Comparison of shipbuilding and construction industries from the product structure standpoint

Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The use of building information modelling (BIM) in construction compares to the use of product lifecycle management (PLM) in manufacturing. Previous research has shown that it is possible to improve BIM with the features and the best practices from the PLM approach. This article provides a comparison from the standpoint of the bill of materials (BOM) and product structures. It compares the product beginning of life in both construction and shipbuilding industries. The research then tries to understand the use, form and evolution of product structures and BOM concepts in shipbuilding with the aim of identifying equivalent notions in construction. Research findings demonstrate that similar concepts for structuring information exist in construction; however, the relationship between them is unclear. Further research is therefore required to detail the links identified by the authors and develop an equivalent central structuring backbone as found in PLM platforms

Implementation of a product data management system

Abstract. This thesis is made for Haltian Oy with an aim to study what needs to be taken into consideration when implementing a product data management (PDM) system. The goal of the thesis is to provide Haltian the knowledge needed for implementing the system as well as to form recommendations to improve the data flows of the order-delivery process. The research is qualitative by nature, and inductive research methods are used. This is a single case study where multiple ways of data collection are used to form a comprehensive analysis on the current state of product data management and data flows in order-delivery process of Haltian. The research is mainly based on interviews of relevant stakeholders, arranged together with consultants. Currently, there is a lot to improve in terms of product data management. The data is fragmented and managed mainly manually. Also, changes are performed manually, which is time-consuming and exposes the organization to errors. Currently the precious working hours of engineers must be used for detecting the information to ensure the data are up to date, because the availability and traceability of the data are weak. This thesis recommends Haltian to implement a PDM system called Teamcenter. It can fulfil all the requirements the organization has set for a PDM system and helps to clarify the product data management process and related responsibilities. In addition to system implementation, some adjustments to order-delivery process are recommended to be made to ensure more efficient ways of working and effortless product data flows. The recommendations of this thesis can be taken into use by implementing the system and performing the proposed process changes. The generalizability is limited, as the results are accurate only for the case company. However, product data management is a general issue in companies of similar stage, and therefore the results can be generalized to some extent to learn about product data management and PDM system’s implementation project.Tiivistelmä. Tämä diplomityö on tehty Haltian Oy:n pyynnöstä ja se pyrkii selvittämään, mitä asioita on otettava huomioon tuotetiedon hallintajärjestelmän implementoimisessa. Työn tavoite on tarjota Haltianille tarvittavat tiedot implementoinnin toteuttamiseksi sekä muodostaa kehitysehdotuksia tilaus-toimitusketjun tuotetiedon luomiseen ja hallintaan. Tutkimus on laadullinen ja käyttää induktiivisia tuktimusmetodeja. Diplomityö on toteutettu yhden yrityksen tapaustutkimuksena, jossa käytetään erilaisia tiedonkeruun menetelmiä. Tällä tavoin muodostetaan laaja käsitys tuotetiedon hallinnan nykytilasta ja siitä, miten tuotetieto tilaus-toimitusketjussa liikkuu. Tärkein tutkimuksessa käytetty tiedon keräystapa on konsulttien avulla järjestetyt haastattelut, joissa tuotetiedon kannalta keskeisimpiä työntekijöitä haastateltiin. Tällä hetkellä yrityksen tuotetiedon hallinnassa löytyy paljon kehityskohteita. Tuotetieto on hajallaan ja sitä hallitaan pääasiassa manuaalisesti. Myös datan muutokset tehdään käsin, mikä on aikaavievää ja virhealtista. Tuotetiedon saatavuus ja jäljitettävyys on heikkoa, mikä haaskaa työntekijöiden työaikaa turhaan tiedonetsintään. Tiedon löydyttyä lisää aikaa menee löydetyn tiedon paikkaansapitävyyden selvittämiseen. Tämän diplomityön tuloksena ehdotetaan Teamcenter-nimisen tuotetiedon hallintajärjestelmän implementointia, sillä se pystyy täyttämään Haltianin asettamat vaatimukset tarvittavalle järjestelmälle ja auttaa selkiyttämään tuotetiedon hallintaa ja siihen liittyviä vastuualueita. Järjestelmän implementoinnin lisäksi tämä tutkimus tarjoaa tilaus-toimitusprosessin parannusehdotuksia, jotka mahdollistavat tehokkaammat toimintatavat ja vaivattoman tuotetiedon kulun läpi prosessin. Ehdotukset voidaan tuoda käytäntöön implementoimalla tuotetiedon hallintajärjestelmä ja toteuttamalla ehdotetut muutokset tilaus-toimitusprosessiin. Tutkimuksen tulosten yleistettävyys on rajallista, koska tutkimus on toteutettu vain kyseessä olevalle yritykselle ja täten ongelmat ja niiden ratkaisuehdotukset pätevät vain tälle yritykselle. Tuotetiedon hallinta on kuitenkin yleinen ongelma monessa vastaavanlaisessa yrityksessä, joten tutkimusta ja sen tuloksia voi käyttää tietyin varauksin hyväksi myös muiden organisaatioiden tuotetiedon hallinnan ongelmiin

