Global collaboration research initiated by the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG) and conducted by CIMdata continued as Phase 2 to investigate the subset of three Collaboration Entities and five Collaboration Purposes identified as offering the highest potential for improvement in global collaboration. In this instance, global collaboration is defined as data standards and work processes used to share and work with product data among A&D Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and their product design and manufacturing engineering partners and suppliers. In Phase 2, the size and breadth of the surveyed community was broadened so the results statistically represent the A&D industry. Also, the high potential collaboration performance improvement opportunities identified in Phase 1 were explored more deeply. Recommendations that the A&D PAG members can pursue to improve collaboration capabilities continue to be developed.

Survey and interview research initiated by the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group (AD PAG) and conducted by CIMdata has identified and provided insights on weaknesses, barriers, and problems in the current state of global collaboration. In this instance, global collaboration is defined as data standards and work processes used to share and work with product data among A&D Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and their product design and manufacturing engineering partners and suppliers. Phase 1 research resulted in a characterization of currently practiced PLM global collaboration and a taxonomy of product development collaboration. That taxonomy sets forth a representation of PLM global collaboration in six primary dimensions, with a set of nodes that offer the greatest potential for business performance improvement. The AD PAG will continue its research (Phase 2) to investigate the high-potential improvement opportunities identified in Phase 1.

This intent of this paper is to explore the need to enable frictionless operation between OEMs and their suppliers. Process analysis by the A&D PLM Action Group (AD PAG) project team has shown that many different data formats, PLM software systems, and enabling infrastructure technologies exist across the OEMs and their supply base. This position paper, in its first release, presents the problem statement, including use cases, and the project team’s go forward plan. Future releases will include a statement of business performance improvement objectives, a description of the desired future state, and requirements by which that future state can be achieved.

Today, in industries such as aerospace and automotive, there are many examples of nearly complete digital representation through all stages of the product lifecycle, yet pain points in the information flow persist. One of those pain points is the flow of product information through the design chain during product development. This presentation will review two years of research to characterize the global design collaboration space, and then identify the points of greatest opportunity for remediation and the root causes to be addressed within that space.