Model-Based Industries Calling for Quality Assurance Within Digital Thread

Engineers from companies that are seeking to become a model-based enterprise (MBE) discovered tools along that path at Elysium’s second North American user summit this spring.

Elysium reportedly is developing capabilities to support the journey toward model-based definition (MBD) and Industry 4.0. Attendees at the summit included representatives from Adient, BC Engineering, Action Engineering, Z+F Scanners, Ford, Tachi-S, Lear Corporation, Denso, Automotive Lighting, Waymo, Molex, Kuka Robotics, Hive Virtual Plant and Toyota.

“We’ve long been known for data translation expertise,” says Elysium’s Director of Technology and Engagement Annalise Suzuki. “Noncommercial standards like STEP are improving and the translation market is evolving. It remains a solid business for us because there are still challenges with data flow between OEMs and suppliers—yet we now do so much more to enable companies to fully employ model-based practices. This includes ongoing quality checks, validation of derivatives, healing of problematic parts, and data simplification, all of which together form the foundation of information integrity throughout the process flow of the model-based enterprise.”

Keynote speakers at the summit were Adient’s Ram Pentakota, senior director of IT Product Development and Launch, Systems and Operations, and Action Engineering CEO Jennifer Herron.

Adient’s internal Model Creation Process recognizes that quality and innovation depend on data accuracy, and that accuracy and reliability of data are underlying requirements for automation and efficiency, according to Pentakota.

Elysium provides software tools to translate and package all the data for automotive's different OEMs and suppliers. “The validated modeling data that Elysium facilitates is a key part of our integrated process approach to MBD and MBE,” Pentakota says.

Action Engineering’s Jennifer Herron consults on model-based topics and leads in-house CAD model-based training with expertise in multiple CAD packages.

“There’s no cookie-cutter way to implement and execute Model-Based Definition,” Herron says. “Elysium delivers many MBD/MBE data validation functions in a single platform and excels at providing a user-friendly approach that complements native CAD packages and distills large amounts of data analysis. This helps with accurate downstream consumption of geometry and PMI, and validation that any derivatives generated match the original for geometry, metadata and annotations.”

Day Two of the summit took an in-depth look at Elysium’s InfiPoints, a point-cloud solution for industrial-scale digital mapping of facilities and equipment. BC Engineering and Design Owner and Senior Engineer Brian Christiano discussed his company’s use of scanning technology to collect the millions or billions of data points used to describe an object in three-dimensional space. InfiPoints enables his team to turn that point cloud into a usable 3D model.

Suzuki noted that one user described point-cloud as a critical tool for companies moving toward full MBE status, noting that his own firm needed to restructure all their physical facilities, not just their models. “If we can scan and digitize our facilities, to help map out our changes and long-term plans, then it all comes together,” he says.

“Elysium’s suite of functionalities plays nicely in a complete model-based process and can be leveraged and re-leveraged as MBD and MBE evolve,” says Suzuki. “We’re looking to the future and listening to customers to make our roadmap. This summit opened the door to some very fruitful conversations.”

For more info, visit Elysium.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.