Driving engineering innovations through value: an avenue for improvement in aircraft engineering.

Summary What industrial company doesn't dream of improving its competitiveness in the long term? Incremental or disruptive innovation is seen as a strategic way to win new market share, or at least satisfy and retain customers. More than any other, Airbus Helicopters is investing and innovating in its products and services. A new axis is now emerging: engineering innovation, which includes processes, methods and tools for product design and certification. Engineering innovation is part of a "lean engineering" approach. Investing in innovations does not guarantee an impact on competitiveness. It is necessary to aim for the success of the innovation, i.e. to ensure, at each phase of the process, that the innovation meets the initial objectives, the upstream phase initiating the innovation process. This thesis examines how to structure and manage feasibility studies for incremental engineering innovation, in order to anticipate success from the upstream phase. Based on a diagnosis of industrial practices, a methodology for steering engineering innovation in the upstream phase is proposed. This methodology is based on a typology of upstream projects, a typology of stakeholders, a process accompanied by methods and tools. The steering process is articulated with a system engineering approach. A first phase of specifications is based on the modeling of usage scenarios, and a second phase of verification and validation is punctuated by an evaluation of the value. We propose to pilot an engineering innovation by evaluating its functional value, its utility, its profitability and its strategic value. The steering methodology is formalized by a UML model, which can be used to manage a portfolio of upstream projects.