How can machine builders improve the way they work with the companies that use their products to create more collaborative, mutually valuable relationships? This eBook explores five practical steps manufacturers can take to improve machine builder – operator collaboration and increase value for both themselves and the customers operating their machines. Please enjoy the summary…
- Recognize the Opportunity
- The Value of Machine Builder - Operator Collaboration
- Take a Practical Approach with Room to Grow
- 1. Improve Equipment Data
- 2. Improve Service Response
- 3. Connect and Communicate
- 4. Increase Predictive Capabilities
- Get Started
- Acknowledgments
Has the Time for Servitization Finally Arrived?
The Service Relationship is Changing The relationship between machine builders, their products, and their customers is evolving. Many machine builders who traditionally followed "sell it and forget it" or "service it because you have to" models are moving to more closely aligned service relationships. Why? Manufacturers recognize they have a strategic opportunity to drive higher revenue and better profit margins by transforming their service approach. And in some cases, their customers demand it because they need to get the most out of increasingly complex machines to drive their own productivity and profitability. Time for a Practical Approach This shift is not new. Service transformation, sometimes called "servitization," has been discussed for well over a decade. We wrote about the trend in The Service Lifecycle Management Approach as far back as 2003. Since then, some companies and industries have made progress. The concept is well defined, and the enabling technology has come a long way. But few machine OEMs have been able to fully embrace the model, and reaching the highest level of service maturity still faces people, process, and technology challenges. Fortunately, it's not an "all or nothing" proposition. Machine builders have plenty of room to improve. And, even if they never reach the ultimate goal, there is value along the way.Recognize the Opportunity
Improving Service Benefits OEMs and Operators Improving service performance is a win-win. It brings machine builders new revenue, higher margins, better customer relationships, and a steadier income stream. In addition, transformation can provide strategic value by creating machine performance knowledge to improve engineering. It can also support significant business transformation, opening up the potential for new business models like "Product as a Service" (PaaS) or "Machines as a Service" (MaaS), where the machine builder takes on responsibility for delivering productivity instead of hardware. Finally, it can improve sustainability by optimizing energy use and supporting circular economics where machines could be resold, remanufactured, or harvested for valuable components and materials instead of scrapped. Transformation also helps customers better operate and maintain increasingly complex equipment. In turn, it allows them to increase uptime, plan for downtime, raise productivity, optimize performance, improve efficiency, reduce cost, and cut power consumption. The Potential for Transformation is Proven The value of improving service through tighter relationships and digital transformation is well documented. There are practical examples to follow. Other industries, including aerospace, have paved the way, proven the value, and developed best practices. There are experienced consultancies that know how to transform to servitization. Supporting technologies, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), analytics, Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), and Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), are more mature and accessible. The Potential for Transformation is Proven It's hard to argue with the value, but it's a significant change. Technology has advanced faster than companies can adapt. Collaboration requires a level of trust and accountability between partners. Some operators may not want their data connected to the internet or consider their operational data and processes part of their intellectual property and be reluctant to share it. Making the transition can also be a financial hurdle. Shifting how and when manufacturers record revenue is a major change, especially for those producing expensive machinery.
Take a Practical Approach with Room to Grow
Innovate, Experiment, Learn, and Improve Although the vision is more attainable, it may not be easy for every company to achieve. What can machine builders do now to start down the path toward value? We recommend that they understand the big picture but start small. But starting small doesn't mean the project has to be limited to a proof of concept. There are practical ways to create value now and make progress toward the future state as they gain experience improving service in a digital model. Machine builders can take tangible steps toward greater maturity by:- Improving collaboration with their customers
- Learning from the experience
- Repeating what works
- Extending their success
- Expanding to new areas
- What challenges do your customers face while operating your equipment?
- What would they value if you could change the situation?
- What would “change the game” for them?
- What are they willing to pay for it so that you can share in that value?
Get Started
Start Small, Then Expand Although few machine builders have reached the highest level of digital transformation maturity, it's essential to get started. These techniques are becoming more prevalent and achievable. It's time to collaborate on a small but meaningful project that solves a real problem. This project should provide benefits for both the machine builder and the operator. Choose a product line or focused use case and take an agile approach that gains value with a "minimum viable product" approach. Keep it simple so you, and your partner, can learn and extend based on experience. Manage Change Lastly, remember to manage the change. Educating management, personnel, and customers about the change and why it is valuable to them is critical. Next, develop a plan that addresses both business and technical requirements, and engage with engineers, operators, and service technicians to learn from their knowledge. Then, get started to create an advantage on your timeline before being forced to react to competitive threats. If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact us. [post_title] => Machine Builder-Operator Collaboration [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => machine-builder-collaboration [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-02-20 12:30:38 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-02-20 17:30:38 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18598 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18568 [post_author] => 2574 [post_date] => 2023-09-12 08:30:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-09-12 12:30:27 [post_content] => Can lithium-ion and other specialty battery manufacturers keep up with the growth potential in the new world fueled by electrons rather than heat? That all depends on how well they can master manufacturing. Lithium-ion batteries are inherently complex. It is an enormous challenge to make them at consistently high quality. Compounding the challenge are the ever-shifting conditions: constant innovation in materials, chemistry, and form factors plus frequent changes based on customer requirements and applications. Manufacturing prowess well could differentiate a company and set it up for success. Making these batteries is a multi-mode, sensitive operation. There are interdependencies between steps, opportunities for contamination and human error, and the final product’s selling price depends on manufacturing excellence. In addition, new chemistry, form factors, and approaches are emerging for new applications, so there’s a steady stream of experiments and new products in the mix. All of these factors mean a manufacturing execution system (MES) is required. This is the only type of system that can support all aspects needed for success in this complex production environment. Yet, not just any MES will do. Five key characteristics make an MES capable of supporting Lithium-ion and specialty battery manufacturers. Multi-mode support is paramount for batch slurry mixing, roll, winding, assembly, sealing, and testing. Flexibility for the high mix and R&D experimentation is also fundamental. Read the entire blog post by clicking on the image on LinkedIn to learn more about these characteristics battery manufacturers should seek in MES, plus discover the other three. Thank you to Eyelit for supporting us in expressing our views on the important features of MES for battery manufacturers.


