Companies in a wide range of manufacturing industries recognize the importance of Digital Manufacturing for significantly improving their competitiveness

in todays volatile economy. The underlying concepts of these solutions have evolved over the years, and have included initiatives such as design-for-assembly, design-for-manufacturability, concurrent engineering, and approaches that promote more collaborative product and process design. From these initiatives, the breadth and depth of Digital Manufacturing has continued to evolve and mature. Today, complete manufacturing facility definitionincluding tooling, assembly lines, work centers, ergonomics, and resourcesis an integral part of the manufacturing process planning environment. Full understanding of the production of products, including machine operations and human interaction in assembly, are the result. Simulations of all facets of the production process can be developed and utilized to optimize the processes. Feedback from actual production operations are incorporated and utilized to effectively modify the process definitions to take maximum advantage of real experiences and better utilize capabilities and resources. Digital Manufacturing embraces, and even requires, the use of various technologies, but those technologies do not automatically provide Digital Manufacturing just by their implementation. Rather, the approach is implemented as a suite of processes and best practices that the company uses to achieve optimal manufacturing process definition. In most cases, companies that have invested in Digital Manufacturing over the past several years have done so with a view that it is a point solution. However, more forward-thinking companies understand that the role of Digital Manufacturing is a critical part of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and these companies are receiving the highest level of benefits from their investments. Indeed, Digital Manufacturing is a key point of integration between PLM and factory automation equipment such as PLCs and transfer lines, and many of the long-term benefits from PLM are simply not achievable without incorporating a comprehensive Digital Manufacturing strategy. This migration of PLM onto the shop floor provides an opportunity to better exchange productrelated information between the design and manufacturing groups so that processes in both areas can be developed collaboratively instead of in isolation. One of the important characteristics of Digital Manufacturing is that it fully incorporates the product and process definition into a comprehensive and consistent approach. It facilitates a holistic view of product and process design as integral components of the overall product lifecycle, and enables product design to be sensitive to process constraints and capabilities. The result is a tremendous clarification of the relative roles and boundaries between PLM and enterprise resource

planning (ERP) environments, two of the primary areas of investment for industrial companies. The clarification of this boundary should clarify and facilitate future development of integrations between these two major areas of investment. Digital Manufacturing impacts the overall product lifecycle, but is primarily focused on supporting the portion of the lifecycle that is centered on manufacturing engineering activities. Of course, these impact the lifecycle from the early stages of product design all the way through final production of the product. Digital Manufacturing provides the bridge between the full product definition including both configuration of components and definition of the manufacturing processes necessary to produce the product, and the actual manufacturing production activities within the enterprise. See page 14 for Digital Manufacturings overall role in the product lifecycle. A full Digital Manufacturing program implemented as part of corporatewide PLM strategy holds tremendous potential in achieving major benefits including: shortened product development cycles and earlier visibility of manufacturing issues, faster time-to-volume production and subsequently shorter time-to-market, reduced manufacturing costs and fewer production ramp-up problems, and improved product quality. Digital Manufacturing has demonstrated its value at many companies and provided significant payback. One large aerospace firm employs Digital Manufacturing as part of a broad PLM environment within their aircraft engine operations to manage approval, notification, and tracking of documents, establish routings and work instructions, and manage process templates. A head of manufacturing engineering noted that through commonization, reduction in design changes, quality improvements, and productivity gains, the company obtained payback on its investment in less than one year. This example is not unusual. Research conducted by CIMdata on Digital Manufacturing implementations indicates that companies around the world have achieved very positive results and have validated the potential value for organizations to make Digital Manufacturing a fundamental part of their overall product program. A survey of companies with Digital Manufacturing implementations of various sizes indicates exceptionally impressive return on investments (ROIs). Relatively small $200,000investments yielded annual savings of $1-million for a 5:1 ROI, for example, while larger investments in the range of $5-million to $10million lead to annual savings of $50-million to $100-million for a 10:1 ROI. Clearly, substantial benefits are available for companies making the investment in Digital Manufacturing, and having an understanding of the changes that must be made in business operations to best leverage these technology-based solutions. Organizations taking the initiative to implement Digital Manufacturing as a component of PLM broadly across

the enterprise are better able to successfully compete in the global market and will undoubtedly be among their industrys winners in the coming decades

