Tools and Strategies for Product Life Cycle Management

A Case Study in Foundry

INTRODUCTION
As a next generation of lean thinking, a philosophy to eliminate waste and inefficiency across all
aspects of product life, PLM has emerged as a newest strategic approach to increase the
productivity of an organization. The esign for !nvironment, a recent philosophy, has gained
attention to many international companies as it introduced isposal and "ecycling as a ma#or
functional area and redefined the PLM concept $cradle to grave% to $cradle to cradle%. &n this
regard, inverse manufacturing and digital manufacturing concepts were also introduced to
contri'ute in PLM.
PLM has 'een a proven approach for (!Ms to increase their productivity, improve their product
)uality, speed up deli*very, and increase the profit and to 'ecome more efficient. +owever, small
and medium enterprises ,-M!s. like foundries, who are suppliers to (!Ms, are still in their
infancy without adopting this strategic 'usiness approach. /y selecting and implementing
appropriate PLM strategies in a small foundry, an attempt was made to assess the immediate
performance outcomes following the implementation of PLM tools.
PRODUCT LIFC!CL MANA"MNT #PLM$
Manufacturing companies are compounded with many 'usiness challenges such as glo'al
competition, increasing la'or costs, increasing product complexity and engineering product data,
and more governmental and organizational standards and regulations. &n order to pursue a more
competitive 'usiness model, they have 'een keen to utilize the new )uality of &0T to enhance the
colla'oration among their customers, sup*pliers and shareholders. &ntegration is accompanied or
achieved, respectively 'y different levels of interaction1interoperation of actors or of systems.
&nteractions include the exchange of reciprocal information, the #oint arrangements of goals, the
systematic matching of performances and synchronization of actions%. PLM helps fast
integration of systems 'y providing a platform for intense interactions using latest technologies.
The availa'le PLM soft*ware tools can 'e clustered in three groups 2
3. &nformation management ,e.g. methods for identifying, structuring, classifying, modeling,
retrieving, sharing, disseminating, visualizing and archiving product, process and pro#ect related
data..
4. Process management ,e.g. methods for modeling, structuring, planning, operating and
controlling formal or semi*formal processes like engineering release processes, review processes,
change processes or notification processes..
5. Application integration ,e.g. methods for defining and managing interfaces 'etween PLM and
different authoring applications like 0A, 0AM, 0A! and integrated enterprise software such as
!"P, -0M or 0"M..
PLM Tool %endor Client Focus
Accolade -opheon -mall*Medium
Agile Advantage (racle1Agile -mall*Medium
Aras &nnovator Aras 0orp -mall*Medium
Arena PLM Arena -olutions -mall*Medium
!novia Matrix (ne assault -ystems Medium*Large
!novia -marTeam assault -ystems -mall*Medium
/PMplus &ngennus -mall*Medium
Product0enter -ofTech -mall*Medium
-AP PLM -AP Medium*Large
Teamcenter!ngg -iemens PLM Medium*Large
Teamcenter !xpress -iemens PLM -mall*Medium
Think PLM Think5 -mall*Medium
6indchill PT0 Medium*Large
6indchill (n*emand PT0 -mall*Medium
There are many PLM strategies which can 'e adopted 'y the organization. -ome of these
strategies are as follows 2
&ncreased customer involvement
0ustomization of products
+ighest functionality products and services
Most ro'ust product or services
6idest range of products and services
/est processes
-tandard product and services
7astest time to market
8alue adding life cycle
Lowest cost competitor
Longest life product
!ach of these strategies may 'e carefully implemented in the organization through appropriate
actions 'y understanding glo'al competition, complexity of products and standards and
regulations posed 'y government or (!Ms. 7or example, implementation of the strategy $fastest
time to market$ re)uires immediate commencement of pro#ects, sharing of information,
simulation rather than trial and error, and re*using and updating the information for continuous
improvement.
/ased on a few selected PLM strategies, this case study discusses2 ,i. the ways to meet an
o'#ective of manufacturing the automo'ile impeller casting ,ii. how well the resources such as
e)uipments, materials and people are managed or used.
DSCRIPTION OF T& CAS STUD!