- Anthony Hauck, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Hypar
- Lucas Manos, IT Director of Business Operations, Ryan Companies
- Patrick Murphy, CEO and Founder, Togal.AI
- Igor Tsinman, President, AMC Bridge



[post_title] => Let Business Value Drive Your Cloud PLM Transition [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => cloud-plm-transition-webinar [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-12-15 14:54:01 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-12-15 19:54:01 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18515 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [6] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18469 [post_author] => 2574 [post_date] => 2023-08-03 08:00:08 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-08-03 12:00:08 [post_content] =>

Table of Contents
- Progress on Industry 4.0
- Difficult Environment
- Keys to Success
- Closing the Loop from Data to Action
- Multiple Aspects to Master
- Challenges in Manufacturing Data Management
- Integration Still Obstructs Purpose
- Improvement is Possible: Top Performers
- Understand All the Issues Matter
- Launch Initiatives to Address the Issues
- Improve Organizational Structure
- Succeed in Staffing
- Overcoming Skills Shortages
- Leverage Commercial Applications
- Have Better Experience with MES
- Explore Advanced Technologies
- Gain Business Capabilities
- Accelerate Improvement
- Meet Cost Targets
- Why Manufacturing Data Management
- Why Drive to AI?
- Quotes: Selected Benefits of Advanced Analytics
- The Path Ahead
- About the Research
- Acknowledgments
Speeding the Loop from Data to Effective Action
A New AI-driven Era for Manufacturing Despite challenging supply chain situations, manufacturers are making progress toward Industry 4.0. Most understand that artificial intelligence (AI) and improved analytics can lead to better decisions and, thus, business benefits. However, creating the data management structure for success is something many are still learning. This research shows how Top Performing companies are making more significant strides than others. In short, they understand, invest in, and make the most of many aspects of people, process, and technology. Together, they enable capabilities that close the loop from data to information to insights to decisions and to profitable, timely action.
Progress on Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 Vision The future of manufacturing is more flexible, agile, and responsive based on AI and intelligent automation. This is the vision of Industry 4.0, which goes by many other names. While the concept encompasses the entire enterprise and supply chain, the manufacturing area often poses the most significant challenges and opportunities for gaining substantial benefits. Three Years of Progress When manufacturers embark on an Industry 4.0 initiative, they typically know it will be a multi-year journey. What we see is that most companies are now well on their way. There has been clear progress since our survey, The Manufacturing Data Management Challenge,1 in 2020. A much more significant percentage of respondents’ companies have made tremendous progress toward Industry 4.0 and gained benefits already.Why Drive to AI?
Many Applications This is the age of AI. Just as human intelligence can address many topics, so can artificial intelligence. We asked, “Where would your company anticipate benefits from using advanced analytics in the plant such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), predictive, or prescriptive analytics? (list all processes, areas, or disciplines). The responses varied widely, as the word cloud shows. Top of Mind The most common benefits these respondents see are in production: quality, productivity, efficiency, yield, maintenance, safety, costs, and control. They also cite error-proofing, speed, and efficiency. In addition, they see benefits across the business, including for management, training, supply chain, revenue, engineering change, marketing, fraud detection, and customer service.The Path Ahead
Next Steps The manufacturers in this survey, including the Top Performers, know they are on an ongoing journey. Every company must ask themselves what their next steps are. Depending on the state of your capabilities and processes, the answer will vary. Recommendations- Recognize that Industry 4.0 is a journey, and manufacturers can only expect to get benefits once they have made significant progress.
- In the face of complex and unpredictable external circumstances, invest in internal understanding, initiatives and projects, staff, and capability-building technologies.
