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Systems Support Engineering: Looking Beyond The Physical

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Improving Complex Systems Today

Part of the book series: Advanced Concurrent Engineering ((ACENG))

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Abstract

The aerospace and defence industries are currently undergoing a significant, although sometimes subtle, transformation in the way it operates and the way it is structured. What was once an industry that was predominately product focused now is morphing into a supplier of products and services designed to give an operator a capability to perform their mission. This paper is drawn from research into how aircraft manufacturers are slowly changing themselves from pure design-and-build agencies, to whole-of-life, service-driven enterprises that are centred on solving customer problems. It examines some of the challenges aircraft manufacturers are facing in moving away from a product-centred approach, to a service-driven approach. It will examine examples of a ‘servitized’ approach in aerospace, and detail some of challenges this changing environment poses for manufacturers. In the conclusion it will present a unique postgraduate program for system support engineering that is being developed by the Australian Department of Defence in partnership with academia and industry.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia

    Luke Webb & Cees Bil

Authors
  1. Luke Webb
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  2. Cees Bil
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mass Ave 77, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Daniel D. Frey

  2. Stanford University, Hamilton Ave 228, Palo Alto, 94301, California, USA

    Shuichi Fukuda

  3. University of Applied Science Trier, Schneidershof, Trier, 54293, Germany

    Georg Rock

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Webb, L., Bil, C. (2011). Systems Support Engineering: Looking Beyond The Physical. In: Frey, D., Fukuda, S., Rock, G. (eds) Improving Complex Systems Today. Advanced Concurrent Engineering. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-799-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-799-0_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-798-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-799-0

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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