The Advent of Visual Manufacturing

02/02/2009

The Advent of Visual Manufacturing
By David Prawel, Longview Advisors

PLM is an intriguing vision. But its success has been limited to expanding the role of PDM systems to help automate cross-engineering disciplines such as CAE and simulation. Little has been accomplished to augment workflows and processes which extend beyond the four walls of engineering. Successful PLM implementation is hampered by poor flow of relevant and timely information out of engineering to other stakeholders in the global value chain. World-class efficiency and productivity require availability of product data at the right time in the right place and format. Without data, people can’t collaborate, PLM remains only a vision, and business processes grind to a halt.

Countless software tools have emerged to help automate various aspects of manufacturing. Each deploys one or more proprietary data formats which are incompatible between applications. Thus, smooth workflow between and among “islands of automation” is further challenged, and efficiency is compromised. Poor interoperability of data, caused by this proliferation of incompatible data formats, is a huge source of cost and waste throughout manufacturing. And it further limits the potential for successful PLM.

In addition, the majority of CAD tools are built for CAD people. They are complex and difficult for non-CAD people to learn and use, preventing access by these people to their company’s CAD data assets. More people in a typical global organization could benefit from product data assets, but lack access, skill or interest required to use it. Thus countless hours are wasted recreating data that would otherwise be available from engineering. This adds to product cost and dramatically delays critical business processes.

Competition is unrelenting. In response, manufacturers worldwide are looking for every opportunity to reduce time to customer value and reduce cost. Cost reduction programs have already shaved all they can from people's cost and direct expense. But there are huge sources of largely unaddressed hidden costs resulting from reworking product data, as discussed earlier.

One large heavy equipment manufacturer found that fifty percent of their documentation production time was consumed by non-CAD workers trying to manipulate CAD files to author product documentation. Sixty percent of the people I speak with on production shop floors tell me they make the wrong parts at least once every few months because their drawings get out of synch with the final released version of the part they’re making. The line stops, and the parts are thrown away. This is waste! And anyone who cares about running a lean operation should be thinking proactively about it.

Part of the problem stems from the power of 3D. 3D is very powerful. It enhances collaboration and communication, as documented in many recent studies. In a 2008 study, Aberdeen Research reported that using 3D CAD resulted in a twenty-one percent increase in product margins, and companies using 3D are twenty-two percent more likely to meet product launch targets. And, 3D is Cool!

But it’s more than just cool. Last year, researchers at Harvard University found that learning from animations and graphics resulted in a ten percent improvement in retention of information and thirty percent better understanding, compared to reading text books. What’s more – the study found a ten percent increase in interest level and engagement in the information presented, for only half the time invested in learning. Apparently, people like working with and learning from 3D visual representations.

Despite the clear, documented value, and need, for visual product data, big barriers prevent people from sharing product data – and making effective PLM all but impossible. A large part of the problem is due to poor CAD interoperability - of data, applications, processes. Countless articles, have been written and a dedicated conference (www.3dcic.com) is held each year to cover this topic.

Data format issues notwithstanding, among the most significant impediments to leveraging product data is that most companies only make CAD data available outside engineering. Unfortunately, CAD data is only good for CAD people and design/engineering processes. Few others can use it. And it’s not just CAD data. All kinds of product data are simply unavailable to the vast majority of the global organization. It’s either the wrong data, lack of access to the data, or poor quality data.

In a typical operation, the design/CAD department completes a design cycle and throws the data “over the wall” to the rest of the extended organization. Departments like documentation, supply chain, maintenance, training, spare parts, and marketing each must configure the data to suit their functional requirements, and to support their respective deliverables. So these non-CAD functions in the company do their work, make user documentation, training materials, maintenance and repair manuals, spare parts catalogs and the like, and then repeat the process, at least in part, each time the design changes – often dozens of times.

But help may be on the way. A new type of software solution is emerging, driven by pursuit of a whole new level of information integration between CAD and everyone else. And it’s enabling the rapid deployment of valuable product data throughout the global value chain.

