Archive for the ‘PLM Integration’ Category
Wednesday, March 31st, 2021
PROSTEP’s new series on SHIPBUILDING PLM INSIGHTS was launched on March 16. It was a successful start to the series: Around 150 participants watched the first episode, which focused on the added value of PDM and PLM for users of shipbuilding-specific CAD systems. In addition, our shipbuilding experts explained how shipyards can rebuild their PLM architectures more effectively.
The series is aimed at maritime industry professionals and IT experts who want to know more about how they can use PDM and PLM to manage growing product complexity, shorten time-to-market, and meet the more demanding requirements of customers and classification societies. Here, PDM means a specific application, while PLM describes a broader concept that can be implemented with different applications.
The first episode kicked off with a market overview of the challenges that shipyards face in digitalization. This overview was based on intensive discussions we have had with more than 40 shipyards worldwide over the past few years, from which we extracted their pain points. Pressure to act is caused by the increasing complexity of shipbuilding projects, the many changes to each ship and the growing effort required to manage requirements, documents and certificates.
The market situation is also characterized by smaller shipyards merging into larger groups. Often, post-merger integration is complicated by outdated IT system landscapes, different legacy systems at the various sites, and the multitude of Excel spreadsheets still used to manage non-CAD data. As a result, companies have little foundation to implement complex new requirements.
The most discussed topic among shipyards is what additional benefits a PDM system can offer them if they already use a shipbuilding-specific CAD system. For this reason, we have made this topic the focus of the first episode. Our colleague Jan Bitomsky explained to the participants the special features of shipbuilding-specific CAD systems, which are the reason why most shipyards do not have a PDM. They cover many PDM functions through integrated CAD data management and their focus on the shipbuilding CAx process chain. But just not all of them, which is why there are so many Excel spreadsheets.
PDM systems first caught on in other industries where management of mechanical CAD files was a key requirement. Over time, however, they have been extended to include PLM capabilities such as materials management, document management, product structure management, or partner collaboration, which are also of interest to shipbuilders but are missing from shipbuilding-specific CAD systems. Most importantly, they lack powerful change management, which is one of the key functions of any PDM system.
Combining the PLM capabilities of a shipbuilding CAD system with a PDM system therefore offers enormous added value, as Bitomsky pointed out. There is then only one source of truth. Document management is perhaps related to that with change management. In the product structure, you can see the CAD data, but also other data. And one can always trace which data was sent to which supplier and when.
But how does one get to this single source of truth? In a second topic, Bitomsky explained to participants how they can use the enterprise architecture management approach to develop a PLM architecture that is aligned with their business requirements. These requirements are more demanding in shipbuilding than in other industries because not only the products are very complex, but also the business processes from the time of sale to delivery. This is the reason why there is still no best practice solution for PLM architecture in shipbuilding.
PROSTEP supports shipyards in identifying the bottlenecks in the existing information flows based on the business objects and in determining the required capabilities for their future PLM architecture. An architecture that can combine shipbuilding-specific CAD systems, PDM and ERP systems, for example.
At the end of the first episode, participants were allowed to vote on the focus of the next episode. It will take place in May and will revolve around the topic of Collaboration in Shipbuilding. You can watch the recording of the first episode here. If you would like to receive information about the second episode, sign up here.
By Matthias Grau
No Comments »
Sunday, January 17th, 2021
A few weeks ago, Alstom completed the takeover of Bombardier’s railway division. However, the two companies already worked closely together beforehand on the development and production of the new generation of metros for the Paris transport authority. The former Bombardier sites use the OpenPDM integration platform to import the engineering data for production and assembly into their PLM environment.
Under the project name MF 19, the Paris Metro is getting a new generation of rail vehicles for the lines operated with steel wheels. The contract between the operating companies and the now “married” consortium partners Alstom and Bombardier Transportation provides for the delivery of 44 trains worth 530 million euros to be put into service between 2024 and 2026 – with the option of a further 410 trains. Alstom will essentially supply engines, drive chains, on-board electronics and IT security systems, while the former Bombardier site in Crespin, France, will be responsible for the design and production of car bodies, bogies, air conditioning and interior components.
Through the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, the French Alstom Group expands its global footprint and becomes a world leader in mobility solutions, present in 70 countries, employing around 75,000 people and generating pro forma combined revenues of around €15.7 billion. At the same time, the acquisition expands Alstom’s portfolio of innovative rail technology products and solutions. The portfolio ranges from light and regional trains to high-speed trains and also includes new strategic products such as people movers and monorails. With a fleet of 150,000 rail vehicles, the company has the world’s largest installed base, which is also the foundation for expanding its leadership in the service business. In the signaling segment, it now ranks second in terms of sales.
Both sides need construction documents
Alstom and Bombardier have a long history of joint consortium projects. “Due to the often very large project volume, such projects are nothing unusual in rail vehicle construction,” says Edouard Hundemer, who is responsible for the OpenPDM project and end-to-end integration of MF19 engineering tools at former BT in the Bombardier Information Systems division. “However, a special feature of the MF 19 project is that both partners must be able to build the complete trains. They therefore need all the information and documentation required for assembly, even if not everyone manufactures all the subsystems.” In this way, the clients want to ensure faster delivery of the new metro generation.
Collaboration is a major challenge in the consortium project, and the merger of the two companies did not automatically resolve it because the IT landscapes have not yet been consolidated. “Basically, each partner wants to use its existing IT systems and methods for design and engineering, if possible, to avoid the cost of acquiring new systems and retraining its engineers,” says Hundemer. “At the same time, however, both partners must ensure the PLM paradigm of single source of truth when collaborating.”
