Complexity in engineering design

Abstract

The sheer scale of large engineering projects is impressive in terms of the number of people involved, the number of components designed and the time-scale of the project. For example, an aircraft has tens of thousands of components designed and developed by teams of thousands of engineers at the main aircraft manufacturer in conjunction with a large supply chain over a period of about five to ten years. Major components such as the avionics, the undercarriage or the engine are sourced to main first-tier suppliers. These major components themselves are highly complex products with hundreds of components designed by a large team of people and long supply chains. For example, designers have commented in discussions that the design effort going.