## The Black box approach The system case studies presented below were derived using the [[The Principles of Systems Analysis and Design#Black box approach|black-box method]], which posits that any process can be analysed provided that its limits are defined and any assumptions are declared. ![[systems-diagrams.png]] We used Enterprise Architect from [Sparx Systems](https://www.sparxsystems.com/) to establish these diagrams. These models are part of an approach that states that you can only build a system if you can describe it, and to bring it into being, you need to be able to design it. However, development takes resources, a business case, funding, skills and time. ## Systems Case Studies We may analyse new domains without necessarily understanding the inner workings of processes. We can’t take in the detail of absolutely everything we perceive, and are obliged to make some assumptions. A system can be anything from a simple cell, a tiny creature, to the financial markets, defined by its boundaries and its incoming and outbound interactions. - The human body ingests water, food and excretes waste and heat. - Consciousness is rather more complex, producing a myriad of inventions from art to science. This approach allows us to see ‘the world’ as a set of multiple overlapping structures, and depends on our point of view and the objectives of the analysis. ![[the-world-system.png]] A sociologist may describe large blocks of social function; the sole trader considers the operation of their business. A developer is concerned with the detailed code: the surgeon the inner workings of the human body. A ‘casual’ observer will see a system differently to someone with intricate insider knowledge. This results in evaluations which may not therefore be complete or truly accurate. ![[national-boundary.png]] We can observe a system from any perspective and explain its operation only by its interactions and interfaces. But without privileged access to its internal workings, we must therefore trust our analysis or the available description. ![[dependency-on-systems-mindmap.png]] These are some of the networks on which society depends. ![[network-case-studies.png]] ## The Energy System This model was developed during research for a film about how France has changed over the last 50 years. One observation was our dependency on ‘networks’ and for so many systems on which we rely for water, food, energy, transport, health, social security, information exchange, news, and political management… ### Overview of the energy system *Different types of ways in which we produce energy* ![[energy-production-types.png]] ![[energy-system-overview.png|400]] We developed a model to discuss society’s reliance on and funding for critical systems, including [[Systems Case Studies#Water distribution system.|water]] and food distribution. ### Detailed view of the energy system The system operates and researches ways to produce and use energy. ![[energy-system.png]] We can view it from any perspective, its internal workings, and its interactions with other systems. ## French Social Security System This analysis describes the relationships between various actors in the French Social Security system, particularly the patient, the doctor, insurance companies, the social security department itself, the financial flows in health care delivery and the supply of medication. ![[patient-relationships-sequence.png]] The visible functionality lends itself to analysis of the physical and financial relationships between users and professionals, and independent but integrated actors such as pharmaceutical companies. ### Pricing of medication ![[pricing-of-medication.png]] ### Health care use cases Health care processes: - Health care delivery - Financial transactions - Supply of medication ![[healthcare-delivery.jpeg]] ## Supply Chain System The supply chain Case Study discusses the main interfaces between functions and people and demonstrates the **necessity for** coherent systems to support communication, as part of an IUT course on ERPs. - Purchasing has data requirements, and procurement prefers having fixed prices. - Marketing needs configuration costs to calculate sales forecasts. It explains how the ERP provides transversal flows, standard processing, and avoiding information islands. ![[compuprod-mindmap.png]] It deals with the analysis of relationships and information needs across the supply chain and discusses the justification for transversal systems such as an ERP. Each actor and their colleagues require inputs and outputs to complete their respective jobs. This interdependence reinforces the importance of exchanging quality data and to maintain an efficient organization. ![[overview-compuprod-case-study.png]] ### Class exercise This model was used as part of a DSCG programme on Enterprise Resource Planning. The class was divided into groups, each attributed to a department within the company. These diagrams in UML result from the exercise, which provoked thinking around communication and the following questions. - What are the risks of circulating unreliable information? - What are the solutions? ### Objective for students The objective was for students to examine the main interfaces between people and to emphasize the importance of information in job functions. We set up an environment where each group role-played as a department within the company determined their needs and those of others. This concept also introduced Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, which structure the transactional aspect of this interpersonal interaction. ### Horizontal supply chain This sequence diagram illustrates horizontal