Closing the Gap: A Four-Step Maturity Assessment for Digital Engineering Technologies

Due to technological advances, companies and their engineering are forced to transform digitally to maintain a competitive advantage. As part of a digital engineering transformation (DET), it is essential to be familiar with the technologies currently available for digital product development and to be able to evaluate which technologies will deliver long-term added value for individual strategies and goals. To prioritize investments and synchronize initiatives for the transformation of engineering, this paper introduces a four-step method for identifying, selecting, assessing and disseminate digital engineering technologies. In the first step, a catalogue of detailed described digital engineering reference technologies is used to identify the technologies currently available –ranging from MBSE to industrial metaverse. In the second step, this long list is reduced, by selecting the technologies that support the company specific strategic goals of their digital engineering transformation. In the third step, the operational maturity of the selected technologies is assessed using an own ten-level maturity model. The maturity levels are derived from the TRL scale and adapted to the application of a company-specific technology maturity assessment. The classification into maturity levels, which range from basic awareness to enterprise-wide benchmark practice, is based on predefined evaluation criteria. In the fourth step, the assessment results are shared with the relevant stakeholders with the help of a technology radar. The radar classifies the technologies based on the product lifecycle phases and use cases they are utilized in. By combining identification, selection, assessment and dissemination, the method determines which technologies need to be introduced as part of a digital engineering transformation, which need to be scaled, and where there are still maturity gaps that are blocking the digital engineering goal. The resulting technology radar highlights quick wins and critical gaps, enabling management to prioritize projects and budget allocations.