- Be sure everyone - top floor to shop floor - understands Industry 4.0 has many keys to success, and one central element is manufacturing data management.
- Evaluate your data management weaknesses across all facets and set out to improve them.
- Prioritize projects not only by data flow gaps but also for the potential to make significant revenue and cost improvements across the company.
- Evaluate whether applications with broader functionality will reduce your integration resources and effort and still be deep enough to meet your needs.
- Educate your team on many aspects of data management and analytics to ensure they understand how projects fit into a larger vision.
- Start initiatives and projects that help you learn – progress requires action.
- Focus on creating an attractive workplace and staffing for an array of newer positions that support data management, AI, and transformation.
- Step up your evaluation of commercial technology that might replace homegrown systems, spreadsheets, and Excel.
- Focus on AI and analytics as benefits drivers, and focus programs on areas that matter to business success.

[post_title] => Sage Clarity’s Digital Transformation Accelerator Apps (Insight) [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => accelerator-apps-insight [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-07-20 12:44:32 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-07-20 16:44:32 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18462 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [8] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18440 [post_author] => 2574 [post_date] => 2023-07-13 10:00:07 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-07-13 14:00:07 [post_content] =>

Table of Contents
- Evaluation Criteria
- Urgency to Improve Manufacturing Productivity
- Current Situation
- Prioritizing Manufacturing Productivity Opportunities
- Functionality for Prioritizing Opportunities
- Analytics for Clear Action
- Technology Considerations
- Evaluating Software Partners
- Implementation Factors
- Software Investment Priorities
- Maximum Value for Productivity Projects
- Recommendations
- Acknowledgments
Urgency to Improve Manufacturing Productivity
Staying Competitive Most manufacturers are in competitive markets with supply chain challenges. With so much out of the company’s control, it’s vital to leverage production resources such as facilities, equipment, people, materials, and tools effectively. Today’s environment of great uncertainty makes this more complex and crucial to success. Needs Expand with the Move to the Digital Enterprise Productivity is all about minimizing losses – and time is the obvious way to measure those losses. The impacts of lost time are not just on the production operation itself. Time losses can be quantified in terms of impact on profit and customer service. Capacity-constrained companies can sell as much as they can make, so it’s a top-line issue for revenues. For these companies, it also determines when they can promise and deliver orders to customers.Even when not capacity constrained, time losses can impact costs and customer satisfaction. In some cases, companies could lower materials, assets, energy, quality, compliance, and payroll costs. Continuous Improvement Yet, calculating where to focus to stem those time losses is not straightforward since many sources of waste contribute to throughput and productivity losses. Continuous Improvement (CI) is a common process manufacturers use to identify and eliminate waste to improve performance. It may be called Lean, Six Sigma, Operational Excellence, or other names. In these trying times, CI programs can feed success – particularly if they have balanced characteristics and digital support.Prioritizing Manufacturing Productivity Opportunities
Helping Focus As the term prioritizing suggests, what is new here is that the software is not just measuring performance but ranking opportunities for improvement. By seeking prioritization, you get support to focus resources and attention, which can be challenging with traditional manufacturing intelligence, OEE, or dashboard software. Readying for Action In addition to prioritizing opportunities, seek out software that provides a reason drill-down for each problem. This ability to deliver deeper insights into root causes can transform challenges into opportunities One Application, Many Roles Seek a software system that can support multiple user profiles:- Executives and Managers for comparing plants, products, and investment in CI programs
- CI leads for plotting priorities and tracking progress
- Supervisors for focusing on how to improve in their area
- Operators and Technicians to focus, buy in, and see what’s working and how much time they can save