To simplify collaboration, a separate development environment was set up for the MF 19 project at Bombardier’s Crespin site, which in a sense replicates the system and process landscape at Alstom. This makes it easier for the developers of the two consortium partners to synchronize their engineering data, which is particularly helpful in the early development phase with its large number of changes. For the new colleagues at Bombardier, however, it means that they must subsequently integrate the data into their own PLM landscape in order to maintain collaboration with suppliers and to be able to supply the downstream processes in manufacturing and assembly with construction documents.
The PLM landscape at the former Bombardier sites is relatively uniform, with two or three main systems. As the central PLM system, the “Rolling Stock” division uses the Siemens Teamcenter Enterprise (TCE) software, which is gradually being replaced by Teamcenter UA. Enovia 3Dcom, a CAD-related data management system, is also used to manage the CAD models. The mechanical assemblies are normally designed with the CAD system Catia V5 from Dassault Systèmes, which is also used at Alstom.
OpenPDM controls the data import
The data import into TCE or Enovia 3Dcom is controlled via PROSTEP’s PLM integration platform OpenPDM, which the new group division already used for the joint development of the ICE4 with Siemens. “We had good experience with the software during the ICX project and thus knew that it would work well on our side,” says Hundemer. “In addition, we could be sure that we met the EN standards in terms of verification requirements.”
The requirements in the ICX project for Siemens, however, differed significantly from those in the MF 19 project. In the former, OpenPDM supported both the export and import of CAD data and product structures in the ongoing development process, with the Catia files being converted into the neutral STEP format to protect intellectual property. OpenPDM also controlled the reconversion of incoming STEP files from Siemens into Catia format during import. However, in this case the company did not need the complete construction documents, as it only acts as a supplier of certain components. The trains are built by Siemens.
In the MF 19 project, the engineering data from the common development environment is to be integrated into the PLM world of the former Bombardier locations when a certain level of maturity is reached, in order to be able to use it for subsequent processes. For this purpose, they are provided in a coordinated format that OpenPDM can read. The PROSTEP solution imports the CAD and PLM data and maps them to the global data model of former Bombardier, which is quite different from the Alstom data model of the development environment. Part of the metadata moves together with the CAD files into the CAD-related data management, while the other part is created in TCE or updated after changes.
Data is imported at the push of a button
In principle, the import and mapping of data can be fully automated with OpenPDM. However, the former Bombardier team opted for a semi-automated approach in order to avoid having to immediately update every small change in the development in TCE or Enovia 3Dcom. PROSTEP has enhanced the solution so that it continuously compares the version statuses and informs the key users of changes. They can import new data sets or parts of them at the push of a button. OpenPDM also offers the possibility of importing files that have not yet been released, e.g. from long-running components, so that they can be used for request for quotations, for example.
One of the biggest challenges in the OpenPDM project was the mapping of the different data structures, as Hundemer points out. With the help of PROSTEP, however, they were able to overcome these challenges without any problems. Hundemer is very satisfied with the support he received from the collaboration experts: “It is always good to have a partner who understands his product in depth and knows how to implement it at the customer’s site. The people from PROSTEP were always approachable and often the ones who had the solution ready. This made the ramp-up much easier.”
Standard solution for collaboration
Although – as is usual for large companies – a large number of stakeholders and external service providers was involved in the project, whose coordination was also made more difficult by the Corona pandemic, the implementation and testing of the new integration solution, including going live, only took a good six months. The project partners were of course able to build on the experience and preliminary work from the ICX project. The software did not have to be installed from scratch either, because the French locations simply access the existing instance in one of the company’s data centers.
The aim is to provide the departments with a uniform solution for collaboration in joint ventures and consortium projects, as Hundemer concludes. “In the Information Systems department, we have developed a strategy for integrating partners and suppliers into the extended company, in which OpenPDM plays an important role. We will therefore certainly continue to work with PROSTEP.” Possibly, the solution will even be expanded so that in addition to CAD and PLM data, requirements can also be exchanged via OpenPDM in the future.
By Mirko Theiß
No Comments »
Monday, December 21st, 2020
Our claim “Integrate the Future” means developing innovative products and services for you. Sponsored projects provide us with important ideas for this. In recent years, we have significantly increased the extent of our research activities. Four innovation projects are currently running simultaneously: V&V Methods, SET Level, ProProS and DigiTwin. In October, we applied for funding for two new projects (ImPaKT and HoliYard).
PROSTEP invests a lot of time and money in these projects and thus in its future – for the benefit of our customers. As a technology company, we want to ensure that our service portfolio is subject to ongoing development. The sponsored projects allow us to keep our ear to the ground when it comes to technological advances and gather important ideas and gain know-how. We develop demonstrators for new products, which we can then get ready for market faster. And it is thanks to this that we were granted the first patent in the company’s history for the “procedure for the electronic documentation of license information” based on the use of blockchain technology this year.
Participation in these projects benefits us in a variety of ways. Our close contacts with renowned research institutes working in new fields such as artificial intelligence, cryptography, systems engineering and autonomous driving have over the years made it possible for us to expand our own know-how and attract new employees. At the same time, we work closely with (potential) customers and become more familiar with their requirements, which helps us develop software solutions that meet their needs. We are also gaining a deeper understanding of the industry in new application areas, such as shipbuilding in the ProProS and HoliYard projects for example.
Our traceability solution Tracy would certainly not have reached the level of maturity it currently has without the impetus provided by the V&V and SET Level projects. Within the framework of ImPaKT, a newly proposed sponsored project that will probably be launched in January, we intend to work together with both industrial partners like CLAAS and Schaeffler and SMEs like Hofmann, a specialist for balancing machines, on expanding OpenCLM to include functions for the use case of cross-domain impact analysis of changes. It will also involve the use of artificial intelligence methods. You will find more information about the use cases on the OpenCLM web page.
