Modelling Technical Systems in the Early Phase: Proposing a Formal Definition for the System Concept

The task of developing “concepts” is common in all fields of engineering, especially in the early phases of product development. However, an in-depth literature analysis showed that authors - often depending on different contexts in design research, education, and industry - define the term “concept” in differing ways. The aspect of reference-based development is rarely addressed in existing definitions. This indicates that there is a need for an updated and concise concept definition. In this paper, the authors propose a new definition of the term “system concept” within the context of SGE - System Generation Engineering that incorporates the findings from the literature analysis. The definition was reflected on in two case-studies. The first one contained the system concept for automotive display and operating systems, the second one the system concept for a kinesthetic-haptic VR interface. The proposed definition contains the relevant characteristics identified from the literature review and supports both current activity-based process models and reference-based development, as practical application has shown.