- Top supply chain challenges
- What Top Performers see as the top factor enabling their supply chain to have a positive impact on the business
- Where Top Performers have visibility others may not have consistently
- Which data and disciplines Top Performers are more likely to have than Others
- Which types of Digital Twins should be part of an ideal planning solution

Table of Contents
- Recognize the Downside of Disconnects
- Connect the Product Digital Thread through Commercialization
- The Two Primary Values of the Digital Thread
- Extend the Digital Thread through Commercialization
- Connect People
- Connect Processes
- Connect Technology
- Recommendations and Next Steps
- Acknowledgments
Grow Revenue with Better Customer Experience

Extend the Digital Thread through Commercialization

- Business to Consumer (B2C) companies can quickly get consistent, accurate, and compelling information into their channels
- Business to Business (B2B) companies can get the right specifications and information for their datasheets, spec sheets, website, distributors, catalogs, portals, and customers
- Regulated industries can ensure information is accurate and auditable in a trusted source for improved control and traceability
Recommendations and Next Steps
Recognize the Urgency It’s time to recognize the value and the need to change how product experiences and product information flows through the organization. Companies that want to outpace the market, grow faster, drive revenue, reach customers sooner, and create better experiences should extend their digital thread from design through commercialization. Companies that adopt this approach will be able to:- Improve time to market
- Bring continuity, timeliness, and quality to product data
- Build customer loyalty and brand trust
- Give marketing and commercialization teams the information they need, when they need it, in a way they trust
- Allow marketers to enrich, structure, and organize product data for the buyer
- Allow them to put forward a consistent, compelling product experience to customers, regardless of the channel or platform they interact with it
- Connect people across the product digital thread
- Develop cross-departmental processes from design through commercialization
- Integrate technology, or find a solution that prioritizes integration in the places that add the most value to your business
- SaaS Strategy
- Support for Software/Smart Products
- Extending Field Service Capabilities
- Design for Sustainability
1. SaaS Strategy
Most significant was PTC's strengthened SaaS strategy with the acquisitions of cloud-native Onshape and Arena for product design (CAD and CAE/Simulation), product data management (PDM), and product lifecycle management (PLM). These products make up its Velocity Group. PTC then created its Altas SaaS platform based on Onshape technology. This platform was used to create SaaS offerings for its existing products. They designate their SaaS offerings as "+," meaning the current offering, "plus more," with added cloud capabilities. These capabilities include real-time collaboration, faster deployment, reduced hardware costs, and easier methods for the broader enterprise to access product information. PTC previously launched Windchill+, Kepware +, and Vfuria+. The newest addition, Creo+, was announced at LiveWorx 2023. Brian Thompson explained that Creo+ offers all the capabilities of Creo 10 (also announced at LiveWorx 2023), but with new cloud-based tools. Creo+ enables real-time collaboration so internal and external team members can simultaneously work on the same design. While an exciting development, does PTC need two cloud-based solutions with Onshape/Arena and Creo+ / Windchill+? How should customers determine which is best for them? I liked how Jim Heppleman positioned this during a Q&A session. He explained that customers can decide between two product development priorities, and select the solution that best matches their needs. The priorities are:Agile Product Development: This approach applies the Agile methodologies that have been successful in software development to the entire product. Agile focuses on customer needs and providing value quickly. Work is completed in short intervals, or sprints, typically two weeks long, and validated along the way. The goal is to have a workable, high-quality product in less time. In contrast, the traditional Waterfall method waits until development work is complete before testing. Typically, teams then spend months fixing problems. An Agile approach could be particularly valuable for companies looking for high growth. For these customers, PTC suggests Onshape and Arena and David Katzman explained how these solutions support an Agile methodology.
Model-Based Digital Thread: With this approach, companies need the digital thread across the lifecycle. This supports traceability, reuse, efficiency, and a more disciplined approach. For companies that value this and profitability over growth, PTC recommends Creo and Windchill. PTC also reassures customers that all Creo data is upward compatible with Creo+.
2. Support for Software/Smart Products

