Published by Dassault Systèmes - 27 March 2007

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan and BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 27, 2007 - Dassault Systèmes (DS), a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced that DELMIA digital manufacturing solutions will be playing an important part in the PreMade Project, which is utilizing and developing advanced lean and cost modeling capabilities within digital manufacturing software.

 

 "We've been using DELMIA software in the Northern Ireland Technology Centre at QUB with small to medium-sized businesses for over five years and have recently worked with Bombardier in a research capacity to develop cost modeling and assembly methods within a DELMIA environment. In a recent pilot study at Bombardier, we were able to identify a 20% financial savings in fuselage manufacture. Our first focus is on DELMIA and then we will look at how our principles will affect generic PLM implementation," explains Dr. Richard Curran, Premade's academic lead and senior lecturer in aerospace engineering at Queen's University, Belfast. The aim is to develop a methodology for a semi- automated lean decision-making process that will give real-time metrics about each decision made.

 

"Technological dissemination is key to PreMade. We want to find generic solutions to common problems and embed them in the software, enabling engineers to manage parallel activities, be more flexible, be able to respond to change faster and shorten the combined design and manufacturing cycle for new components," comments Robert Burke, PreMade's industrial lead and director of Manufacturing Engineering, Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast. The number of variables that have to be considered when designing an aircraft is fantastically complex, so PreMade aims to develop a rigorously defined systems engineering approach, creating a balance between formal discipline and creativity.

 

The three-year £2.5 million PreMade Project has been awarded £1 million by the DTI Technology Program as part of its second call titled "Design, Simulation, and Modeling." The 12 members of the PreMade Project aim to work together to develop a methodology and toolkit to assist in the deployment of lean manufacturing principles. Specifically, cost modeling will be looked at very closely to complement the functionality of DELMIA technology and allow the costs to be generated both with greater accuracy and earlier in the design process.

 

About PreMade

 

PreMade is a DTI Technology Program that launched in 2006. One of the major elements in the PreMade Project is the investigation into the development of the functionality of the digital manufacturing tools available. The main focus of this development phase is to look at the potential for having accurate cost estimation and Lean Principles integrated with the digital manufacturing software, and to develop an application methodology for these enhanced tools. The 12 members of PreMade are: DELMIA, Bombardier Aerospace, Queen's University, Belfast, Cardiff University IMRC, Galorath International, Wrightbus, Langford Lodge Engineering, Project Design Engineers, Moyola Precision Engineering, Thales Air Defense, Bombardier Transport Holdings UK and Aerospace Wales Forum.

 

DELMIA’s Involvement in PreMade

DELMIA is playing an important part in the PreMade Project as one of the thirteen consortium partners and as the software environment chosen for much of the research undertaken in the Project. Essentially, the 13 partners of the PreMade Project aim to work together to develop a methodology and toolkit to assist in the deployment of lean manufacturing principles and accurate cost analysis. Specifically, cost modelling will be looked at very closely to complement the functionality of DELMIA’s PLM and allow the costs to be generated both with greater accuracy and earlier in the design process.

 

Dr. Richard Curran, senior lecturer in aerospace engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast, explained: “We’ve been using DELMIA software with SMEs for over five years and have recently worked with Bombardier to develop cost modelling and assembly methods within a DELMIA environment. The number of variables that have to be considered when designing a ‘plane is absolutely fantastic, so PreMade will attempt to try out with its industrial partners a rigorously defined systems engineering approach, creating a balance between formal discipline and creativity.

 

“Design assumptions will be challenged in an attempt to shift the balance away from design to manufacturing. Our first focus is on DELMIA and then we will look at how our principles will affect generic PLM implementation. Ultimately, we hope to end up with a semi automated decision-making process that will give real time metrics about each decision made. Our researcher team expects to harness the amazing ability to simulate reality inherent with DELMIA and add increased knowledge capture, as well as other peripherals like ergonomics. By capturing the nuances of the real world we will increase both accuracy and understanding.”