How can we build a Requirements library in SES ENGINEERING Studio?

What are the key objectives of creating a Requirements library?

The primary objective of developing a Requirements Library in SES Engineering Studio is to create a reusable, structured, and standard-aligned repository of requirements. By aligning the library with standards, organizations can streamline compliance activities and accelerate the development of safety-critical products.

The library also aims to unify terminology, enable consistent requirement authoring, determine requirements’ patterns, and provide early insight into requirements’ quality.

What problems does a Requirements library solve?

Requirements often demand rigorous interpretation of large, complex standards. Teams face challenges such as:

Inconsistent terminology across projects
Repeated reinvention of requirements for each new product
Missing or unclear requirements caused by manual interpretation
Difficulty evaluating requirement quality early in the process
Increased effort and cost due to fragmented knowledge

Without a structured approach, creating requirements becomes time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale across projects.

How does a Requirements library improve requirement development and compliance?

The library provides a centralized, reusable resource that captures the essence of standards and transforms it into practical building blocks for requirement authoring, requirements reuse, and quality. The key components delivered include:

Standardized terminology for consistent communication
Semantic clusters that group related concepts
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) to map requirements to system elements
Requirement patterns that guide clear and compliant requirement writing
Requirement Templates that allow reuse by instantiating Requirements by “filling the gap”.
Quality metrics to assess requirement clarity and completeness early on

Together, these elements create a coherent framework that simplifies compliance and improves the quality of requirements.

Approach to create a library

To create a library, the following is a structured workflow:

Extraction of Terms
Key concepts and terminology need to be identified from the standards.
Clustering of Concepts
Related terms and requirements need to be grouped into thematic clusters that reflect the logic of the standard.
Creation of the Product Breakdown Structure
Development of Requirement Patterns
Patterns need to be created to standardize how requirements should be authored, improving clarity and reducing ambiguity.
Identification of Requirement Templates
Templates must be identified, and variants must be included as wildcards.

Definition of Quality Metrics
Metrics need to be introduced to evaluate requirement quality during authoring, ensuring higher-quality outputs earlier in the lifecycle.

This methodical workflow ensures structure, repeatability, and traceability from the standard to the final requirements.

What benefits does a requirements library deliver to customers?

The library delivers measurable value across engineering and compliance activities:

Reduced effort: Teams spend far less time interpreting standards or rewriting common requirements.
Consistency and compliance: Uniform terminology and patterns improve clarity and ensure alignment with standards.
Reuses Requirements: Initial approach to systematic Requirements Reuse
Higher requirement quality: Early application of quality metrics helps catch issues before they propagate.
Faster project execution: Reusable standardized content accelerates requirement authoring and review cycles.
Scalability across projects: The library supports multiple product lines, enabling organizations to scale safety practices efficiently.

For readers interested in exploring the theoretical foundation behind these practices, ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 offers a comprehensive overview of Requirements Engineering principles and quality criteria.