Leslie Gordon

The last two items on this blog discussed the Global Product Interoperability Summit currently being held in Mesa, Arizona (see http://tinyurl.com/yfa4jj8 and http://tinyurl.com/y9823vm). One of the most interesting discussions came from an engineer at a well-known manufacturer of high-end corporate jets. The company has moved completely to the 3D MBD (model-based design) approach in building the planes. The speaker said to implement this approach, you first need a sound business model (the approach is expensive). What makes this so mind blowing is that the company got four regions of the FAA to certify its process. Basically, it uses a Dassault-integrated suite of products since Catia is big in aerospace. The speaker says over a 10-year span, the approach actually saves money, even though the software is quite expensive. Surrounding Catia V5 is SmarTeam and Enovia. This arrangement lets engineers happily “churn in their own world.”

So, the process starts at Catia V5 for part design. Here, the company brings in functional tolerancing — it does not need to add dimensions to models. Next comes putting the part in the assembly. Everything — including the BOM — is modeled. The company then uses a translator to divorce PDM from CAD. This puts most of the data in a cental database and helps keep model file sizes small. The firm does EVERYTHING in 3D. It hooks into SmarTeam workflow actions and picks up FAA approval data. Thesystem generates updated BOMs on-the-fly. Part of the process involves comparing the results of actions. The firm uses Kubotek’s validation technology which compares surfaces (not features generated from point clouds). This shows whether, say, files from different versions of a program are acceptably precise. It also uses ITI’s comparison technology. Repairing faulty data is a matter of “STEPPing it out and putting it back in the machine, without indexing a revision to the engineer.”

Next, the process proceeds to manufacturing with Delmia which drives the equipment on the floor. It is also used to model the whole plant. The speaker says guys on the shop floor can now use Catia to make revisions needed for manufacturing. Shop personnel love this because it gives them a career path to engineering.

The upshot of all this? Projects that used to take 30,000 engineering-hours now take 12,000.

Amazingly, interoperability problems still plague large OEMs, especially those in aerospace and defense. That’s why, a few years ago, Boeing and Northrup Grumann held a joint conference (closed to the “public” and the media) to see if getting together couldn’t help them both iron-out their interoperability issues. Over time, vendors started attending the conference as did government agencies and professional societies (such as standards committees). This year marks the first that media were invited. Besides myself, Stephen Wolfe of Cyon Research and Randall Newton of CADCAMNet are attending. I’m sure there are a few others, but I haven’t seen them. Vendors and partners attending the event include Adobe, Altair, ProSTEP, Vistagy, IBM, Dassault, and MSC Software, among others.

The attendees here extremely knowledgeable. Most self-deprecatingly call themselves, “graybeards.” James Gordon, VP of Validation Development at Kubotek USA Inc. actually had a hand in writing, or completely wrote, many of the kernels in use today. He is especially interesting to talk to because of his extensive knowledge of the CAD industry’s history. I am to speak with him more later.

Brett Hillhouse of IBM talked about “Trends in Aerospace and Defense Product Development.” The complexity of products such as airplanes causes expensive failures — not at the individual component level but at the assembly level, when all the bits and pieces have been put together. One example he gave was windshield wipers that didn’t work once installed on the car — someone forgot to calibrate the sensor for the coefficient of glass used on the vehicle. The problem is so bad, he says, that some companies feel they have to completely redo their product development processes. What is needed is a “requirements engineering” phase that captures all the non-functional, as well as the functional, needs of a design. For example, Can passengers in a car actually use the cup holder or is it in such an unwieldy position they would get a hernia while reaching for their cup of java? According to Hillhouse, CAD and PLM are not enough for global dealings.

So, what exactly comprises a system? In the sense that Hillhouse speaks of, a system provides a set of services; it is used by an enterprise to carry out a business purpose; and it consists of hardware, software, data — and workers. Companies should use a model-driven approach to systems development, says Hillhouse. The approach is similar to that of 3D CAD in that it ties all the constraints, artifacts, etc., into one model. The new approach is artifact-based, not paper-based.

IBM calls what it does “open services for lifecycle collaboration,” says Hillhouse. This is an IDE using the REST API (short foe Representational State Transfer) and integrating systems engineering, requirements engineering, and detailed design with a set of underlying best practices.

I am in a packed airplane 35,000 feet up and headed to Mesa, Arizona for the Global Product Data Interoperability Summit taking place there November 9 to 12. The plane comes complete with a squalling baby, a guy next to me whose rolls of fat intrude into my seat area, and a stewardess whose big butt just has to hit you every time she walks by. But I don’t care. The conference looks to be completely fascinating. Hosted by Elysium Inc. of interoperability software fame, the conference features presenters from IBM, Gulfstream, Boeing, and Northrup Grummam, among others. Topics include the following: “Integration of data from different PDMs into the 787 program,” “Cloud computing: Promises, patterns, and pitfalls,” “Sharing experience on applying SOA for a Boeing enterprise level data service,” and “Ontology based technology for development of software tools for STEP data processing.” I feel like a kid in a candy store! Where to start??!! (The cherry on top: The event is taking place at an upscale golf resort. I have never played golf, but I’m sure the ambience will be great.) Stay tuned for more tomorrow…

Tuesday:…The main conference begins at 1 pm, so I had a chance to check-out the surroundings. Earlier this morning, plently of people living in or near the resort were out on the green, chipping shots, or zooming around like mad on their golf carts. It’s only about 10 am now, but everyone has moved indoors or onto patios as the Arizona heat starts to climb.

Attendees are working on a patio at the resort.

The local fauna includes beautiful flowers as well as cactus and other stuff you normally associate with a desert.

Stay tuned for more to come….

Mashable, a “social media guide,” says, “One of the sticking points with the otherwise highly convenient Google Voice service has been that you had a choose a new number to use with the service. If you had an existing number that everyone already knew and wanted to switch over, you were pretty much out of luck.” But now you can now use Google Voice with an existing phone number. Read the whole article.

A reader sends this item:

Teaching Math In 1950 ….. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1960 ….. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970 ….. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1980 ….. A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 1990 ….. By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees. (There are no wrong answers.)

Teaching Math In 2005 ….. El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de production es 4/5………….

[Reference to 1990’s education

** Courtesy of Nilesh Panandikar]

Skooba Design, which provides such products as “checkpoint friendly” laptop carriers, is holding a nifty contest:

According to the contest site, "We are on the hunt for the Master of the Digital Universe, the gadget freak to end all gadget freaks. The Master might have the most gadgets, or the coolest gadgets, or both. The Master might rack up 200,000 frequent flier miles a year and do business in 25 countries, while traveling with an extraordinary tech arsenal. The Master might have drawers and closets full of more retired gadgets than anyone else. The Master might have all of the above.

If you think you deserve to be named Master of the Digital Universe, we want to hear from you. We want your story. It’s not necessarily just about a laundry list of all the stuff you own (although if that’s what you want to send, that’sOK too). It’s about the big picture. This is a subjective contest, to be judged by the product designers, marketing, and management team at Skooba Design. So if you think you’ve got a story, sell it. Tell us what you’ve got, what you carry, how you travel, how you use your tech, why you’re always two steps ahead of every technology development, whatever it may be. The better the picture you paint, with words, images or video, the better wecan judge your story.


Go for it!