- The start point is Engineering design and manufacturing automation systems. ASCON suggest cost-effective KOMPAS family of solutions for fast, easy and powerful computer aided design. KOMPAS-3D and KOMPAS-2D with numerous specialized CAD modules and libraries allow to create three-dimensional associative models of individual parts for assembly units that contains both proprietary and standardized structural elements;
- Center point in the suite is PLM System. This could be PDM/PLM system that is already used at an enterprise or ASCON Solution — LOODSMAN:PLM. LOODSMAN:PLM is an enterprise-wide Engineering Data and Product Management System, uniting all production data;
- The information platform is a set of unified Databases (References), serving all the components of the suite. Reference data include material and stock item data used in production and maintenance of the output products; the data on standardized parts used in the output assembly units; measurement units data; the data regarding equipment and instrumentation used in the manufacturing process, etc.
- Industrial process design automation system VERTICAL with additional modules for industrial process evaluation, report generation, etc.
How does it work
Using unified reference data by all engineering and manufacturing process design parties provides an integrated collaboration environment for product development. For example, the material specified by the designer in the title block of a part drawing developed in KOMPAS-2D is guaranteed to match the material in the manufacturing process of the same part in Process Planning System. Similarly, a standard fastener (such as a bolt), used in a three-dimensional assembly model in KOMPAS-3D, is adequately represented in the structure tree of this assembly unit in PDM/PLM System as a standard item with an appropriate part number.
Use of unified references filled with up-to-date data pertaining to a particular production reduces the time for negotiating product documentation within the engineering and process design department, as well as the time for routing documentation to other departments (supply-chain and logistics, planning and accounting, etc.). For example, when deciding on the material to use, the designer will be able to select the material with the lowest cost, as determined by the planning and accounting department, among those with otherwise equal characteristics. On the other hand, the process engineer settles with the material available for ordering via the material supply department. As a result, the number of document revisions will be considerably reduced, thus shortening the total pre-production period.
Concurrent operation and interaction between designers, process engineers and other specialists while working on product documentation and production preparation is made possible by the modules built in PDM/PLM system. Among those are the manufacturing process management system (the Workflow module) and document viewing and annotating module.
At the production design stage, the General Project Manager defines in PDM/PLM the high-level layout of the product being developed as a list of main components. The General Manager distributes assignments for specific component development to the design department managers via the Workflow module integrated with the corporate e-mail system, and then tracks timing and amount of accomplishments. Designers model the product in KOMPAS-3D and KOMPAS-2D systems and prepare a set of design documentation. Simultaneously, the final product layout is shaped up in PDM/PLM system.
To make decisions at the design stage, the designer needs to negotiate the product suitability for manufacturing on the available equipment with the manufacturing processes personnel. Material availability needs to be coordinated with the supply department. The Workflow module helps coordinate decisions with other departments in shortest periods.
As the product layout grows with engineering data, the process engineers begin technological assessment of the design, define the manufacturing route and evaluate demand in technological equipment, using computer aided process planning system. Next, the technology department defines routing and operations process, design fixture and tools in KOMPAS-3D system and calculates material consumption norms, manufacturing stages and labor intensity of processes. The electronic data collected at this stage in the form of combined bottom-line reports are used by supply and logistics departments for evaluating the product cost, defining the production timetable, etc. After that, the set of technical documentation developed to the industry or enterprise standards is passed to the production.
As a result, all product information is saved in PDM/PLM system. This is a most important condition for fast future development of the product modifications, negotiating with customers and suppliers, designing and launching production of new products inheriting from the earlier developed projects. |
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