By Conference Speaker: 

David Segal, Industry Market Development Leader, Dassault Systemes ENOVIA

With the increasing globalization of industry, never before has the term International Manufacturing Technology Show been more meaningful. While attending the IMTS, you have a chance to learn about the latest machines, technologies and processes for manufacturing. However, if you can’t find efficient ways to develop and manufacture products, or to implement and share new knowledge across the global enterprise, you will be losing out on your competitive advantage.

Lean principles were born in manufacturing and that is largely where they have remained.  Virtually every company practices lean manufacturing today, making it a prerequisite for remaining in business, but not a competitive advantage. However, there are areas outside of manufacturing --  such as product development and engineering  -- that are prime candidates for the application of lean business practices. Benefits such as waste reduction, improved work-in-process and faster cycle times are all possible when manufacturers take the lean fundamental principles and create a specific lean product development methodology.

Whether applying lean to product development, manufacturing or even in an accounting department, the way to begin a lean journey is by mapping out the value-stream processes and activities within the company, pulling together cross-functional teams to examine how they do business and to employ lean tools that can help identify waste, particularly where one process hands off to another. Yet modern organizations stretch around the globe and are often managed in silos, making it hard to quickly identify waste across an extended value stream.

The implementation of a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) strategy and tools can help industrial product companies combat these challenges by integrating, federating, and sharing information from an array of sources, no matter where they are located, in actionable dashboards with workflow visibility and tracking.

We encourage you to attend the technical session Using PLM to Enhance Value Stream Management for Competitive Advantage taking place on Thursday, September 16 at 3:00 in room W-193B to learn how PLM can help you to better analyze your enterprise’s knowledge to optimize value streams in order to eliminate waste, cut costs, and improve productivity.

By NC. Kishore
Industry Leader, Channel Solutions
Dassault Systemes DELMIA

With hopes of a healthy rebound for the world economy, today’s manufacturers will need to rise to another level of productivity and implement strategies that enable diversification, which we’ve learned is key to survival. At the same time, they need to cut costs, enhance efficiency and strengthen their workforce.  

Based upon my experience, I see digitalization of manufacturing practices as the key to achieving all of these requirements. Implementation of a digital strategy provides companies with the ability to define, simulate and analyze the production processes in the world of 3-D early in the product development cycle, troubleshooting in the virtual world instead of on the plant floor.

With all of the metalcutting that takes place within manufacturing, this area presents opportunity for significant efficiency gain. Although digitalization has existed through the application of CAM programming and machine simulation, there has been a disconnect between the two, requiring code to travel to various post-processors before connecting the operations. This increases lead time, affects the integrity of the data, and requires a programmer that is familiar with several interfaces. 

Winning manufacturers need to implement an integrated strategy where all the solutions are based upon a common IP platform with complete traceability from design to process to simulation, eliminating back and forth guess work of where there might be a problem in the code. Toolpaths can be simulated before the NC code is generated, eliminating errors and rework time, thereby reducing the whole cycle by 50% as compared to traditional machining approaches.

Pricing that is profitable yet competitive is the Holy Grail in the manufacturing industry. To attain it, manufacturers must accurately estimate the costs associated with making products – a difficult task when you must account for all the various factors that can influence costs such as materials, labor, location, and special machinery requirements – and even more so when dealing with product configurations. Cost estimating is both an art and a science, akin to reading the tea leaves to extract the true costs involved across all manufacturing process.

One manufacturer that has cracked the code on accurate job costing is Companion Systems, a leading provider of ATM signage and branding. Challenged with managing the company’s growing number of product variants and offering the right product to meet each customer’s needs with accurate and competitive pricing, the company developed an effective strategy regarding product configuration and cost management to produce accurate job costing and quotations that are “right on the money.”

If you’re looking for greater profitability, and improved efficiency and accuracy in cost estimating, be sure to attend the Getting it Right on the Money: Best Practices in Job Costing session at the IMTS Industry & Technology Conference on Friday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. in Room W193B.

Frank Martell, Epicor Software Corporation, Manager, Product Marketing
Visit Epicor at IMTS 2010 in Booth E-3851.

An event like IMTS provides an opportunity to discover all sorts of success stories while learning about the latest technologies that can help in your operations. Whether you are in the automotive, aerospace, medical or energy industries, odds are that new work materials are challenging you with decreased machinability. Powdered metals, compacted graphite iron, titanium alloys and superalloys, as well as composite materials all come with a unique set of machining issues. Yet each can also bring a competitive advantage to the shop that learns how to master the machining of these materials.

Understanding how to apply the right combination of tool and process can lead to success. For example, when working with superalloys, the use of unique tooling that delivers high pressure coolant directly to the point of cut can achieve a 35% reduction in machining time in combination with a 50% increase in surface footage. To find out more about advanced materials and leading edge machining techniques such as dry machining and near net shape, attend the New Metal Cutting Techniques Applied to Current Market Trends session at the IMTS Industry & Technology Conference on Thursday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. in room W194B.

Don Graham, Seco Tools, Product Manager of Turning and Technical Education
Visit Seco Tools Inc. at IMTS 2010 in Booth W-1564