Digital Manufacturing
Digital manufacturing is the use of an integrated, computer-based system comprised of simulation, three-dimensional (3D) visualization, analytics and various collaboration tools to create product and manufacturing process definitions simultaneously. Digital manufacturing evolved from manufacturing initiatives such as design for manufacturability (DFM), computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), flexible manufacturing, lean manufacturing and others that highlight the need for more collaborative product and process design. Many of the long-term benefits from product lifecycle management (PLM) cannot be achieved without a comprehensive digital manufacturing strategy. Digital manufacturing is a key point of integration between PLM and various shop floor applications and equipment, enabling the exchange of product-related information between design and manufacturing groups. This alignment allows manufacturing companies to achieve their time-to-market and volume goals, as well as realize cost savings by reducing expensive downstream changes. Digital manufacturing systems allow manufacturing engineers to create the complete definition of a manufacturing process in a virtual environment, including: Tooling Assembly Lines Work Centers Facility Layout Ergonomics Resources Simulation of production processes can be performed, with the intent to re-use existing knowledge and optimize processes before products are manufactured. Digital manufacturing also allows feedback from actual production operations to be incorporated into the product design process, allowing companies to take advantage of shop floor realities during the planning stage. Current initiatives in the development of digital manufacturing tools involve improving the user experience, so that information is presented in the context of tasks performed, allowing users to make better decisions faster. Steps are being taken to provide direct connectivity with shop floor hardware, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), machine controllers, computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines and others. Unified platforms have also been developed to manage both PLM and manufacturing execution system (MES) information.

Examples of Digital Manufacturing Applications

Digital manufacturing is utilized in a variety of industries. An automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) can design the entire manufacturing process digitally (tooling, machining, assembly sequencing, and factory layout) at the same time that designers are designing the next vehicle program. Because of this, manufacturing engineers are able to provide immediate feedback to designers, if there are any constraints in the part manufacturability. This type of collaboration between manufacturing engineers and designers creates a holistic view of product and process design.

A high tech supplier can use a digital manufacturing system to create a 3D simulation of a complete production line, and analyze the different production variants and concepts as part of the request for quote (RFQ) process. This kind of transparency and precision in planning and proposal preparation can help this company to gain greater customer confidence, and ultimately help it win the contract.

Benefits of Digital Manufacturing

Digital manufacturing can help manufacturing companies improve their productivity in both manufacturing planning and production processes. Digital manufacturing enables product, process, plant and resource information to be associated, viewed and taken through change processes, with a consistent and comprehensive approach to production design. Digital manufacturing allows part manufacturing processes to be optimized within a managed environment. You can produce flexible work instructions capable of displaying 2D/3D part information, along with the machining and tooling instructions. The simulation capabilities of digital manufacturing help reduce commissioning costs by validating robotics and automation programs virtually. Using digital manufacturing, you can create factory models faster and ensure that they are operating under optimal layout, material flow and throughput before production ramp-up. Digital manufacturing can be used to support six-sigma and lean initiatives, by providing a graphical environment to analyze dimensional variation. Digital manufacturing systems facilitate the sharing quality data across your organization by generating complete, verifiable CAD-based machine inspection programs for coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and numerical control (NC) machine tools. Digital manufacturing allows you to execute production processes with real-time access to lifecycle data.

Digital Manufacturing Software

Here are examples of digital manufacturing software applications: Tecnomatix is a comprehensive portfolio of digital manufacturing solutions that link all manufacturing disciplines together with product engineering from process layout and design, process simulation and validation, to manufacturing execution. Built upon the open PLM foundation called the Teamcenter manufacturing platform, Tecnomatix provides a versatile set of manufacturing solutions. NX CAM and CAM Express allow NC programmers to maximize the value of their investments in the latest, most efficient and most capable machine tools. NX CAM provides the full range of functions to address high speed surface machining, multifunction mill-turning, and 5-axis machining. CAM Express provides powerful NC programming with low total cost of ownership.

