The research reported in this paper complements previous work in the modeling and analysis of product development processes to reduce process risk and lead time. Such methods have found a receptive audience in industry, as evidenced by many academic case studies and the initiation of similar process improvement initiatives by the companies themselves. Given the ongoing ‘pull’ from a number of companies, we are interested to understand why such model-based methods have not yet impacted upon wider operational planning in industry. In this paper, based on an extended research study at a large UK aerospace company, we describe the application of the Signposting process modeling approach to the problem of developing a pragmatic method to support planning practice. The research described in the paper focuses on the elicitation, representation and manipulation of process information in a form which can inform planning and scheduling; during the study, addressing these issues was key to gaining support of the approach within the company.
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