The SEMP [Systems Engineering Management Plan], may be needed to supplement the details of the Project Plan. When used, the SEMP focuses on the technical plan of the project and the systems engineering processes to be used for the project. Its purpose is to detail out those engineering tasks; especially to provide detailed information on the processes to be used. Preparation of a SEMP is most important if the project involves development of custom software. The engineering tasks of producing custom software [from requirements, through design implementation, integration, and verification] are very complex, and are new to many transportation engineers.
Given the level of process detail needed in the SEMP, it often written in two steps. In the first step, the framework for the document is prepared, usually by the project management staff. Enough detail is included to identify all the needed tasks [including analysis tasks] and any important constraints on the performance of a task [such as use of a specific systems engineering and design methodology]. In the second step, the various sections of the SEMP framework are completed, this time by the team that will perform each task. For instance, the requirements team provides details on the analysis and the tools used to manage requirements. The design team provides details on use of the software design methodology. The software coder provides details on configuration management of the software code. The verification team provides details on their verification methods.