Identifying Integration Readiness Levels oriented work packages to establish Earned Readiness Management

The dynamics of innovation in complex products and systems (CoPS) differs from the mass production industries. Integration Readiness Levels (IRL) represent technology maturity related to the integration of two or more technological elements in a system, addressing Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) application challenges. Earned readiness management (ERM) is a method for scheduling, monitoring, and evaluating the development of complex product systems. ERM could incorporate IRL advances, practitioners are adopting IRL and understanding its differences from TRL, and it is relevant to approach technology development projects in a system for value delivery in CoPS. The objective is to identify IRL-oriented work packages to establish ERM for space systems aiming at the application of ERM in CoPS technology development projects. This paper used NASA WBS standards for space flight and for research and technology projects to identify which work package elements could relate to IRL and compose ERM, and used ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 life cycle process definitions to support the analysis. The results could be expanded to other CoPS sectors as they used broad systems engineering concepts and standards.