Sponsored projects make an important financial contribution to our product development and also to marketing. They generate a great deal of public interest and raise our profile. The SAMPL project alone gave rise to 23 presentations and 24 publications in the media; we also presented our new blockchain solution at 34 events. Our demonstrator will soon be exhibited at the Digital Technologies Forum and will also be shown to international visitors.
As part of the SAMPL (Secure Additive Manufacturing Platform) project, we have worked with partners to develop an end-to-end solution for the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data using blockchain technology. The project has now been brought to a successful close. During the course of the project, blockchain technology was integrated in our OpenDXM GlobalX software solution. We can now support new business models that exploit the advantages of blockchain technology and involve exchanging large amounts of data. We are about to win our first major contract.
Our employees are given the opportunity to explore exciting topics and grow as a person. They in turn make it possible for us to remain innovative and break new ground for you – our customers.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact martin.holland@prostep.com.
By Martin Holland
No Comments »
Saturday, December 19th, 2020
PROSTEP is increasing the pace of development of its PLM integration platform OpenPDM and will in future deliver a new release every six months. Version 9.2 will be on the roadmap at the beginning of February 2021. In addition to support for the current releases of the PLM systems Windchill, Teamcenter and 3DEXPERIENCE, it offers new connectors to GIT, Jira and to OSLC-enabled systems.
OpenPDM 9.2 is the second release of the new generation of our world-leading PLM integration platform, which is characterized by its cloud-ready software architecture. The new version not only offers connectors to Windchill 12.0.0, Teamcenter 13.0 or 3DEXPERIENCE R2021X, but now also supports the REST interface of Dassault Systèmes’ PLM platform. Via this interface, OpenPDM can now communicate very easily with a cloud instance of 3DEXPERIENCE. In addition, we have developed a direct coupling to EXALEAD based on OpenPDM, so that data from Windchill, Teamcenter or SAP can be evaluated with EXALEAD.
We have also enhanced OpenPDM 9.2 with a view to integrating systems for managing software code and controlling the software development process (Application Lifecycle Management or ALM for short). There are new connectors to GIT and Jira. Furthermore, we have ported the existing connector to the ALM solution PTC Integrity, now called Windchill RV&S, to the new OpenPDM generation. Our connector to the IoT platform ThingWorx offers the possibility to also display data from non-PTC systems with PTC Navigate.
OpenPDM 9.2 supports new data linking concepts through an OSLC provider. It enables OSLC consumers such as IBM RTC or DOORS Next to link requirements and functional models via OpenPDM with PLM information in other source systems.
The new version of our cloud-enabled PLM integration platform will be delivered to our customers from February 2021. In addition, they will receive a Feature Enhancement and Fix Pack for the current release every two months, which contains features requested at short notice in the projects.
By Mirko Theiß
No Comments »
Monday, December 14th, 2020
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was not only PROSTEP TECHDAY 2020 that was held online this year but also almost every other event at which we normally make an appearance. In recent months, we have participated in numerous online events with presentations and virtual booths. The feedback was rather restrained: What our speakers missed most was contact with the other participants.
One of the events we have been attending for years is LiveWorx, where we demonstrate the solutions in our portfolio, and in particular our OpenPDM integrations to Windchill, Creo and the IIoT platform ThingWorx, to the PTC community. Although this year’s trip to Boston was canceled, our appearance was not. In one presentation, we demonstrated to participants how our integration platform can provide support for end-to-end digitalization in heterogeneous PDM/PLM landscapes and make data from different enterprise applications available in role-based ThingWorx apps. You can watch the video here.
The 3DEXPERIENCE Conference EuroCentral organized by Dassault Systèmes was also held online this year. Our participation in the event comprised not only a virtual booth but also two live presentations. In the first presentation, we explained to participants how our data exchange platform OpenDXM GlobalX supports 3DEXPERIENCE (3DX) platform users in the context of cross-enterprise collaboration. The second presentation focused on data migration. We used concrete use cases to demonstrate how companies can migrate metadata and CAD data from legacy systems to the 3DX platform in high quality with the support of PROSTEP’s experts and our OpenPDM integration platform. Several presentations were also made at our booth, including one on how 3DX can be incorporated in an EA-based PLM strategy.
Our PLM strategy consultants also responded to the constraints placed on their ability to travel by participating in online events. One highlight was most certainly the joint presentation given together with Bosch at the prostep ivip Symposium in which we presented the current status of the SetLevel and V&V research projects. The two projects deal with the question of how the traceability of simulation steps and results can be ensured when it comes to validating autonomous driving functions. A video of the presentation, which was also shown at the 6th Symposium Driving Simulation, can be found here.
At the same time, our consulting specialists made an appearance in the former plenary hall of the German Bundestag in Bonn as a sponsor of LeanIX EA Connect Days 2020, one of the most important conferences in the field of enterprise architecture management, which was a smart combination of physical and virtual event. In an interview, Dr. Martin Strietzel explains the role EA (Enterprise Architecture) plays in PLM and the digitalization of the product development process and what PROSTEP expects from its collaboration with LeanIX.
We gave a number of presentations at the NAFEMS DACH 2020 conference, which was ultimately held online following several postponements. The presentations covered a wide range of topics from the challenges posed by the digital twin to the role of simulation in the platform economy through to a concrete representation of end-to-end digitalization using the system model in systems engineering as an example. You can find out more about these topics in our white paper.
