Manufacturing Business Technology has an article up from the VP of Dassault Systems Patrick Michel, who discusses the advantages of using modern 3D equipment and software in the manufacturing process. He discusses one particularly interesting situation of a recent aircraft manufacturer that was asked to begin construction of an old 1960’s model aircraft, but found themselves fighting with architectural and engineering plans from the 1960’s. The few remaining engineers from that period still on the payroll were forced to train new employees on the intricacies of the design, resulting in lengthy training, slow work, and general fatigue of everyone involved. They found that by switching to newer 3D systems, all of these problems went away.
To address all of these needs, the company found a technology that could scan physical parts into a usable 3D model, coupled with a solution to provide 3D interactive assembly instructions to their production workers.
Using these solutions, the company was able to create a clear and simple document that brought total on-the-job autonomy for junior operators. Additionally, the use of these manufacturing instructions could be expanded to any assembly shop in the world, since the document was mostly powered by the universal language of interactive 3D, which requires no thorough knowledge of any particular language.
It’s a particularly powerful case study, but unfortunately the name of the company and the aircraft are not released.
via Breaking Barriers With 3D Technology | Manufacturing Business Technology.