A small foundry in /elgaum foundry cluster ,&ndia. which manufactures impeller casting was
chosen for the case study. The customer firm ,Tier3 -upplier. is within 9 km from the foundry
and was in demand of superior castings to meet the re)uirements of (!Ms. +owever, these
demands were highly fluctuating depending on the market conditions. +ence, the foundry firm
,Tier 4 -upplier. was in great difficulty to meet the resources ,men, material, machines. in order
achieve the customer demands. (utsourcing the work due to the shortage of employees and
machines was not a wise decision as per their management. Also, there were issues with shortage
of materials since inventory control was not a healthy practice in the foundry. As a strategic
decision, this foundry was interested to adopt PLM and check the 'enefit of using PLM tools. A
few PLM strategies implemented were ,i. shorter time to market ,ii. automation ,iii. 'est process
and ,v. minimization of production cost. To march towards this plan of actions, a few healthy
practices and digital manufacturing concepts were also introduced to the foundry. 7urther, to
understand the immediate advantages, a )ualitative assessment was done on various activities in
foundry in which manufacturing of impeller casting was done with and without the intervention
of PLM tools.
The healthy practices introduced in the foundry include timely interaction among users through
commercial PLM tool ,Teamcenter., in*house computer aided design, structural analysis and
casting process simulation, interaction with the customer for the finalization of product and
delivery schedule, evaluation of man*hours and its appraisal, online monitoring of resources, and
accounting. :ser logins were created in Teamcenter to carry out these responsi'ilities and to
interact with users and customers.
A rapid prototyping ,"P. machine of fused deposition modeling ,7M. type was introduced as a
digital manufacturing tool to fa'ricate the complex master pattern. "P takes virtual designs from
0A modeling software, transforms them into thin, virtual, horizontal cross*sections ,generally
in -TL file format standardized 'y rapid prototyping industries. and then creates successive
layers of polymer materials until the model is physically completed.
After structural and process simulations, the 0A model made using PLM tool was optimally ,to
approximate exact surfaces. converted to -TL format ,which represents a 5 surface to an
assem'ly of planar triangles.. The model in -TL format was then pre*processed in &;-&<+T
program ,user interface of "P machine. to ad#ust the size, location and orientation of the model
within the "P machine. -licing of the mod*el ,which can vary from =.=3 mm to =.> mm. was
done to fix a deposition thickness of =.34? mm to meet the desired )uality of pattern. Tool path
generation, support material ,-"*5=. generation, assigning of material ,A/-*M5=. for 'uilding,
were other pre*processing steps done in &;-&<+T. The time taken to 'uild the parts and the
amount of 'uilding material and the support material re)uired for the parts could 'e o'tained
from the software.
RSULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
There are many advantages of using PLM technology in foundry. /esides the PLM internal
drivers such as productivity, )uality, colla'oration and new product development, the ad*
vantages include the reduction of human errors, the improved flexi'ility, the dissemination of
product knowledge, and the continuous monitoring of their growth rates. /y understanding the
activities and the information flow in using PLM tools, some of these advantages were identified.
/ased on some identified characteristics of colla'orative engineering, Ta'le 4 presents the
advantages of PLM technology compared to conventional technology.
Master Pattern of &mpeller 0asting ,a. 6ooden
material ,conventional manufacturing. ,'. A/-
material ,digital manufacturing.
The introduction of "P machine as a digital
manufacturing tool significantly decreased the time
and energy involved in the production of master
patterns. &n addition to this, the usage of
polymer1plastic patterns compared to wooden pat*tern
have several advantages such as enhanced pattern life in product cycle, great dimensional
accuracy, reduction in inspection and rework and also the reusa'ility. 7ig shows the patterns
made of Teak wood and A/- ,Acrylonitrile*/utadiene*-tyrene. through conventional and digital
manufacturing respectively. Patterns made of A/- are dense, rigid, can serve at higher
temperature and has lower shrinkage compared to that of Teak wood patterns. The cost, the size
limitation and the easiness in molding process are other ad*vantages over other pattern materials.
A microscopic o'servation was also made to understand the surface )uality of the castings
o'tained using master patterns made of wood and A/-. The casting photo micrographs o'tained
at ?@ magnification indicated 'etter surface finish with A/- master pattern compared to that of
wooden pattern.
