Transitioning to a Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) can feel overwhelming, especially in complex industries like aerospace and defense (A&D). MBE shifts traditional, segmented manufacturing into a unified, data-driven approach that boosts precision and efficiency. However, for MBE to thrive, teams must become and remain aligned, and departments must avoid slipping into siloed practices.
This is where I’ve seen the “Tiger Team” approach shine. As a focused, cross-functional group of experts with diverse perspectives and skill sets, the Tiger Team drives MBE across the organization by fostering collaboration, unifying practices, and breaking down departmental barriers. This turns MBE into an enterprise solution rather than a scattered initiative.
Who is on the MBE Tiger Team?
The Tiger Team combines a broad range of experts. Each member brings insights from their department, helping to shape data-driven MBE processes to benefit the entire organization, from design to production. Successful MBE is not driven solely by Design Engineering. The most impactful Tiger Teams include representatives from nine key value-adding disciplines.
- Design Engineering – Builds foundational models that integrate with manufacturing, inspection, and sustainment processes.
- Design Quality – Integrates quality standards and control plans into the MBE data model, reducing rework and supporting compliance.
- Process Engineering – Defines workflows that adapt digital models for efficient, real-world production.
- Operations – Ensures MBE process models align with practical manufacturing capabilities, optimizing production flow and first-pass yields.
- Factory Automation – Integrates MBE data with automated processing and measuring systems, enhancing precision and repeatability
- Sustainment Engineering – Structures data to support product closed-loop sustainment strategies, lifecycle management, and upgrades.
- As-Built Team – Verifies that the cyber asset is completely aligned with the physical part and meets contractual requirements.
- Sustainment Operations – Uses MBE data to manage ongoing maintenance, logistics, and support needs while providing sustainment engineers with real-time as-inspected conditions.
- DCMA & FAA Representatives – Align to regulatory standards into MBE workflows, ensuring compliance across all phases.
Engaging the Tiger Team Across the Organization
Once formed, the Tiger Team doesn’t work alone. They act as MBE advocates, educating departments and gaining commitment at every level. They emphasize MBE as an enterprise-wide solution that brings value across teams. Here’s how they foster engagement:
- Open Communication – The Tiger Team informs the organization about MBE’s purpose and advantages. Through updates, workshops, and Q&A sessions, they explain MBE’s benefits and clarify how each department contributes to this larger mission.
- Departmental Involvement – Acting as liaisons, Tiger Team members work within their departments to demonstrate MBE in action. They show how shared data identifiers like CAD ID and Characteristic ID keep information connected across stages, removing bottlenecks and lowering delays.
- Collaborative Problem-Solving – MBE’s success depends on early data resolution and process inconsistencies. The Tiger Team meets regularly to address cross-departmental challenges, identify gaps, and refine practices to improve MBE’s impact on efficiency and data continuity.
Incremental Implementation for Sustained Success in your MBE
Many assume MBE requires a sweeping transformation, but it actually thrives on a gradual, program-focused rollout. Companies can start small, implementing MBE for a specific product or department and expanding as they see results. This phased approach builds momentum, reducing risk and encouraging buy-in across the enterprise.
The Tiger Team supports this by dividing MBE into manageable steps, enabling small wins and demonstrating the value of data-driven processes. Each stage lays the groundwork for the next, helping refine processes, adjust training, and showcase MBE’s benefits—ultimately paving the way for a successful, enterprise-wide rollout.
Breaking Down Silos for a Unified Approach
One of MBE’s biggest challenges comes when departments try to implement it independently, often resulting in gaps and inefficiency. Isolated efforts create a “high-rework” approach, where each department handles MBE differently, eroding the benefits of digital continuity and driving up costs.
The Tiger Team prevents this by developing a standardized MBE framework for all departments. This framework establishes common data formats, traceability standards, and quality checks, creating a unified digital ecosystem.
Overcoming Cultural Resistance
In complex industries, well-established practices rarely change quickly. Some employees may see MBE as another mandate rather than a valuable shift. This resistance often arises when MBE appears more like a compliance exercise than a strategic improvement.
The Tiger Team acts as a cultural ambassador. They show how MBE addresses daily pain points, from reducing rework and idle time to enhancing quality control. By framing MBE as a tool that makes work simpler, they build trust and commitment across functional areas.
Gaining Executive Support for MBE
Executive support matters, especially in industries where siloed operations and legacy systems have deep roots. Leaders must see MBE as a strategic priority, empower the Tiger Team to make decisions, and allocate resources for the transformation.
This support means actively endorsing MBE goals, celebrating milestones, and showing that MBE’s success relies on enterprise collaboration. When leaders commit to MBE, they signal that it represents a foundational shift toward data continuity and efficiency.
Forging the Future of Manufacturing Excellence
In A&D manufacturing, where precision, speed, and cost control guide every decision, MBE delivers—when implemented as a unified, cross-functional strategy. The Tiger Team approach transforms a potentially fragmented initiative into a cohesive enterprise effort. Bringing together representatives from core departments, promoting open communication, and aligning everyone on shared goals accelerates and improves MBE adoption and builds the cultural muscles to support it. Solutions like Solumina MBE strengthen the Tiger Team’s impact by streamlining data continuity, process execution, and quality management across all production stages. With the right tools and a committed Tiger Team, MBE can elevate manufacturing to new levels of speed, accuracy, and competitiveness.
