A Model-Based Approach for Evaluating and Validating the Sustainability of Production Systems

Abstract

As an important contributor to the global transportation system, the aeronautics industry has an important role to play in promoting sustainability and accelerating the development of sustainable products. This paper aims to investigate how innovative technologies, engineering methods, and digitalization can support the achievement of sustainability goals in the aeronautics industry. This work argues that the adoption of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) improves the definition and validation of sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) and stakeholder requirements while designing and planning both products and production systems. By using modeling languages such as SysML, the production of customizable aircraft becomes more flexible and modular, enabling the industry to adapt to changing product configurations and resource availability. Moreover, this paper demonstrates how MBSE can depict relationships within the production system and can ensure KPIs traceability for both product components and industrial processes. The data and relationships captured through MBSE can be used to plan and optimize production processes, and to simulate them to analyze sustainability aspects and identify energy-saving opportunities. By employing a comprehensive and systematic approach, MBSE enables the aeronautics industry to address sustainability concerns across all stages of the lifecycle from design to production, considering different fidelity levels. This paper presents a methodology for linking model-based production system architectures to real production systems. It highlights how sustainability data obtained from executed processes and resources can be utilized for model-based requirements validation and support the optimization of sustainable conceptual designs