Electronic Industries Alliance

The EIA G-47 Committee initiated an effort to merge the INCOSE System Engineering Capability Assessment Model (SECAM) and the EPIC SE-CMM in 1996. EIA Interim Standard (IS) 731, Version 1.0 was released on January 20, 1998. It contained two parts: Part 1 was the Systems Engineering Capability Model (SECM) and Part 2 was the SECM Appraisal Method. The purpose of this standard is to support the development and improvement of system engineering. Attention to this standard has become overcome by events (OBE) because of the Integrated Capability Maturity Model (CMMI) initiative, being driven by the U.S. DoD, and being worked by the NDIA by representatives of the EIA and the SEI.

EIA 632 came about because the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) determined in 1994 that MIL-STD-499B would not be released as a military standard. EIA's Committee on Systems Engineering (the "EIA G-47 Committee") agreed to undertake the task of "demilitarizing" 499B and releasing it as an industry standard. The intent was to revise the MIL (military) version in accordance with commercial practices in order to broaden the suitability of the standard for other government agencies and commercial industry. EIA632 provides a comprehensive, structured, disciplined approach for all life cycle phases. The systems engineering process is applied iteratively throughout the system life cycle. Key aspects of industry's initiatives are captured to better identify and integrate requirements and implement multi-disciplinary teamwork, including potential suppliers, early in establishing the requirements. Other key aspects include establishing clear measurements of system responsiveness, encouraging innovation in products and practices, and focusing on process control rather than inspection. Also, risk management is encouraged.