Some of our customers in the maritime industry like MEYER Werft and MEYER Turku are using the coronavirus crisis as an opportunity to rethink their PLM architectures. Our shipbuilding experts made use of a variety of online activities to help them come up with new ideas. At a virtual booth at PI Marine USA, we showcased our integration platform OpenPDM SHIP, which connects shipbuilding-specific development systems with each other or with mechanical CAD systems and all the leading PDM/PLM and ERP systems. You can find more about this in our white paper.
We also presented the results of a cross-enterprise survey on the digital twin in the maritime industry at the start of the 5th Schiff&Hafen Maritim 4.0 conference, which was held online this year. Details of the study, which attracted a great deal of attention, will be provided in the next newsletter.
By Joachim Christ
No Comments »
Sunday, December 13th, 2020
Finnish shipyard MEYER Turku, part of MEYER Group and one of the world’s leading builder of cruise ships, ferries and special ships, plans for the future of shipbuilding. In a Proof of Concept (PoC) led by PROSTEP, and in cooperation with TECHNIA the shipyard examined the advantages of model-based, visually supported work planning using DELMIA software in the production process.
MEYER Turku’s aim is to optimize planning and control in production and thus to reduce the production time of individual ships. This requires a restructuring of the historically grown IT landscape, which is strongly adapted to the shipyard’s specific needs. The Finnish engineers use the shipbuilding specific CAD system AVEVA Marine for basic and detailed design of the steel structures (Hull). For work planning and control, production-relevant data is then transferred to NESTIX, a MES tool perfectly adapted to the existing production processes. The software however cannot directly use 3D design models, which makes data consistency difficult and impedes visual work planning.
When looking for a future planning software for manufacturing, the project managers in Finland did not need to look far afield: DELMIA is part of Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE already in use as a PLM platform at the sister shipyards in Papenburg and Rostock. In view of the ongoing harmonization of the IT landscapes at the different shipyard locations, the idea of a practical test of the Dassault software in Turku was therefore obvious.
Another obvious choice was to cooperate with PROSTEP’s shipbuilding experts, who have been supporting MEYER for years as system-neutral consultants in the integration of its CAx and PLM landscapes. They took the lead in the project team that was to carry out the evaluation of DELMIA’s Out Of The Box (OOTB) functions from a user perspective. With a view to later productive use, the aim was to clarify whether DELMIA could provide all the necessary functions, how much customizing would be required and how the software could support closer integration of hull and outfitting design in the future.
As part of the PoC, PROSTEP’s experts developed a concept for converting and transferring the geometry and metadata from AVEVA Marine to 3DEXPERIENCE and coordinated the activities of Dassault partner TECHNIA, which was responsible for testing the DELMIA software and introducing users to the new, integrative way of working. “The cooperation between PROSTEP, TECHNIA and the users at MEYER Turku was very targeted and worked perfectly. We were able to carry out the project in time and budget and achieved all expected results” praised Pekka Puranen, CAD/PLM Developer at MEYER Turku.
During the implementation of the project, the two consulting firms combined their core competencies. The experts from TECHNIA contributed their industrial best practices in applying DELMIA, while PROSTEP brought in its experience with shipbuilding processes, PLM as well as agile project management. In addition, PROSTEP also developed the integration to provide AVEVA Marine 3D model data in DELMIA for testing purposes. The company benefited from years of close cooperation with the Finnish shipyard and the proven in-house integration platform OpenPDM SHIP, whose functions were used to implement the integration.
TECHNIA’s experts tested DELMIA together with the work planners at the shipyard so that they could gain practical experience with the model-based approach. It was found that visual work allows them to control the progress of the work much better. In principle, the PoC was able to map the defined use cases with DELMIA OOTB. For productive use, however, the software would have to be customized in order to fulfil all essential requirements of the Finnish shipyard. For example, an automatic time calculation for the planned work is missing as basis for the resource and capacity planning. “If we achieve a similarly high degree of automation with DELMIA, we will need much less time for work planning due to the integrative approach”, concluded Pekka Puranen.
By Nils Sonnenberg
No Comments »
Friday, December 11th, 2020
Online conferences can be rather tedious affairs. PROSTEP proved that it doesn’t have to be that way with its PROSTEP TECHDAY. The professionally moderated online sessions with short presentations about key new products and interesting presentations by customers offered participants a diverse and entertaining program. “The quality was almost as good as on TV,” said one of the viewers.
With almost 150 participants, this year’s PROSTEP TECHDAY was better “attended” than ever before. The response was extremely positive. Many of those participating congratulated us via e-mail on the “super event”, the great format, the professional support provided by TV and event host Julia Bauer and the informative and professional presentations by the speakers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s customary meeting of the PROSTEP community took place on screen, to some extent like a TV series with three episodes and different protagonists. Each session kicked off with a brief review of what has been achieved since the previous TECHDAY and how PROSTEP is positioning itself as a partner for the digital transformation. There is no way around the cloud. According to Gartner, 75 percent of companies are navigating their way to the cloud, which is why we, too, have made our software solutions cloud-ready.
In cooperation with the DARZ data center in Darmstadt, we are making our OpenDXM GlobalX data exchange platform available as a SaaS model – an offering that is already in productive use at customers like OSRAM Continental and Valeo Siemens. The cloud offering is soon to be expanded to include additional services such as the data conversion service OpenDESC.com. We also have plans to offer PLM integration to an increasing extent as a service based on our cloud-capable OpenPDM product suite. To facilitate the deployment of applications in different cloud infrastructures, the company is working intensively on integrating technologies like Docker, Kubernetes and OpenShift, said Udo Hering, head of Product Management.
