A three-year computer simulation project that lets
designers, engineers and shop-floor staff work in parallel to
create and build production lines is about to pay off atBombardier, the Belfast-based aerospace
manufacturerof Lear jets.
The company has started commercial production of aircraft
outboard flaps and ailerons using a production system that was
designed, built and proven in the computer.
The company used Dassault Systemes'
Catia
computer aided design software and
Delmia lean manufacturing
process simulation tools.
The result has been a quicker start-up, fewer test runs to reach
acceptable quality standards, and less money tied up for less time,
said Brian Welch, Bombardier's manufacturing engineering manager,
and one of the four-man team responsible for the project.
"We now have a proven tool that we will use on all future
projects," Welch told Computer Weekly.
Welch cited competitive interest in declining to give more
explicit figures. "I can say that the project was cash-positive,"
he said, meaning the firm saved more than it would have spent doing
things the old way.
The old way involved rekeying the much of the data about an
aircraft component at least three times - firstly into the CAD
system, then into the engineering system, and finally into the
manufacturing system. This was because each system used a slightly
different naming convention when referring to a part. This led
inevitably to errors and made it hard to reconcile actual
production results with what the computer said.
Iain Crosbie, senior project manager, said the project provides
a single complete description or data model of all the material
properties, design rules, engineering parameters and manufacturing
instructions required to build a part.
Bombardier can tell very quickly whether it can in fact build
and/or assemble a part before it builds the factory or production
line to make it. This also allows the teams to experiment with
different layouts and material flows to optimise production for
both time and money.
"The contribution of the guys on the shop floor has been as
important as the software, because they know from experience what
they can make and how to assemble it," said Welch.
Crosbie and Welch said this project was one of several "digital
factory" research projects at Bombardier. The next step will be to
evaluate the results and decide a standard approach to the use of
data modelling and simulation in the firm.
How it was done
Four Bombardier engineers took a bold step into the future
factory with its implementation of Dassault Systemes' Delmia
manufacturing modelling software.
Eschewing consultants, the team took the CDs, installed the
software and started building the digital model of its factory and
constituent components, like machine tools.
"We had some sleepless nights, but it was high risk, high
return," said Iain Crosbie, senior project manager.
Similar large computer projects usually have the customer
specifying the system, giving the spec to developers, the
developers producing the system, and the users finding that things
don't work quite as intended, which leads back to the drawing
board.
By doing it all in-house, with direct access to users as they
developed elements of the system, Bombardier was able to slash the
development time by months as well as build up its own expertise,
he said.