AUSTIN, Texas – July 16, 2019 – BigLever Software, the long-standing leader in the Product Line Engineering (PLE) field, announced today that a paper co-authored by Dr. Paul Clements, BigLever VP of Customer Success, and technical leaders from a major Aerospace and Defense (A&D) manufacturer, will be presented at the 29^th annual International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Symposium, July 20-25, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando, Florida. This paper highlights how global companies are realizing the benefits of Feature-based PLE in situations where production must seamlessly span unclassified and classified environments. In addition, BigLever executives will co-lead the PLE International Working Group session at the event, including the introduction of the new Feature-based Systems and Software PLE Primer and an update on the ISO standards initiative.

“Feature-based PLE is gaining momentum in the systems engineering community because it offers a unified, enterprise-wide variant management solution that enables organizations to meet growing demand for greater product sophistication and diversity,” said Clements. “As the INCOSE presentation will highlight, leading manufacturers using PLE are realizing tremendous value in addressing complex challenges, such as managing production activities that span multiple information systems comprising multiple security zones across an enterprise.”

Presentation details:

Presentation: Applying Feature-based Systems and Software Product Line Engineering in Unclassified and Classified Environments

Paper Authors:  Dr. Paul Clements, BigLever Software, James K. Teaff, Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Systems, Dr. Bobbi Young, Raytheon Missile Systems

Presenters: James K. Teaff, Dr. Bobbi Young

Date/Time: Tue., July 23, 10:45 – 11:25 a.m. EDT

This session, based on the co-authored paper, will feature how leading A&D manufacturers are using PLE in mixed classification environments to optimize company talent, including employees from other countries, and manage system production and maintenance for export and import. The session will also present the architectural design and business processes needed to establish a PLE practice in environments that include both unclassified and classified digital assets.

INCOSE PLE International Working Group Session

At the Symposium, a PLE International Working Group (PLE IWG) session will be co-led by Rowland Darbin, Product Line Manager at General Dynamics Mission Systems, and Dr. Charles Krueger, BigLever CEO. Darbin brings insight and extensive hands-on PLE experience through his involvement with the U.S. Army’s Live Training Transformation product line – one of the industry’s most notable PLE success stories. Krueger is a premier speaker, widely published author, and acknowledged thought leader in the PLE arena.

Krueger will provide an update on recent progress and next steps for the Feature-based PLE ISO standards initiative sponsored by INCOSE. He serves as the ISO representative for the PLE IWG, which promotes PLE and related best practices for the systems engineering community.

The PLE IWG session will also include a discussion of recent activities by the Work Product Group, chaired by Drew Stovall, BigLever VP of Engineering. Stovall will review the new Feature-based Systems and Software PLE Primer, which provides an introductory overview of how Feature-based PLE works and additional resources to help organizations consider and implement a PLE practice. Additional projects to be discussed include the Feature-based PLE issue of INCOSE’s Insight magazine, as well as the development of PLE content for INCOSE’s Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge and Systems Engineering Handbook.