Getting to grips with topics of the future is of strategic importance to PROSTEP, which is why we participate in numerous research projects. They play a key role in the context of developing new software products such as the OpenCLM traceability solution, which product manager Dr. Fabrice Mogo Nem presented to a wider audience for the first time at PROSTEP TECHDAY. As Dr. Mogo Nem pointed out, it is not merely another PDM/PLM system but a layer that makes the relationships between the information distributed across different data silos and domains transparent, thus reducing the amount of time and effort required to find information and ensure requirements regarding traceability are being met. OpenCLM will be available from July next year but can already be put to the test in a proof of concept.
Client for CAD data processing
OpenDXM GlobalX was the protagonist in the first session. In the current version 9.2, PROSTEP has expanded the new web interface to enable administrators to also perform all their essential tasks on the web, as Product Manager Daniel Wiegand explained. A new and powerful CAD client is now available to companies that want to use the data exchange platform without PDM/PLM integration. It analyzes the components stored in a directory and independently puts together the assemblies that are to be sent. The client also offers a convenient 3D preview function that allows the assemblies to be viewed prior to being sent. The OpenDXM Broker can be used to automate processes like data conversion.
We have expanded the range of PDM integrations offered to include a new plug-in for the 3D dashboard that is part of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The plug-in makes it possible for multiple data sets to be sent in a single operation. The roadmap for the next version of OpenDXM GlobalX includes not only improving security functions using two-factor authentication but also another plug-in for the Teamcenter Active Workspace client.
Alexander Meier from the automotive supplier HBPO used the ECTR plug-in as an example to illustrate how quickly OpenDXM GlobalX can be integrated into the SAP landscape and how easy the solution is to use. HBPO develops and manufactures high-quality front-end modules, cockpits and center consoles for the automotive industry. Users at the company can not only create send jobs in their familiar interface but also receive feedback in SAP ECTR as to whether the job has been successfully transferred to the data exchange platform and the data delivered to the recipient.
Function for hollowing assemblies
TECHDAY’s second session focused on the automated provision of product data from PLM and ERP systems to downstream processes in manufacturing, assembly and service. Product Manager Timo Trautmann explained the technological transformation of PDF Generator 3D, which has become a powerful platform for converting 2D and 3D data into a wide variety of formats, to participants.
It not only allows 3D PDF documents to be created automatically but also makes it possible to publish 2D and 3D data in HTML5 format so that it can be displayed in a normal web browser. An agile release process ensures that customers are always able to use the latest CAD formats as input.
The session also provided participants with a brief overview of the standardization activities being conducted by the 3D PDF Consortium, of which PROSTEP is a member. Significant progress has been made, particularly with regard to ISO standardization of the PDF/ A-4e format as a standard for the long-term archiving of engineering data. The committee is also working on new topics such as the ability to embed native STEP data in 3D PDF documents so that it can be viewed directly with Adobe Reader. As Trautmann said, our roadmap includes support for this option as from version 10.1 of PDF Generator 3D.
One of the highlights of the current version is the new “hollowing” function, which makes it possible to automatically hollow out assemblies and remove components that cannot be seen when preparing them for spare parts catalogs. As Trautmann pointed out, this provides better protection for the know-how inherent in the assemblies. But PDF Generator 3D offers more than just the ability to generate product-specific spare parts catalogs at the touch of a button. The solution also supports change reporting when releasing new data sets by displaying changes made to the geometry or associated PMI information, e.g. tolerance specifications.
The presentation by André Hieke from Siemens Large Drives Applications (LDA) demonstrated just how versatile PDF Generator 3D is. The manufacturer of customized high-voltage motors and converters initially used our software to automate the creation of offer documents in the pre-sales phase. It is now also being used productively in housing manufacture. Siemens LDA thus provides both its own workers and external partners with manufacturing documents without any need for drawings. Unlike the JT technology, which was originally used for this purpose, the 3D PDF-based solution enjoys a high level of acceptance among users. It is therefore planned that it also be implemented in shaft manufacture and at other locations, as Hieke said.
OpenPDM with cloud-capable architecture
The highlight of the third session was the customer presentation given by Clifton Davies from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. The manufacturer of military aircraft uses our PLM integration platform OpenPDM in combination with Red Hat’s service bus architecture Fuse to export part information, manufacturing BOMs and work schedules from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform or DELMIA to the SAP ERP system and the MES system Solumina from iBASEt. The timeframe for the integration project was very tight and was complicated by a changeover to a different version of 3DEXPERIENCE, which PROSTEP carried out in less than 24 hours, as Davies said in praise. Lockheed Martin wants to use the solution to integrate other PLM systems such as Teamcenter and enable bidirectional data exchange.
As of version 9, PROSTEP has placed the architecture of the PLM integration platform on a new technological footing to facilitate cloud deployment, as Product Manager Mirko Theiß explained. The new process engine is based on the open source software Camunda and makes the graphic modeling of integration processes possible. The connectors can be used independently of the platform and communicate with it via REST APIs. Even though the OpenPDM 8.x versions will to continue to be supported, in the future we intend to place primary focus on the cloud version and also want to develop additional connectors for integrating production planning processes, software development and application lifecycle management (ALM).
We consider our first online TECHDAY a resounding success, even though we sorely missed face-to-face contact with our customers and interested parties.
If you did not have the opportunity to participate online and would like to know more about our solutions, the three sessions are available for viewing.
You can find the records here.
By Peter Pfalzgraf
No Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2020
The MEYER Group is capable of supporting most of the drawing management related processes with ENOVIA’s standard functionalities. This is the most important finding of a comprehensive proof of concept (PoC) that PROSTEP’s shipbuilding experts carried out for the shipyard. MEYER intends to reduce the time and effort required for customization and updates by using a more standardized PLM solution.
