TABLE OF CONTENTS Systems engineering is a broad subject; to cover the entire systems engineering effort, a systems engineering management plan (SEMP) is formulated to detail the required effort. The SEMP is normally constructed by the contracting organization in accordance with the requirements in the contractual documentation and reviewed and approved by the customer. Once approved, the SEMP becomes the governing plan controlling the entire systems engineering effort. Changes to the SEMP must be reviewed and approved as they occur, and the SEMP is normally reviewed at each of the formal design reviews.
The SEMP is fundamental when evaluating the ability of a contractor to perform the technical activities associated with the system development project.
Suggested contents for the SEMP are provided by a number of systems engineering standards. These standards detail the systems engineering requirements for systems development projects, and all emphasize the importance of the SEMP as the central systems engineering document. These standards view the SEMP as the tailoring of the standard to meet the specific systems engineering requirements of the particular project. The most popular of these standards are reviewed in Chapter 6. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense provides a data item description for the SEMP [12].
The SEMP should cover all of the major systems engineering functions. It may do so by referring to other subordinate plans, such as the CMP, the RMP, the TRAP, the TEMP, specification lists/trees, and CI lists. Internal company design plans and processes should also...
