Putting the tools to work - automobile company design platforms; includes related article on American manufacturers

Automotive Industries, Sept, 1998 by Norman Martin

Chrysler still leads the race to a single, global CAD/CAE/CAM platform, but Ford and GM are closing fast. And suppliers are struggling to catch up.

Each day saved in a vehicle's development cycle can be worth $1 million to the program's bottom line. That's why General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, along with their strategic computer partners, are racing to get their new computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing (CAD/CAE/CAM) networks into full operation. Beyond the obvious advantage of speed, the three automakers each want a single, integrated computing platform, deployed globally, to help cut costs and raise quality.

AI's last report on their progress (see Dec. '96, p. 66) concluded that Chrysler, which had begun implementing CATIA as its single platform in 1989, was well ahead of its two American rivals. It was also well advanced in bringing the manufacturing component, dubbed DMAPS, into the CATIA network.

Nearly two years later, where do the three OEMs -- and their respective software partners Unigraphics Solutions (UG), SDRC, and IBM/Dassault Systemes' CATIA -- stand now?

"We intend to be fully rolled out `by the end of 2000," says Paul Blumberg, director of product development systems at Ford's Product Development Center in Dearborn, Mich. "When a period of five years we will completely transform the entire Ford global enterprise to this new set of tools." Ford has dubbed its core system C3P -- CAD/ CAE/CAM (C3) based on SDRC's I-DEAS software and PIM (P), a Product Information Management function based on SDRC's Metaphase Series 2 software.

Richard Riff, Ford's C3P project office director, says, "We're have implemented it today on about 50% of all the vehicle programs going through our development process." He notes the company expects a 25% rise in productivity in design engineering by the end of December. By that time, more than 20 vehicle programs will be on-line with C3P, compared with just seven last year.

Ford wants to cut vehicle development time from 37 to 24 months from program approval to Job One. "We intend to reduce development time further -- to 18 months or even less," Riff adds.

At GM, Ron DeBrabant, director of CAD/CAM integration and design process at the GM Technical Center in Warren, MI reports "We launched our global Synchronous Math-Based process (SMBP) in 1995 to integrate all of GM's computer tools (CAE,PAD, Alias, NASTRAN, PDS) around the world with one core CAD/CAM system, Unigraphics." He says they are at about 80% changeover to Unigraphics and will be complete by next June. "Unigraphic, is the fundamental underpinning to our entire portfolio of computer math tools that work interactively and seemlessly throughout our entire vehicle development process from styling to assembly and manufacturing."

More than half of GM's current major vehicle programs are being done in Unigraphics, and all new program starts are being designed with UG as the common CAD/CAM system.

For the world's biggest automaker to make the switch to a single CAD/CAM system in about three years represents a tremendous turnaround unprecedented in the industry. "Our synchronous math-based processes are assisting us in reducing our product development cycle from 36 months just three years ago to 24 months today and an 18-month cycle is now in sight," says DeBrabant. "In addition, we have achieved a 13% improvement in engineering productivity in 1997 and will achieve an additional 30 percent over the next three years."

Chrysler has already seen the fruits of its head-start on CATIA (and the over $1 billion the automaker has invested in it) in real metal. They include the `98 LH cars, `98 Dodge Durango and `99 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Chrysler's CATIA system experts say culture, and size, are two main reasons for their successful changeover.

"Anyone can go out and buy the same hardware and software we have," says Greg Avesian, manager of Solutions Marketing at Chrysler's Technical Computer Center in Auburn Hills, Mich. "It's really the culture -- the way that we have gone about implementing it -- that's critical. That is going to be extremely difficult for large companies."

With its rate of CATIA use increasing with each new program, the company claims it is moving rapidly downstream. "We're finding opportunities of integration that a lot of people aren't even thinking about, including parts and service," Avesian says. Another is construction of the new Toledo Jeep plant, which is being modeled (right down to shop floor layout and tool paths) in CATIA.

Supplier Problems

Automotive suppliers tend to support multiple OEMs. So, unlike an electronics company that may have individual suppliers 100% dedicated to their operation, automotive suppliers in general have to be flexible -- they may support several different CAD systems. And despite the best efforts of the industry's standardization bodies, a global translation package that would allow one company's CAD system to transfer data completely and perfectly with another is simply not on the horizon. The systems are too big, too complex, and there's too much competition.