Automakers are accelerating development cycles by 3D printing prototype parts and tooling in lieu of traditional manufacturing processes. In the aerospace sector, players are leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) to collect a vast array of sensor data to help proactively flag potential part failures or to determine when an engine is due for routine service. Even slower-moving industries like shipbuilding have their sights set on 3D modeling capabilities from simulation to augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) to shore up and modernize traditional development practices.
Although companies in nearly every major sector have embarked on some leg of the digital transformation journey, there are still countless unexplored routes and many miles to travel. The reality is that despite the drumbeat of press reports and prominent user stories, successful and holistic transformation of engineering and product development processes still remain the exception, not the rule. Newer technologies aside, even product lifecycle management (PLM), the decades-old software platform and business process approach for syncing engineering with relevant stakeholders throughout the lifecycle, has not lived up to its full transformational potential.
“If you’re a product company and you want to do digitalization, then your PLM game needs to be pretty on point, but that’s further than most people are,” says Stan Przybylinski, vice president of CIMdata. “It’s amazing how many companies adopt these core data and process management platforms with lofty goals and most remain stuck in PDM (product data management). Even while vendors add all these new capabilities, the majority of companies are just doing basic blocking and tackling.”
To read the rest of Beth Stackpole's article, please visit https://www.digitalengineering247.com/article/stuck-in-neutral
To view the original article and more of Stan's current perspectives, please click here.
