Engineering information management (EIM) is the activity within Systems Engineering (SE) that allows engineers to collaborate on a Single Source of Truth of engineering data for the development of hardware products.

EIM System Definition

Engineering Information Management (EIM) Systems are tools that enable collaboration on all important aspects of the Systems Engineering Lifecycle, such as:

  • Requirements Management
  • Functional Design
  • Product Architecture
  • Detailed Systems Design, Calculations & Simulation
  • Verification & Validation
  • Documentation

These softwares support the complete V-Model of the Systems Engineering Process:

Engineering v-model, covering
- Concept of Operations
- Requirements and Architecture
- Detailed Design
- Implementation
- Integration, Test and Verification
- System Verification and Validation
- Operation and Maintenance

Flow from Customer Requirements to finished product

Modern hardware developing companies use a tool-stack that combines Systems Engineering with Geometric Design Management. Specifically EIM systems with closely linked Simulation tools; complementing PLM/PDM and ERP tools.

EIM in the context of other tools and Methodologies

Read more about the context of EIM systems in hardware development tool stack:

Leading Engineering Information Management (EIM) Systems:

These are the market-leading EIM systems:

Valispace

A browser-based, collaborative EIM System used in aerospace, automotive, energy, industrial and maritime industries by enterprise, SME and startups. 

  • Focus: modern hardware requirements management, single source of truth for engineering data, MBSE, agile hardware development, automatic verification and documentation, as well as ease-of-use.
  • Native integrations: Matlab, Python, Word, Excel, Duro Labs, STK, etc.
  • Pricing: €50-€250 / user / month

Innoslate

A web based EIM System used in the defence and aerospace sector

  • Focus: MBSE, SysML, standard operating procedures, requirements management, DoD architecture framework (DoDAF)
  • Native integrations: Matlab and Zapier.
  • Pricing: not publicly available

The Engineering Company

User-client and file-based EIM System used by mining sector and startups.

  • Focus: rapid modelling, simulation, dataflow, prototyping
  • Native integrations: Python, Matlab, OpenFOAM, Excel
  • Pricing: not publicly available