Aras Announces PLM Platform-based Application for Manufacturing Process Planning

Aras, a product lifecycle management (PLM) software provider, has announced the availability of the Aras Manufacturing Process Planning (MPP) application for a new platform-based approach to managing the complex business processes that extend from product development through manufacturing. New capabilities bring together the Manufacturing Process Plan, Work Instructions and MBOM (Manufacturing Bill of Materials) making them interdependent and automatically synchronized as changes occur, according to the company. It enables direct EBOM (Engineering BOM) to MBOM translation, which Aras says bridges the gap enterprises have and creates the process foundation necessary for Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet initiatives.

Using Aras MPP, global product teams are able to concurrently define manufacturing processes, work instructions and MBOMs while avoiding the EBOM/MBOM conflicts, especially in products that combine complicated mechanical designs with electronics, software and firmware. Process plans include operations, equipment and tooling illustrated with models, drawings, pictures, graphics, videos and text. Automatic EBOM/MBOM reconciliation results in traceability between the as-designed and as-planned configurations to provide the basis for a digital thread across the product lifecycle.

“We’ve drawn on our experiences with a wide variety of Aras customers over the past decade including GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce and the U.S. Army to provide enhanced capabilities and introduce new innovations to best support the complex, connected products and factories of the future,” said Rob McAveney, chief architect at Aras.

According to Aras, functionality highlights include:

• Manufacturing process plan, work instructions and MBOM are interdependent and automatically synchronized as changes occur
• Version controlled process plans detail operations, work cells, equipment and tooling, parts consumed, resources utilized, skills, documents referenced, etc.
• MBOM derived from EBOM with automatic reconciliation
• Change control workflows with impact analysis and effectivity
• Plant-specific MBOMs and process plans
• Connected directly with quality management capabilities including PFMEAs and inspection & test control plans

Research by the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute shows 81% of enterprises acknowledge a digital transformation in manufacturing is a key element to their future competitiveness, but only 14% say they are adequately equipped today with the necessary technologies and expertise.

Aras MPP is built on a single platform that is designed to be flexible, scalable and upgradable, and provides connected capabilities for EBOM, configuration and change management, requirements, quality and other areas. In addition, Aras MPP is designed to integrate with existing ERP, MES and legacy PDM environments to provide these new process capabilities on top of existing enterprise systems. By layering the Aras platform over existing systems, the company says large enterprises can avoid the risk and disruption of a “rip & replace” approach and drive digital transformation more quickly.

“We believe that the processes that span product development and manufacturing engineering are a necessary foundation that must be addressed up front for Industry 4.0 or IoT to work,” said Peter Schroer, Aras CEO via a press release. “Companies with factories all over the world need a better way to drive transformation faster which is why you can overlay existing legacy with our platform and get new capabilities immediately that directly support your strategy.”

For more information, visit Aras.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.