Abstract
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)
The purpose of this study is to explore and gain a broad perspective on the systems engineering methods currently practised at a South African research council, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The aim is to question if these methods are ideal by comparing them with their alternatives. This study focuses on the systems engineering methods used within the various competency areas at Defence, Peace, Safety and Security (DPSS), an engineering business unit at CSIR. The suitability of these methods for the kind of work being done in the respective operating units.
SEMBASE is used as a baseline/framework to find the gaps in each operating unit and conclude to possible ways of improvement thereof. A qualitative research method is used for this study. The data and information received from the interviews are analysed for emerging patterns to confirm the theory.
The main findings of this research study are that systems engineering processes are being applied at the engineering business unit in question at the CSIR. The Integrated Competency Area is aware of Systems Engineering and is well-equipped with its tools. However, in the Technical Competency Areas, there is room for improvement. In many cases, the interviewees mentioned that they do not employ Systems Engineering, which was a contradiction to their responses to the open-ended interview questions.
The research reveals that the Technical Competency Areas are not always aware of the systems engineering processes and lack certain systems engineering tools. The results are presented separately for the two groups in DPSS. Integrated Competency Area implements systems engineering methods very well. However, the Technical Competency Area can improve on the implementation of systems engineering processes. More training and awareness is required to fill these gaps amongst the technical competency areas to assist in more successful projects.