how it can be accepted by practitioners within the automotive industry.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Boca Raton: Auerbach Publications, 2010
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-9099 (URN)9781420068412 (ISBN)
Available from: 2010-03-03 Created: 2010-03-03 Last updated: 2013-12-03Bibliographically approved

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