Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) Promised ROI. What Am I Missing?

Your manufacturing enterprise has been through the agony, pain and fatigue of implementing CAD, ERP, PLM and other systems. Your teams are now aligned and you think that everything is working but you are still not seeing improvements in key performance indicators such as production efficiency or reduction in engineering errors. This was the promise of the Model-Based Enterprise so what are you missing? Even with your internal infrastructure in place, you still cannot effectively communicate critical engineering data downstream, to the shop floor, supply chain, or stakeholders who need it.

Before you think this means more lengthy implementations, or development process overhauls, there is good news. You can work towards improved communication of engineering data in easy, simple steps that don’t require massive implementation teams, IT budgets, or engineering culture shifts to match.  Let’s look at what the problem is and provide ideas on how to solve it.

Your engineering CAD and PLM data tends to be massive, unwieldy and difficult to share. To access it, your shop floor, supply chain and procurement teams would need CAD viewing seats which means significantly more cost and training that could turn out to be unproductive and distracting. The IT team doesn’t want to send native data out of house so the answer is to create Technical Data Packages or Work Instructions which require engineering teams to generate massive Word, PowerPoint or PDF documents that are unwieldy and difficult to govern and update.

Product development and production cycles are then lengthened, with a high risk that engineering changes take weeks to filter downstream.  The result is errors, scrap, and missed delivery targets with later-stage changes become exponentially more costly.

Your PLM and ERP systems are the ‘single source of engineering truth’ so it would make sense for all stakeholders to access that information directly.  How do you accomplish this with multiple suppliers, shop floors and people often distributed globally in a way that information fidelity is maintained to fully leverage the Model-Based Definition (MBD) that engineering has designed into the product?

Communication of MBD data using Anark provides the answers!  It has elevated many OEM operations to new levels of productivity and efficiency.

“The implementation of the model-based system from Anark has really impacted our error rate. In 12 months we went from about 5% engineering error-related issues, down to 3% now.” - Gas power technology, services, and solutions OEM

The Anark platform connects seamlessly to your CAD, PLM, ERP, and other authoritative systems, and provide tools for the desired engineering information to be “published” using a file-less format in a secure environment that can be reviewed on any device. Data can be easily redacted to protect critical engineering IP, while also remaining comprehensive, informative and actionable. As long as the data such as GD&T, BOMs, SKUs, and more are in your core systems, it can be gathered, shared and most importantly, understood. Visual and structured data come together with documentation to provide everyone all the information needed to get the job done.

“Anark Core is dynamic and graphical. And because it's more graphical, that's a common language that we all speak. Our people understand the pictures or dashboards and the colors that are capable in this product are awesome. It gives us the ability to share through this common visual language that we did not have before.” - Electronics and High Tech OEM

When an engineering change is made, updates can be immediately generated via publishing automation with no delays, misunderstandings or immense document-based file sharing issues. Contract manufacturer onboarding time is reduced, and manufacturing costs are reduced.

The entire workflow is collaborative which allows people involved to be consumers of the data and most importantly, contributors. Real-time chat and markup encourages collaboration in the context of the work being done. This connects people to a digital manufacturing thread, and each other. Fully traced discussions find resolution quickly, and delivery targets are met.

“One of the benefits that we are looking for is that, by bringing our people and supply chain closer, especially regarding time-to-information, we reduce the period it takes to understand potential quality issues, thus reducing our cost of poor quality and minimizing quality events,” - Engineering manager at GE Gas Power

We told you this would be easy, and it can be through well defined steps:

• Work towards your model-based enterprise strategy by starting with minimally annotated models
• Engage with a free Anark Core platform assessment to examine how your data can be published
• Share the results with the shop floor or refine as needed for product development teams, procurement, etc.
• Collaborate with your supply chain, using these results to assure they fully understand the improved process

A total Model-Based Enterprise communication strategy can be accomplished with Anark by your side.  

“The level of commitment by Anark in support of our project has been amazing. The team has been there every step of the way, and their knowledge and responsiveness made the difference for our team,” - Global Electronics and High Tech CIO

To learn more about how to avoid implementation fatigue, and get the most from your engineering data, access our free eBook here.