The MEYER Group is one of the leading manufacturers of cruise ships with shipyard locations in Papenburg, Rostock and Turku, Finland. The shipyards use different IT systems for the generation and management of shipbuilding information, which are to be more closely harmonized in future. In Papenburg and Rostock, for example, an AS/400-based mainframe application is still in use for drawing management together with two ENOVIA versions adapted to selected process steps. The applications are highly customized and are gradually running out of maintenance, which is why MEYER wants to replace them with an OOTB (out-of-the-box) solution that can be used throughout the company if possible. The idea of emulating the existing mainframe functionality one-to-one in the new environment was rejected as too costly and not target-oriented.
OOTB in this context means that there is no need to program customizations in a software beyond configurations already provided by the manufacturer in the platform to provide the required features and functions. However, it does not mean that customer-specific adaptations are no longer possible. The advantage for users is that they can use all the necessary features virtually out of the box, while IT can more easily upgrade installed applications to new versions. However, users must accept that the solution may not optimally support all shipbuilding-specific processes they are used to or that modifications to the processes may be necessary.
Therefore, the core question was whether and to what extent the functionality of the OOTB Dassault solution is suitable for the shipbuilding process requirements of the MEYER shipyard. To find out, the company commissioned PROSTEP’s experts to carry out a PoC. As general contractor, they contributed their project management experience and their knowledge of MEYER’s customer-specific processes to the project, while PROSTEP’s partner CENIT provided the necessary ENOVIA expertise. The two companies worked together very efficiently at the PoC over a period of several months, even though shipbuilding was uncharted territory for CENIT employees.
Together with the users at MEYER, the project team analyzed the processes in the legacy systems and defined the use cases to be supported by ENOVIA and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform from scratch. Some of these processes contain automatisms specially tailored to the ship topology. Then the team checked if the processes described can be mapped to the OOTB solution in principle, which standard objects and functions are required for this, how the use of the standard functions affects the processes, and at which points gaps may arise between the previous and the new way of working. The main functions that were considered were project management with milestones and tasks, document management with version management, classification, and the ability to distribute documents to specific people for release.
This methodical procedure met with great acceptance among users. It turned out that they can handle most of the tasks in drawing management with the standard functions. What is missing out-of-the-box is the automatic assignment of ENOVIA objects to the ship topology, i.e. to the block in which the user in question is currently working. There are also a few gaps in the connection to the planning system for the ship development process, which must be closed by developing an interface. In addition, the Excel import must be extended in order to import the drawing lists with thousands of drawings per project into the new environment.
At some points in the process, users will have to change their way of working to be able to use ENOVIA largely OOTB. For example, the software manages drawings or metadata differently than the legacy system, in which they are stored as one object together with planning data such as milestones, deadlines, etc. The project team therefore made the decision to separate the planning aspects from the drawing management and to use the project management functions from the ENOVIA standard. One of the advantages of this separation is that tasks can be defined independently of the drawing, and 3D models and other project-relevant documents can be assigned to the planning data in future. In other areas, the project team was able to provide additional functions from the standard, for example for the ship- or project-specific classification of certain documents as a working standard. This was not possible in this form before.
The focus of the project was expanded several times, so that the project, which was originally designed to last three to four months, ended up taking almost a whole year. As part of the extensions, the project team was commissioned to test the suitability of the OOTB solution also for drawing management at the Turku site, where other IT systems are in use. The PLM experts at PROSTEP concluded that the OOTB solution was basically suitable for this purpose, but recommended prioritizing harmonization for easier implementation.
Following the successful completion of the PoC, MEYER began preparing the implementation in Papenburg. “ENOVIA OOTB is a very important and forward-looking topic for the entire MEYER Group”, says Executive Board Member and Head of Design at MEYER WERFT Malte Poelmann. “Enabling digital and cross-location collaboration within the group in a maintainable PLM platform was the motivation for this project. The consultants from PROSTEP and its partner CENIT made a decisive contribution to the success of the project with their industry and PLM expertise”.
By Jan Bitomsky
No Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2020
PROSTEP has been providing car manufacturer Daimler with support for the maintenance and further development of its central PDM system for several years. The established project structures, which had evolved over time, reduced transparency and made coordination more difficult. To help address this issue, PROSTEP and Daimler introduced an integrative, agile approach based on the Scaled Agile Framework.
Around 70 developers from PROSTEP and sub-suppliers have been working for several years in a number of small teams at Daimler on maintaining and further developing Daimler’s central PDM system. The tasks they perform also include developing innovative new PLM functions, creating a completely new, state-of-the-art PDM architecture and migrating existing functionality to the new architecture.
In the past, development was carried out within the framework of multiple smaller and larger projects, and the team structure was more technically oriented. Developers often worked on several projects in parallel, which led to resource conflicts and made it difficult to perform forward-looking resource planning. In addition, specialist knowledge was often concentrated in a small number of people, which led to bottlenecks and a considerable risk of losing know-how.
Most of the projects were organized differently when it came to working methods, collaboration with customers, billing models, release cycles, infrastructure, etc. Some teams maintained very close contact with the customer, with no close internal coordination, others used Scrum and worked with the customer’s product owners, and still others worked to a large extent independently. Billing was based on either time and materials or on an agile fixed price. Story points were defined differently for the different commissions, which resulted in different criteria being used for estimates and for billing. These different working models significantly increased the time and effort required for coordination and meant that developers had to adapt to new circumstances every time they took on a new task. Ultimately, they prevented synergies from being exploited and made it difficult to respond to new challenges in a flexible manner.
