Systems engineering is such a broad subject area that an
overall management plan or approach needs to be developed to
take into account all the various aspects of systems engineering
management, including risk management, technical reviews and audits, configuration management,
test and evaluation, and so on.
This plan is called the
SEMP . The Systems Engineering
Management Plan is therefore the premier systems engineering
plan. In small projects the SEMP would have a section on each aspect of systems
engineering management; in larger projects these areas would form annexes
(for the risk management plan, configuration management plan, and so
on); in large projects, each of these areas would be
a plain in their own right referred to from the
overarching SEMP.
The Systems Engineering Management
Plan is normally prepared by the contractor, and
is reviewed and approved by the customer. There may be
more than one SEMP for each system development; there may
be one for the customer, one for the contractor, and
one for each of the major sub-contractors.
Once approved, the Systems
Engineering Management Plan is the single governing document
for all systems engineering effort. Changes to the SEMP must
be reviewed and approved. The SEMP is normally reviewed at formal project or design reviews.
Draft SEMPs received during the tendering phase may be used
to determine contractor ability (and assist in comparing contractors).
Other topics in our resources on Systems Engineering related to SEMP include: