Trend of transition to the supersystem

Trend of transition to supersystem is a trend of engineering system evolution which states that as an engineering system evolves, it is integrated with supersystem components.

Overview

In general terms, the transition to a supersystem refers to hybridizing (integration) of the system with components of its supersystem.

The trend of transition to the supersystem is one of the most effective tools for increasing value of the system. On one hand, integration provides the system with access to additional resources, which can be used for further improvements and enhanced functionality. On the other hand, after integration, some components may become redundant, and their removal can lead to cost reduction.

Sub-trends (mechanisms) of the trend

The trend is one of the most well-developed TESE. It has four sub-trends helping to define what kind of engineering systems should merge, how deep they should be integrated, how many systems should get combined, etc.

These sub-trends are the following:

Sub-trend 1: Parameters of the integrated systems that perform the same main function become increasingly different.

Sub-trend 2: The main functions of integrated systems become increasingly different.

Sub-trend 3: The level of integration of engineering systems becomes deeper.

Sub-trend 4: The number of systems that get integrated together increases.

Increasing differentiation of parameters

This sub-trend determines what systems merge and how they do it if they perform the same main function. The sequential steps are the following:

homogeneous systems, i.e. systems with the same parameters,
systems that differ by the value of at least one parameter,
different systems performing the same or similar main function (so called competing systems).

The detailed step-by-step algorithm for merging competing systems is feature transfer.

Increasing differentiation between main functions

This sub-trend explains how systems merge if they perform different main functions. This sub-trend could also be considered as the continuation of the previous mechanism because it starts where the sub-trend of increasing differentiation of parameters ends.

The steps of the sub-trend are the following:

allied systems, i.e. performing different main functions, but having common characteristics, e.g.,:
- the object of the main function is the same for both systems,
- the systems are involved in the same process, or
- the systems are used in the same situation or under the same conditions,
heterogeneous systems, i.e. performing different main functions, with no common characteristics,
inverse systems, i.e. systems performing opposite main functions.

Deeper integration

This mechanism determines how deep should the systems be integrated. This sequence should be the recommendation for the level of integration of merging systems.

Levels of the systems integration are the following:

unlinked systems, i.e. put together without any continuous link,
partially trimmed system, when some components become redundant and get trimmed,
completely trimmed system, i.e. integration is so deep that it is not possible to determine which of the merged systems is represented by the final solution; usually one of the systems get totally trimmed.

Increased number of integrated systems

The last sub-trend determines how many systems merge. It explains that systems typically evolve in the following sequence:

mono-system, i.e. single system,
bi-system, formed as the result of combining two systems,
poly-system, formed as the result of combining several systems.

Mono-system should be considered as a starting point of the evolution line. As the system develops, the number of integrated systems grows more and more.