From purchasing and receiving raw material, creating and executing work orders to build spacecraft, tracking quality escapes and change management, and implementing procedures to launch a rocket, the system needs to be robust enough to handle the manufacturing and launch of a Falcon 9. This rocket could be carrying cargo or humans to the International Space Station or delivering satellites to orbit; reliability is a top concern.

“One example of our applications is a part management system that says a certain part exists in the factory. It’s been fabricated. Now, where is it? Our system helps that part move to the location it needs to be at in order for the rockets to be built as efficiently as possible. Another example is how we do change management and defect tracking. We have to carefully track how parts relate to each other and how defects or changes in one design will flow back and affect all the other pieces in a vehicle,” explains Rose.