PLM system support for collaborative development of wearable meta-products using SBCE

Nowadays, in the era of Internet of Things, people tend to be more tied to connected products seeking to ease and improve quality of life and find new ways to make things such as daily tasks differently. In this context, the world of clothing has noticed a big advance that transformed the life of customers. Customers are no longer looking for a simple piece of garment, but more the services that they can benefit from. Wearable Meta-Products are intelligent hybrid products made of garments, sensor networks and applications, interacting with users and the environment capable of real time data processing and storage, with capabilities to extend functionalities by communicating with other things. The development of Meta-Products is complex and requires close collaboration of the multidisciplinary team. This work proposes the Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE) specification applied to Meta-Products supported by PLM system an innovation enabler. IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2016.Scopu

Set-Based Prototyping in the Context of the Configurable Virtual Product: The Construction of the Learning Value Streams (LVS) Model

RÉSUMÉ La présente thèse de doctorat est le résultat de sept années de recherche intervention dans les domaines de la conception et du développement de produits suivant le paradigme lean en aérospatial. Cette recherche action est motivée par la nécessité de développer les connaissances ainsi que les outils appropriés pour le développement de produits suivant l’approche lean (LPD pour Lean Product Development) et en particulier celle de l’ « ingénierie concourante fondée sur les options de conception » (SBCE pour Set-Based Concurrent Engineering) en aérospatial. Une telle nécessité se justifie par les facteurs socioéconomiques du 21ème siècle qui imposent des approches de conception et développement toujours plus robustes, résilientes, réactives, flexibles, innovantes et adaptables face aux fluctuations du marché et à la demande des consommateurs qui évolue rapidement, ceci afin de permettre aux compagnies de demeurer compétitives. L’objectif principal de la recherche, au vue de tels impératifs, est d’identifier, pour ensuite développer et intégrer dans un modèle holistique, les aspects, les caractéristiques et les catalyseurs essentiels des approches LPD et SBCE appliquées à l’industrie aérospatiale de façon à supporter l’implémentation à grande échelle de telles approches, et ce, dans une optique sousjacente de gestion de cycle de vie du produit (PLM pour Product Lifecycle Management). La planification et l’exécution du projet de recherche sont réalisées en respectant une méthodologie éprouvée en conception (DRM pour Design Research Methodology) afin de focaliser les résultats sur l’avancement des connaissances et de la pratique du LPD et SBCE en tant qu’approches de conception. La recherche apporte en conséquence des contributions majeures à ces champs d’étude tout en prescrivant une méthodologie de transformation des processus et outils de développement de produits dans l’industrie par le biais de l’implémentation du modèle de « chaines de valeur apprenantes » (LVS pour Learning Value Streams). Plus en détails, les contributions aux avancées scientifiques et pratiques dans le domaine vont comme suit : (1) La proposition d’un nouveau cadre d’analyse de la littérature SBCE, ainsi qu’une méthodologie de revue systématique fondée sur des données probantes; (2) L’avancement des connaissances théoriques et pratiques du LPD et SBCE des aspects les plus généraux aux plus significatifs; (3) L’avancement des connaissances théoriques et pratiques sur la modélisation et les structures de produit requises dans une optique de gestion de cycle de vie du produit----------ABSTRACT The work reported in this thesis is the result of seven years of participatory action research in the field of Lean Product Development (LPD) in aerospace engineering. This research is motivated by the necessity to develop understanding and support for practical implementations of lean product development and especially Set-Based Concurrent Engineering (SBCE) in industry. Such necessity is justified by 21st century compelling socioeconomic factors that demand robust, resilient, responsive, flexible, innovative, adaptable and lean product development processes in order for companies to stay competitive in rapidly changing markets. The main purpose of the research is to identify and develop the essential SBCE and LPD aspects, characteristics, features and catalysts as they relate to aerospace large-scale industrial product development in order to form a holistic model that can support practical implementations of LPD in industry from a product lifecycle perspective. A design research methodology (DRM) is used for planning and executing the design research project while ensuring that focus is placed on achieving progress with regards to understanding and implementation of SBCE and LPD as Design practices. As a result, this thesis work provides substantial contribution to understanding of LPD and SBCE and furthermore, entails valuable proposal for the practice in industry through the CCS model and the construction of the Learning Value Streams (LVS) model. Major contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge and practice in the fields are as follows: (1) The proposal of a new SBCE dual analysis framework combined with an evidence-based systematic review methodology; (2) The advancement of theoretical and practical understanding of LPD and SBCE from the larger to the most significant aspects; (3) The advancement of theoretical and practical understanding of product models and product structure progression requirements for lean product lifecycle management; (4) the proposal of a new methodology, including new as-tested structure to support cross-collaboration during prototyping and testing in lifecycle management contexts; (5) The proposal of a new existential domain alongside the functional, technological and physical domains in order to address the lack of product modelling constructs and methodology when it comes to service or as-tested configurations, hardware testing transactions and prototype information tracking on the basis o