IoT connections (connected cars, home devices, connected industrial equipment) are now surpassing non-IoT ones (smartphones and computers). This level of hyperconnectivity means companies have little choice but to approach the creation of products and experiences in much more integrated, multi-disciplinary way. For teams working concurrently, a unified environment acting a single version of the truth for the entire extended enterprise is required to transform ideas into compelling IoT devices and experiences. In this post, we will examine the essential elements of a unified environment that unlocks holistic collaboration across teams and its benefits.
A Unified Environment: Greater than the Sum of Its Parts
What makes a unified environment so critical to teams working on innovative products and experiences?
- A robust data model and ontologies that support all disciplines. Having a single data model on which all processes are based eliminates problems created by incompatible data between different point solutions. It also reduces the need for additional data integration workflows.
- Data management capabilities capture, manage, process, and keep track of the mountains of data generated. And it’s not just design data, but also simulation, manufacturing, operational and business data. All data is kept in sync so if changes are made (like a late customer requirement during design), the changes are cascaded so all stakeholders see the impacts right away.
- A collaborative environment connects all participants and enables secure, real-time collaboration across teams. All communications and interactions between team members are automatically recorded in the context of the processes, the content, the data and the involved parties.
- A unified user experience brings web-style simplicity and speed to the collaborative environment and your processes. Icons, menus, workflows, etc. behave in a similar way from one application to another, making individuals more productive and minimizing training requirements. In other words, professionals do not start from zero when using different applications powered by the unified environment.
Go to Market Faster
A unified environment provides continuity by connecting multiple disciplines and allowing teams to develop complex, connected products faster. By creating products and experiences in 3D, teams test and validate designs and simulate manufacturing virtually. Using simulation processes, assembly setup is optimized and potential manufacturing issues are identified and rectified without a physical prototype. This keeps development costs down and accelerates time to market.
For Bosch Car Multimedia, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform has significantly shortened development time and lowered costs by reducing recursions in product development. Teams have a better understanding of the system as a whole due to holistic approach used when developing infotainment system. EVUM Motors takes advantage of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform’s single, unified environment to propagate design data downstream and define the manufacturing bill of materials (MBOM) directly from the engineering bill of materials (EBOM). Engineers plan and validate production by leveraging real-time visibility of production performance and quality.
Less Time Spent Manipulating Data
Having disparate and disconnected software for design, production and project management often results in information duplication and silos. An environment built on a robust, unified data model enables organizations to spend less time transforming data manually or creating complex data integration rules to extract data from different systems and applications. As a result, you will avoid having a data integration system with complicated workflows that must be constantly maintained.
Fewer Errors by Working Concurrently
A unified environment is particularly helpful for complex projects (and simpler ones, too) as people securely work in parallel on different parts or sub-systems at the same time. At CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard, the electrical and fluidic systems of the ship are designed in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform in parallel, enabling professionals in each discipline to work with structural engineers. This integrated collaborative approach helps avoid late-stage errors that can jeopardize schedules and budgets.
Better Project Visibility
A unified environment provides better visibility into each process or project with traceability of changes and decisions. At IMC Toys, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform helps stakeholders have a visualization of the status of a project at any given time as well as quick access to all project information. For CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipyard, combining design, manufacturing and project management in the platform creates a single integrated view to manage ship development in real-time.
Working in a unified environment also extends to visibility into customer needs and feedback. By virtually simulating the build process, companies can show their customer an immersive 3D virtual experience to get comments and changes, making it easier to discover required adjustments early in the design phase.
Conclusion
An innovation and business platform such as the 3DEXPERIENCE platform provides a unified environment critical to imagine, create and deliver the next generation of connected products, services and experiences. It allows companies to bring together multi-disciplinary teams and enables the digital continuity essential to develop complex and connected products faster, by conducting simulations and evaluating impacts before production. This lowers development costs and speeds time to market.
Pierre is a Marketing Director at Dassault Systèmes. He has been working in the high-tech industry over the past 20 years. His experience spans development, consulting, product management, and marketing roles in small to very large companies. Pierre also holds a BCompSc and a MBA.