Barker Approaches Aircraft as System of Systems in Latest SAE International Book

October 17, 2018

Courtney E. Howard

Today’s airframe manufacturers have taken on more of the role of systems integrators, putting the focus on the aircraft as a system-of-many-systems. Sean Barker, FBCS CEng and a former research scientist at BAE Systems in the UK, approaches aircraft as a system of systems (SoS) from a business process perspective in his new book from SAE International in Warrendale, Pa.

Whereas an aircraft integrates many different systems into a single design, the system of systems which supports it is built by federating the systems of the different organizations, which were built and run independently of each other, Barker explains in Aircraft as a System of Systems: A Business Process Perspective , the latest title from SAE International’s Aerospace Product Group in Warrendale, Pa.

Aircraft as a System of Systems: A Business Process Perspective provides a thorough analysis of how building aircraft taps into a vast pool of knowledge, and its complexity is reflected in the numerous process links that exchange knowledge between different groups. Unlike conventional business processes, design processes do not follow one step after another – rather, a decision made at one point in the design is communicated to other areas of the design, which may in turn impose or inform new constraints that could force a revision to the first decision.

Read the description and table of contents online, or buy the book now to start reading : https://www.sae.org/publications/books/content/t-139/

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Courtney E. Howard is editorial director and content strategist at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group. Contact her by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..