Breakthrough developments in digital manufacturing and simulation offer new opportunities to efficiently and effectively conduct profitable business in ways that, even a few years ago, could only have been dreamt of.
About the book
In these economically, competitively and environmentally challenging times it is imperative for manufacturers large and small to innovate further towards a seamlessly integrated fabric of information technology, digital manufacturing, simulation, robotics and physical production. The title of this book, “Virtual Concept > Real Profit with Digital Manufacturing and Simulation,” expresses this need. In five chapters the book discusses the various topics and issues that are central to the implementation and development of digital manufacturing and simulation.
The first “Welcome” chapter presents key concepts, needs and issues. These further are explored in four other chapters: “Crash Course,” “Challenges,” “Further Benefits” and “Epilogue on Vision and Reality.” Every chapter starts off with an introductory appetizer and concludes with a clear summary of the issues and solutions addressed. In between interviews with industry expert practitioners offer real-life insight.
"Virtual Concept > Real Profit with Digital Manufacturing and Simulation" is a joint effort of Dassault Systèmes and Sogeti High Tech.
Table of Contents
Foreword
About this Book
1 Welcome to the Reality of Digital Manufacturing and Simulation
2 A Crash Course in Simulation and Digital Manufacturing
3 Challenges towards Digital Manufacturing
4 Further Benefits
5 Epilogue on Vision and Reality
The Time Is Now
For manufacturers global competition, which has become increasingly fierce due to the declining economic trend, provides an opportunity if not a necessity to rethink the way that products are developed and manufactured. This means that innovation is imperative; not only at the technology level, but in every aspect of the product development cycle. The major barrier to improving productivity is related to efficient planning and controls. Companies should focus more on effective means to reduce manufacturing costs and to better plan their activities. Modern digital manufacturing and simulation are main enablers for obtaining such benefits.
Digital manufacturing is the capability to define and simulate exactly how a product will be built in a global collaborative environment. Digital manufacturing allows production engineering staff access to product design at an early stage and also provides a clear view of the production environment. This results in better planning and validation of manufacture processes before a product is built.
Simulation is key to many business operations, and its application is still developing at a rapid pace. Today simulation ranks amongst the highest valued business techniques, and is supported by modern mathematics, by information technology and by computer graphics, to create a 100% lifelike experience.
By being able to reliably plan, define and simulate the behavior of any conceivable scenario – from materials and weather conditions to complex manufacturing and business processes – collaborative production solutions can be worked out at a speed that was hitherto unknown. The combination of traditional Computer-Aided Design simulations with business process flows has now begun to merge into a new form of digital manufacturing.
From Taylor-made to Tailor-made
A century ago Frederick Winslow Taylor's monograph “The Principles of Scientific Management” was published. His insights into modern rational manufacturing remain valid today – in Taylor’s own words: “Analyzing the manufacturing work on elementary processes with scientific based methodologies gives benefits to the economic efficiency of companies and their workers.” Basically, Taylorism still is the dominant paradigm, although methodologies have changed and in nearly all processes computers facilitate and shape the development, manufacture and retirement of products. The great difference: “Taylor-made” has been captured by and extended to “tailor-made” in unprecedented ways. The BMW X3 model for instance now has some 90,000 different versions.
Moreover, in our economically, competitively and environmentally challenging times, manufacturers must become even more efficient in order to survive and thrive. The old adage “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” indicates that now is the time for manufacturers large and small to innovate further towards a seamlessly integrated and “scientifically managed” fabric of information technology, digital manufacturing, simulation and robotics. Today, the design, simulation, validation, manufacture and retirement of innovative products require real-time, global collaboration among people and processes in R&D, product planning, sourcing, development and launch.
Nowadays, the need for Scientific Management, as proposed by Taylor, has been extended to truly science based Product Lifecycle Management. Robust PLM is driven by an intimately related range of key factors: the economic downturn, cost pressure from customers and sales channels, demand for shorter product lifecycles, increased competition, more demanding end customers, globalized markets and supply chains, more complex products, faster commoditization, environmental and energy issues, and last but not least the vast volume of regulatory compliance involved.
Conclusion
Since the 1980s traditional production methods and tooling have gone digital at an ever faster pace. Evolving from 2D representation via 3D and so-called digital mockup we now have entered the stage of digital manufacturing. It involves an integrated suite of tools to define and simulate all manufacturing operations and resources in the context of a product and a production plant. Modern digital simulation allows engineers to validate and optimize manufacturing processes.
The global era of manufacturing is going on for some time now and is accelerating due to new economic conditions. Today the environment of manufacturing is turbulent and requires permanent adaptation of manufacturing systems, from networks to processes and from real time to long term operations. No doubt, the tools of future engineering, management and manufacturing are digital, distributed and integrated, spanning product lifecycles and continents. Industries are being reshaped globally while digital manufacturing and simulation gain ever more ground as core production strategies and practices.