Saving >€600k yearly with one MBSE model at a defense OEM

European Defense OEM accelerates development and reduces engineering costs by >€600k annually with connected MBSE data layer

Challenge

A European Defense OEM was under mounting pressure to accelerate system development timelines in response to rapidly growing demand. At the same time, the shift toward software-defined defense introduced increased complexity and deeper interdependencies within vehicle systems. To manage this transition, the OEM decided to adopt Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) as its new standard.

However, engineering data remained fragmented across a variety of disconnected tools, requiring extensive manual alignment. Previous efforts to unify this data had failed – models lacked accuracy and critical validation mechanisms. Without a shared data foundation, collaboration across teams and domains was slow, error-prone, and highly manual. Engineers struggled to trace how requirements, functions, and components were connected, resulting in project delays, overlooked dependencies, and missed development milestones.

Approach

To establish a scalable foundation for MBSE, the OEM introduced SPREAD’s Engineering Intelligence Platform. In just two months, SPREAD ingested requirements, function models, component data, and CAD assets into a unified, toolchain-agnostic knowledge graph. The platform was then rolled out across engineering teams responsible for system development. The teams gained access to tailored insights – integrated into their daily workflows without requiring tool replacements.

Based on SPREAD’s Platform, the Product Explorer in R&D was deployed:

• A connected toolchain agnostic knowledge graph that consolidated data from multiple systems into a single, navigable structure accessible to all stakeholders

• Cross-domain mapping, that links functions, components and data to expose interdependencies and relationships within the system

• Syntactic model validation and automated issue detection that ensured that the models were consistent and usable for MBSE 

Impact 

SPREAD’s solution directly and quickly translated into measurable results for the manufacturer:

• >€600k saved annually: from faster development and less manual modeling effort
• 30% faster development cycles: by enabling collaborative and model-driven workflows across teams
• One connected data layer: served as a reliable MBSE foundation
  

“SPREAD’s solution enables us to implement an accurate and collaborative Model-Based Systems Engineering by connecting various systems.”
— VP Engineering