communication by people across departments. ![[compuprod-sequence-diagram.png]] Each actor in the system requires from and supplies information to colleagues to complete their respective jobs. ## Water Distribution System The water distribution network relies on significant managed infrastructure, which includes clean and foul piping, sewage works, and the extensive human resources required to maintain operations. The theory states that it’s sufficient to examine the system by its function, its boundaries and its observable properties. Its pertinence depends on the context and may be a useful starting point for appraisal between industrial actors rather than a full and perfect description. It could form the basis of further development, critical analysis and ultimately improvement. A secondary objective is to demonstrate the value of visual methods such as UML, in which the symbols, links and diagrams such as use case, activity and sequence incorporate meaning. ![[water-distribution-infrastructure.png]] The Water Distribution System is a revision of a previous project, originally to calculate inputs into a valley system from direct rainfall and run-off from streams. Outputs are the industrial and domestic users of water and any natural soak away. ![[systems-dependency.png]] The analysis considers this integrated natural system as having discrete boundaries. ![[water-system-header.png]] ### Overview of the water system Below is a UML model of a modern urban distribution system which stores and extracts and then returns water to the natural environment after treatment, broken down by delimitation. We developed three diagrams. The first is a use case, which shows the principal actors and processes. ![[water-distribution-system-use-case.png]] ### Identifying processes - Storage in the sea, on land, in piping and reservoirs - Distribution of water to and away from users - Water consumption by principle users - Water cleaning after use - Infrastructure management The use case diagram identifies processes and significant actors. ### Activity Diagram The three main activities that water encounters, therefore, are its storage, usage and cleaning to return to the start of the cycle. Environmental consequences depend on the quality of the system. ![[water-context.jpeg]] ### Physical flows The third sequence diagram aims to map the physical flows of water between the different entities it encounters in the cycle. ![[water-sequence.jpeg]] ## Service Site Case Study This case study examines a purchasing and sales system where suppliers can offer goods, potential customers could post their requirements, either as an RFQ or as a reverse auction. Both parties register and pay when their need is fulfilled. ### Class Diagram for Service Site Classes (tables) for the service site: ![[service-site-ERD.png]] ### The matching function This is a model of the relationships between customer requirements and services provided. ![[matching-articles-needs.jpg]] The working model is where artisans want to get materials at the best price. Both supplier and customer register their goods and requirement and the database evaluates and matches one with the other. ### Reverse Auctions The marketplace receives standard supplier offerings and autoregulates pricing through reverse auction bids. Users upload material requirements. ![[market-place.png]] ### Potential markets for a service site The concept could be employed for the direct sale of farm goods in an online catalogue between automotive parts producers and buyers, artisans and building materials suppliers, or international estate agents. ![[potential-markets-for-service-site.png|500]] Amazon, Cdiscount, Rue du Commerce, [Ebay](https://ebay.co.uk/) and Price Minister implement marketplaces for physical products. Eazylang and TM-Town have done the same for translation segments. ![[service-site-verticals.png]] The working model is for artisans, where the business problem is about getting materials at the best price. But the concept is aimed at B2B and B2C relationships and could be customized vertically in any market to bring service providers and customers together. ## Transport System Case Study The transport system case study came from a project to build a management database for an association helping people in difficulty, in return-to-work situations, with social problems, or who are mobility impaired and on low wages. It is supported by public finances and employer contributions. ### Transport Context The association employs drivers, owns vehicles and wished to calculate the number of runs they do as proof of service to their funding organizations. ![[transport-system.jpg]] Below is an analysis of the required outputs and inputs. ![[transport tableaux de bords.png]] ### Relational model The relational model for the transport system includes the following entities: driver, mission, vehicle, journey, and user. ![[système-transport-modele-relationel.png]] ### Required outputs The outputs are dashboards and statistics on the number of people transported and for the general day-to-day running of the business. The database requires a link between the journey and the source of funds enabling the Association to justify its activities to financing organizations. ![[statistiques-transport.png]] ### Activity Reporting Reports from the management database enable the association to compare journeys and people transported to justify funds against trips, and could calculate budgets for each financing organization. ### Contact management The database manages contacts within each organization who authorize journeys and holds users’ financing profile and simple statistics.