Agile project based on SAFe
We launched the “PDM goes SAFe” initiative together with Daimler with the aim of simplifying and standardizing development activities in the field of PDM development. Instead of multiple projects with different billing and process models, the objective was to have a single agile project that used as uniform an approach as possible. This new project is based on the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). SAFe is the leading scaling framework and is used, among other things, to coordinate the work being performed by multiple Scrum teams.
We started off with eight cross-functional teams. However, it soon became apparent that the consistent use of cross-functional teams led to the creation of too many interfaces between the teams. This is why we have in the meantime switched to feature teams, which, unlike fully cross-functional teams, combine within the team the skills needed to implement specific features. A cross-team alignment meeting is used to coordinate the teams. Each team sends one or more delegates to this meeting. The delegates present the concerns of their team and coordinate them with the other delegates.
We have introduced so-called “communities of practice” to promote the transfer of knowledge between the teams. Communities of practice are interest groups in which people with common interests can exchange information on experience already gained and seek advice. Because knowledge transfer is essential, it is promoted within the framework of the project by providing a budget reserved specifically for this purpose.
A large number of developers and product owners needed training to learn how to use the new agile model. Although some of them had previous experience with Scrum, SAFe was entirely new to everyone.
Different architectures
The two different software architectures pose a particular challenge in the PDM project. The legacy system needs to be kept alive while the new architecture is being built and stabilized. In the past, the two architectures were supported by different teams. The challenge now is to shuffle the members of the teams around in such a way that the knowledge of the different architectures is consolidated without breaking up the teams completely. This is why we have distributed people familiar with the individual technologies across the various new feature teams to the extent that this is possible, while at the same time ensuring that features can, if possible, be implemented by a single team. The aim was to find a reasonable compromise between a focus on features with as few interfaces as possible and the desired transfer of knowledge.
Together with Daimler, we have also introduced a uniform, SAFe-based requirements process. The previous, project-specific individual backlogs were consolidated in a joint program backlog. The product owners define and prioritize the requirements in this backlog on the basis of the available budget. The program backlog is then used to derive the team backlogs.
Another challenge faced in the context of the end-to-end implementation of agile methods was standardization of the different billing models. We had to adapt the estimation criteria and convert the fixed prices into story points in such a way that customers ultimately receive the same service for their budget as before. This would not have been possible without Daimler’s active support and cooperation.
Switch to an agile approach completed
Transformation to the new project structure was performed over a period of four months. The kick-off was followed by a two-month preparation phase, which was carried out in the old project structure. The new project was officially launched at the beginning of this year, followed by an approximately two-month-long familiarization phase. In the meantime, the switch to an agile approach has been completed and initial benefits are already being reaped.
We have taken a major step forward when it comes to development processes, requirements processes, billing models and backlogs. Project structure, roles and communication channels are clearly defined and ensure greater transparency. We have also become much more flexible. There is still room for improvement in the flow of information on the customer side and in the transfer of knowledge. And not all the teams have fully understood and embraced the agile approach. SAFe has however proved to be a good guideline for the new, harmonized PDM project as it is compatible with the customer’s specific needs and we will continue to use it for guidance in the future.
By Frank Brandstetter
No Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2020
It is necessary to take a holistic view of the development, production and operation of complex product-service systems. The Fraunhofer IAO is developing technologies and methods to do this as part of the strategic research program Advanced Systems Engineering (ASE). The director of the institute, Professor Oliver Riedel, describes the scope of the approach and the challenges posed by implementation.
Question: Professor Riedel, what is meant by advanced systems engineering and what makes it different from systems engineering?
Riedel: In the past we haven’t been able to establish systems engineering in such a way as to deliver really good solutions for the combination of product, process and service. Systems engineering works reasonably well for mechatronics and software engineering but often fails in industrial practice because of the complexity of the approach and the organizational structures it requires. Advanced systems engineering (ASE) is designed to address precisely these issues and to better support companies when it comes to implementation.
Question: Does the term ‘advanced’ refer to systems or to engineering?
Riedel: It can be understood as a triangle that brings together the three aspects of advanced systems, systems engineering and advanced engineering. Advanced systems describe increasingly complex and networked market services, systems engineering describes the coordination and structuring of the cross-functional, interdisciplinary development of complex systems, and advanced engineering deals with best practices with regard to methods and tools in engineering, as well as agile approaches and creativity techniques. The aim is to break down domain silos and enable interactive collaboration in both product engineering and production, in other words to achieve a holistic view of the innovation processes.
Question: Are you placing the primary emphasis with ASE on dovetailing product development with production and production planning?
Riedel: Not quite, we are going even further. After all, products and processes are still largely developed in-house. In the case of product-service systems, the service is provided after the start of production, when the product is already on the market. And things that change the product without any physical add-ons, such as big data analytics or product updates over the air, play a role here. The system must be described as a coherent whole, in order to be able to use it in product development, virtual try-out, the digital factory and, most importantly, in the field of service.
Question: And what does that mean in concrete terms?
Riedel: Let’s take Homag and its highly complex custom systems for the woodworking industry as an example. The company has adopted an ASE approach, in order to achieve one hundred percent mapping of the digital twin. However, this twin does not reside in the development department but instead accompanies production virtually. If the owner of the machine wants to use the machine to run a new production program, they can try it out virtually on their system. The digital twin is used as a service during operation.
Question: Implementing systems engineering in development is already a complex task. Are you not merely compounding the complexity by integrating production and service?
