SOPs are very complex artifacts. Although the SOP specifies actions that are performed using motor skills (e.g. pushing a button, dialing a knob, or moving a lever), a significant hidden part of the SOP is the decision-making that determines what action to take. This decision-making includes cognition for information gathering, information processing, conditional branching, and waiting/timing. Not all the information for decision-making is explicit in the documented SOP, however it is required for actual execution by the human operator.

In this way the execution of the SOP is a function of the timely, salient, unambiguous flow of information for decision-making. This flow of information can be modeled using LML/SysML models in a Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) tool.

This book describes how to build models of SOPs using model-based systems engineering. Learn how to evaluate SOPs using heuristics and simulation. Start designing better standard operating procedures today.

The author, Dr. Lance Sherry, is an Associate Professor in the Systems Engineering and Operations Research department  George Mason University.