Plexus Planning Limited's Software Used to
Help Optimise Rolls-Royce Trent Engine Programmes

Bristol, UK, Wednesday April 16, 2008

Plexus is being used by Rolls-Royce to help produce
models of the whole engine development process for
two of its newest engines - the Trent 1000 and Trent
XWB.

Rolls-Royce has coordinated the technical planning
activity of more than 100 Rolls-Royce engineers
through the Plexus software system to provide a more
holistic view of its engine development process.

Though Rolls-Royce have not yet used this tool
through to project completion, Bob Callender, a
Process Excellence Champion at Rolls-Royce has said
"The methodology implemented by Plexus is the best
way we've found for an organisation to orchestrate
the detailed planning effort for complex product
development." "Crucially, the models that it creates
elegantly capture the real-world, complex and
iterative interactions that have to take place in
order to produce a world-class product".

Plexus is a unique tool that bridges the technical
and programme management domains during planning and
execution of large complex projects. Plexus enables
an information-driven planning approach that supports
integration of teams, tasks, products, processes,
projects, and programmes in a form that facilitates
the definition of dependencies and their priorities.

Plexus then uses the Design Structure Matrix (DSM)
method and a unique scheduling technology that goes
far beyond it to resolve the iterative logic that
Plexus can capture. This results in optimised
conventional plans against which progress can be
monitored within the existing systems and critical
path methods employed.

Rolls-Royce programme managers for the Trent 1000
engine (which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner) and
the Trent XWB (for the Airbus A350 XWB) now aim to
use these models to produce re-optimised, integrated
schedules for their work packages.