Riedel: Of course, the notion of service is an additional dimension but that doesn’t necessarily make things more complicated; it simply brings together those processes that are still segregated today. There must be a single source of truth for the entire system. In other words, the system model must be linked with the service structures when the system is really running. Nowadays, we don’t get the data back from the field so that we can map it to the product and offer additional services. But the product lifecycle doesn’t come to an end when the product is delivered. We need redundancy-free storage of data throughout the entire lifecycle, despite the user having a different view of this data from that of a developer.
Question: In principle, ASE requires that everything should be defined from the outset. Doesn’t that clash with the philosophy of the agile approach?
Riedel: No, I don’t think so. In the model-based approach we have for simulation technology what is known as black boxing. I can create certain components as black boxes with inputs and outputs without having defined them in full detail, either because I don’t yet know the solution or because I’m not interested in it at present. I don’t need to know the internal workings of each black box from the word go. I just know that it has to be there. If you apply this paradigm broadly, you easily get to agility. The only question is whether there are enough description languages that can cope with the various modeling depths in the simulation.
Question: Is ASE model-based by definition or are there other approaches?
Riedel: I’ll answer that with another question: Is there anywhere you can still do without models today? Yes, it definitely has to be model-based, because we would otherwise be unable to achieve coverage of all the phases or the required depth.
Question: What models are required for this? If you want to dovetail product, process and service, surely you have to start with the requirements?
Riedel: Exactly, this is one of the issues that is the subject of intense discussion. Can we achieve this with one data model across the entire lifecycle or do we link models? From my practical experience in industry, I would prefer linked models because a single model would eventually become too much for me. Not only that, I’m also no longer interested in the fine details of the requirements model after a given phase. In order to go into production, I need other models, but it must be possible to link them to each other, in much the same way as the different views in PDM. And when I go out into the field, it is again the case that I no longer need certain details. But I must be able to establish relations in both directions. In other words, I am linking my models but the content doesn’t have to be a permanent part of every version of the model.
Question: Can ASE work in conjunction with external suppliers? Don’t you reveal too much product know-how if all the information is contained in a single model?
Riedel: That’s a very good point, and it brings us to the operational use of such models. Until now, we’ve only talked in the abstract about what they might look like in a perfect world. The management of roles and permissions, which is already a hot topic in the distributed development process, becomes an even greater challenge when the network is extended to cover the users of the product as well.
I clearly don’t want users to see everything, but just the relevant information and structures. Ensuring the management of roles and permissions beyond the current system boundaries is a truly intriguing issue.
Question: Are there any companies that have already implemented ASE right through to service provision?
Riedel: Unfortunately, there are very few due to the fact that there are three major hurdles to overcome. Firstly, there are technical hurdles such as model-based description languages, but these will be overcome at some point. Then there are organizational hurdles within companies. Perhaps these will begin to fall away a little as a result of the coronavirus, because many people realize that we would be much further down the road if we already had connectivity across domains. Companies are not yet organizationally geared up to plan and control product lifecycle support. And then there are the human hurdles. To start with, you have to get engineers onboard in your journey into the next dimension and get them to understand the growing complexity that comes with it. At the moment, I think that the organizational and human hurdles are greater than the technical ones.
Question: What is the focus of the ASE research program at Fraunhofer IAO?
Riedel: We have decided on six areas of study, which we work on in two directions. The first of these areas is model-based system development, including cross-domain aspects such as data analysis, in other words, the extension of current methods. The second is value-stream-oriented product design, i.e. the use of process information from production for product design. For this to succeed, the value stream must be defined at an earlier stage than it is currently. The third area is the evaluation of data from production planning and production using artificial intelligence (AI). And the fourth area also has to do with AI, but in this case, it is about evaluating the large volumes of data from the product engineering process in order to provide product developers with recommendations for best practice. The fifth area deals with system configuration, i.e. how to configure not only the product but also the process and the service, for example in order to be able to assess the impact that changes made to the product may have on the process. The last area we are investigating may be somewhat old-fashioned, but we must have another look at the PLM systems. They are still not in a position to support ASE.
Question: Where, for example, should the product-specific process information be managed? This issue is actually more closely related to MES.
Riedel: We undoubtedly need MES functionality to be integrated into PLM, either via interfaces or by running it on the PLM infrastructure. Assuming that MES and PLM systems were to evolve towards service-oriented architectures, the existence of x different systems wouldn’t be tragic because they would be based on a data repository, and this would ensure that the models were linked and would guarantee their consistency and integrity. However, this runs quite counter to the architectural pattern of today’s PLM systems.
Question: A moment ago, you spoke of ‘two different directions’. What did you mean by that?
Riedel: We have had long discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about how we can ensure that the issues are quickly made tangible for local companies. So we set up a mobile lab in which we are using a relatively simple product with a service feature and a production system that can be quickly understood to illustrate the interaction of engineering, production processes and service. The lab is housed in a shipping container, which is currently standing on our premises due to the restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The other direction is to build a similar lab at the Fraunhofer IAO, but this one is oriented more towards research.
Question: What insights can companies expect from this plug-in lab?
Riedel: To start with, they can quickly grasp exactly what is meant by model-based system development or value-stream-oriented product design. The idea is that they can feed their own data into the lab equipment and directly identify the added value. We want to use a simple example to demonstrate to companies how ASE works.
Professor Riedel, thank you very much for talking to us.
(This interview was conducted by Michael Wendenburg)
About Professor Riedel
Professor Oliver Riedel (born 1965) has been head of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart since November 2016 and is also a director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO). Professor Riedel studied Cybernetic Technology at Stuttgart Technical University, where he completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Engineering Design and Production Engineering. He has been working on the principles and practical application of virtual validation in product development and production for over 25 years. Professor Riedel is married with one grown-up son.
Further information is available at www.iao.fraunhofer.de
No Comments »
|