C'aracteristics Con(entional Tec'nology PLM Tec'nology
-ingularity Multiple versions of data for
individual products, so difficult to
identify and control data
:ni)ue identifica*tion for each
prod*uct, so easy to iden*tify
and control product data even
after revisions
0orrespondence Limited 'ecause of non*availa'ility
of complete data and information
a'out physical product
+igh 'ecause of availa'ility of
com*plete data and in*
formation a'out the physical
product
Tracea'ility "isk of wasting time and energy
since product data is not recorded
digitally
!asy to track the product data
and information and its
updates 'ecause of digital
storage
"eflectivity Less fidelity to map infor*mation
a'out real product to virtual product
+igh fidelity since all data and
infor*mation a'out real
product is recorded
0ued
availa'ility
Product and process data not
availa'le as and when re)uired
leading to was*tage of time
"ight product data and
information at right time even
without any search
0omplexity ifficulty due to incom*plete
representations and insufficient
information
!asy to modify product data
and information to in*clude
any complexi*ty leading to
mass customization
-ecurity Less security and difficulty in
tracking the activities
+ighly secured since each user
is provided with login and
password
(wnership ifficult to track the own*ership of
product1 practic*es1processes and
cost involved
!asy to track the ownership of
prod*uct1practices1processes
and cost in*volved
!ducation A
Training
ifficulty in presentation of product
data1 portfolio of company
Product data and information
can 'e retrieved easily at any
time to train a new comer1
next generation em*ployee
The immediate 'enefits inferred 'y the introduction of PLM technology to foundry as compared
to conventional technolo*gy is presented in Ta'le. The approximate time taken to 'uild the
casting with conventional technology is found around 4B hrs whereas with PLM technology is
around 9 hrs 3= min. A one*third reduction in time is o'served 'y this modernization. This
reduction of time is noticea'le 'ecause the activities also include new healthy practices such as
computer aided design and analysis, and digital manufacturing using "P. -ince 0A, 0A! and
"P can 'e done 'y a 0A@ !xpert, there is an improvement in la'or utilization too
The &mmediate /enefits &nferred 'y the &ntroduction of PLM Technology to 7oundry as
compared to 0onventional Technology
Con(entional PLM
Tas)s*
O+erations
Rating Remar)s Rating Remar)s
Placing the order ? hrs &n person 3= min !mail to manager
efining the
pro#ect
? hrs 6ith proprietor 3 hr As a team with an
online discussion
Model generation B hrs 4 drawing in
paper
3 hr :sing 0A tool
within PLM
Product
modifications
*** ;ot entertained
'y the
company
5= min 0ustomer
suggestions through
online interactions
-tructural
analysis and
check
*** /ased on
heuristics and
experience
4 hrs :sing analysis tool
within PLM
Process
simulation A
planning
*** /ased on
heuristics and
experience
3 hr :sing process
simulation tool
within PLM
0ustomer
interactions
4 hrs &n person 3= min Through on*line
Pattern
production
3= hrs +igh carpentry
skill is re)uired
4 hrs 5=
min
Through "P
technology
Pattern material ;ot good Made using
wood1plywood
<ood Made using Polymer
,A/-. material ,33B
cm5.
Cuality of the
pattern
Low As manually
made
+igh and
relia'le
As digitally
manufactured
Cuality of the
casting
<ood -urface finish
and accuracy is
not as desired
8ery good -urface finish and
accuracy as desired
La'or utilization > Proprietor,
esigner,
pattern maker,
0lerk, 7oundry
technician,
D Proprietor, 0A@
!xpert, Accountant,
7oundry technician,
Metallurgist, +elper
CONCLUSIONS
;ew generation manufacturing companies have modified their views on performance evaluations
not only 'ased on their outputs 'ut also 'ased on their outcomes over a period. +ere, the outputs
refer to some measura'le )uantities, generally the num'er of products, whereas the outcomes
refer to the achievements or delivera'les attained during the product life cycle. PLM as a tool
which helps to )uantify the performance over a period also helps in meeting the customer
expectations a'out 'oth the product and the process ,how they get, what they want, and what
they actually get.. &t is high time to implement PLM tools in modern foundries to enhance their
colla'orations and decrease their inefficiency 'y accurate and prompt usage of information. &n
this regard, the 'asic concepts and the tools and strategies for PLM were presented in this paper.
/y selecting and implementing appropriate PLM strategies in a small foundry, an attempt was
made to understand the immediate 'enefits of using PLM tools ,PLM software and digital
manufacturing tools.. This study, which indicated the reduction in lead time and improvement in
utilization of organizational resources in the production of automo'ile impeller, may 'e further
extrapolated to other multi*product, multi*discipline and multi*customer companies to realize the
advantages of using PLM technology. /eing skeptical, most of the foundries often state that the
huge capital cost, non*availa'ility of skilled la'ors, installation time ,appropriate system
integration., insufficient training and support, reluctance towards participation and the financial
risks involved are a few reasons for not adopting the PLM technology. +ow*ever, it is advised
that the foundries or their clusters who are the suppliers of multiple complex or value added
products, especially those 'elongs to (!Ms of automo'ile, medical and aerospace and defense
sectors, should implement PLM technology so that they can develop new and innovative
products in a very short period of time 'y meeting the demands of (!Ms and hence reap great
advantages over their glo'al competitors.