The concept behind “Visual Manufacturing” software is leveraging visualization and graphics to mobilize product data outside engineering. It removes the barriers to effective collaboration and efficiency by delivering product data to stakeholders, visually, in the form they need it. User interfaces are uniquely packaged to suit the needs of specific users and functions. Product data of all types becomes accessible to a much broader audience, to make faster decisions and accelerate their respective business workflows. Business processes are naturally streamlined, while Islands of Automation blend into efficient, integrated drivers of customer value. Visual Manufacturing drives bottom line business growth in areas like MRO, training, marketing, with measurable ROI.

Visual Manufacturing is a convergence of existing technologies, packaged to enable new levels of efficiency and automation in downstream operations. It represents a convergence of process, methodology and technology, all targeted at making faster better decisions, reducing variability and errors that result (which of course means higher quality works and products) and improving communication and collaboration.

Visual Manufacturing platforms, such as Right Hemisphere's (www.righthemisphere.com), typically bundle technology for such common needs as animation, large model visualization, 3D and 2D viewing and data translation. Customizable user interface design capabilities are also included to present information the way users want to see it. This provides an important ability to configure the user interface to personalize the information flow and create an experience that fits the role, function, workflow, and personal preferences.

And in a Visual Manufacturing paradigm, all this capability should be delivered through a single, highly flexible architecture with customization tools and a wide variety of components that can be mixed and matched and plugged into any particular implementation, based on the needs of the stakeholder using the application.

And perhaps the best news… Visual Manufacturing platforms works with software you already use, so you don’t have to acquire a whole new set of solutions to take advantage of it. For example, Visual Manufacturing systems work with existing IT systems such as MRP to know what processes, operations and supplies are needed and to show which tools are needed in each process, or where to drill or cut. They can even show the glues, sealants and paints to apply and where – virtually anything in the BOMs or process plans.

The playbook is being re-written. According to the recent Longview Advisors’ 2008 Market Report and Survey (available for free download at www.longviewadvisors.com), more companies are taking advantage of their 3D product data – thirty-five percent of all companies surveyed. And more companies are sending and receiving, and requiring, product manufacturing information in data exchange transactions that can benefit from it. And the suppliers are appreciating the value of this PMI data and using it more than ever before. OEMs are also getting on board by making PMI data more broadly available. All this is evidence of a general trend towards improvement in sharing and leveraging product data throughout the global operation. And big rewards are also evident. According to the survey, reuse of product data has increased about nineteen percent.

When it comes to real measurable value, companies look at ROI. The ROI provided by visual manufacturing is real. One medium sized heavy equipment maker enjoyed a global savings of $6.15 million over three years, in a single product line, due to process automation in technical publications, marketing and training. They realized a payback within nine months of their initial investment in the visual manufacturing software platform and implementation costs. Other direct measurements of ROI value are also provided in our white paper, “The Advent of Visual Manufacturing”, available for free download at www.longviewadvisors.com.

Consider the number of changes that take place in a typical product design. And then consider the downstream impact on the global organization of all these changes. Imagine for a moment the huge number of transactions that must take place to complete the sourcing processes for a typical product release. What is the direct value of shaving fifteen minutes from every service call, or five minutes from every transaction? Huge!

Visual manufacturing software changes the fundamental value proposition for your product data and CAD assets. The opportunity and benefits are real. Payback is often within the first year and the ROI is huge, sometimes triple digit. The cost of not taking advantage of these types of new software platforms is also huge.

Resources: For further information, please download our White Paper, “The Advent of Visual Manufacturing,” and the 2008 Collaboration & Interoperability Market Report & Survey. Both are free for download at www.longviewadvisors.com.

In addition, proceedings from the 2008 and previous Collaboration & Interoperability Conferences are available for free at www.3dcic.com, Login user: cic, PW: cic2008.

Images Courtesy of Right Hemisphere

About the Author
David Prawel is founder and president of Longview Advisors, Inc., a global consulting firm focusing on the business, technology and application of 3D software in product lifecycle management. For more information, please visit Longview Advisors’ Website.

Fuente: www.catiacommunity.com

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