Everyone is looking for a magic bullet that would make their company more productive and retain costs, but thus far unless you have a sixth sense it hasnt been found. Until it is, one practice that has been tremendously successful on both fronts is digital manufacturing. The term has been bandied about for quite some time now, advertised as an example of corporate social responsibility, an eco-conscious way to do business, the manufacturing buzzword du jour. And undoubtedly, digital manufacturing encompasses all of those things and it is a step in the right direction for saving our planet, but lets examine some equally pressing issues. The economy is in dire straits, and highly respected global manufacturing companies are laying off plant workers by the thousands. Suppliers are shutting their doors due to devastating decreases in consumer and OEM demand. Right now, the question on every manufacturers mind is, How do we stay competitive? The answer to that question is also digital manufacturing. It turns out that in this case, helping the environment can dramatically help the bottom line. By delivering a high return on investment and contributing to revenue increases, digital manufacturing can save companies money, time and make them even more attractive as a potential business partner and it doesnt require putting solar panels on plant stacks. Digital manufacturing is becoming a major element of product life-cycle management (PLM). Its the process by which companies can define and optimize manufacturing processes, manage manufacturing data, and encourage collaboration between different types of engineers by incorporating both digital and plant product definitions. Digital manufacturing presents a view of product and process design holistically, as part of the product life cycle, and allows products to be designed in a way that adjusts for process capabilities or limitations. According to a CIMdata report entitled The Benefits of Digital Manufacturing, organizations using digital manufacturing technologies can realize tremendous production improvements and reductions in resource waste, including a 30 percent reduction in time-to-market; a 40 percent reduction in process planning; a 15 percent increase in production throughput; a 13 percent decrease in overall production cost; and a 40 percent reduction in equipment costs. By supporting visualization, process planning, factory modeling, simulation, collaboration and taking into account human reaction and

comfort, digital manufacturing optimizes the design process. It didnt start out as an eco-social initiative and thats still not its main focus today. Companies who deploy digital manufacturing solutions enterprise-wide do so because they want to take virtual plant tours, mitigate the risks inherent in design planning, identify how plant designs will impact the workers who will one day be in them, reduce the need to redesign equipment, utilize resources more efficiently and eliminate prototypes. Digital manufacturing takes a slow, manual, resourceintensive process and brings it into the 21st century. With digital manufacturing applications, especially those hosted on the Internet (and, therefore, readily available at all times), designers and engineers can make alterations to plant designs in seconds, collaboratively, and see how every minute change will affect the entire supply chain. They can experiment with layout and positioning; test plant features virtually to see if they function properly and ensure ergonomic comfort for workers. After all, its much easier to see how a worker will have to stand or interact with equipment using animated simulations as opposed to paper designs. That being said, adopting digital manufacturing isnt an attack against human capabilities; on the contrary, it makes the entire workforce more productive and work in a better environment. Huge quantities of money have been wasted in improving worker conditions after the plant built and operating. Incidences like this not only cost companies money and manpower hours, they also result in excess energy emissions, misuse of natural resources, and enormous amounts of physical waste unfair to the environment and counterproductive to project success. If designers and engineers can properly address all potential problems within a plan before construction begins, theyll save time, money, physical resources and maximize the efficiency of their team. The practical reasons for adopting digital manufacturing are fairly obvious no paper revisions, no prototypes, more collaboration, and more output. However, consider the effects that it can have on the scale and reach of projects. With digital manufacturing designers are no longer constrained by space or volume limitations. They can build greener, smaller plants and experiment with all types of new materials, layouts and equipment. What wouldve seemed extremely tedious and time-consuming a year ago (such as designing a production line) can now be done in a fraction of the time. Being able to simulate the designs online, collaboratively, provides unlimited potential. Based on the results of the aforementioned CIMdata study, organizations who deployed digital manufacturing realized an exceptional return on investment in a matter of months. Companies that

adopt Digital Manufacturing can expect their annual returns to be anywhere from five to ten times the amount of their initial investment. One company saw $370 million in savings from using digital manufacturing for a surface ship program. With those kinds of numbers, adopting digital manufacturing isnt just a good idea its a necessity for any organization committed to retaining (or creating) competitive advantage within the highly crowded global manufacturing industry. In this economy especially, going green will save you greenbacks