3. Extending Field Service Capabilities

4. Design for Sustainability
Finally, EVP Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Catherine Kniker (CK) stressed the importance of sustainability considerations during design, emphasizing that design decisions determine 80% of a product's environmental footprint. Engineers can improve sustainability by evaluating materials, energy efficiency, and waste reduction. PTC plans to support some of these decisions through expanded partnerships with Ansys and aPriori Technologies.

Table of Contents
- Recognize the Potential of the Digital Twin
- Making Progress Toward Your Digital Twin
- 1) Design in Full Product Context
- 2) Embrace BOMs / Configurations / Variability
- 3) Simulate / Optimize / Virtually Validate Equipment
- 4) Expand Further Down the Lifecycle
- Get Started
- Acknowledgments
Improving Engineering, and more, with the Digital Twin

Recognize the Potential of the Machine Builder Digital Twin
The Growing Need for Machine Digital Twins Machine builders face increased challenges, including increased equipment complexity, greater market complexity, and new demands for sustainability. These issues impact their operations and their operators, driving additional engineering requirements such as increased machine automation, monitoring, and the need for remote service. Extend Machine Builder Digital Twin Value over the Product Lifecycle Comprehensive digital twins allow equipment manufacturers to innovate and experiment in the virtual world to get unique machines right the first time. Virtual design helps them improve machine design cycles, quality, performance, configurability, and sustainability by allowing all disciplines to collaborate starting as early as equipment requirements on a holistic, contextualized product model. Lastly, running digital twin simulations enable them to optimize designs virtually before building them. But the value doesn't end in Engineering. Machine digital twins incorporating manufacturing operations and quality data allow them to produce equipment faster and more efficiently with higher first-time quality. Machine digital twins extended to the operating environment can speed up commissioning, ensure equipment runs the first time, improve performance for machine operators, and enhance operator training. Twins can also enhance service through service transformation, including machine monitoring and analytics. Finally, they can help in product retirement by enabling circular thinking where equipment can be brought back, refurbished, or harvested for valuable components.Making Progress Toward Your Digital Twin
Choosing a Starting Point For many companies, the improvements described on the previous page sound like rocket science. In fact, it is. Industries like aerospace have proven the value, and the potential is nearly limitless. But adoption can be intimidating, especially for manufacturers that haven't fully achieved the value a holistic digital twin can offer to Engineering. What should machine builders do now? Each manufacturer needs to define what the digital twin means to their business, assess their current capabilities and then make tangible, incremental steps to improve their maturity and associated business value. Digital twin initiatives should have rapid ROIs, providing value right away and making progress toward a fully mature future state. The value will be different for each company, but we've identified a number of improvements for companies to use as a starting point based on their goals and maturity. Create a Value-Driven Strategy It's essential to develop a practical plan based on what would be the most valuable to the company. Find practical problems and use the digital twin to address them. The challenges may relate to quality, speed to market, or supporting additional configurability without compromising quality. Or, they may be supplier collaboration challenges. For some, they could be sales enablers to let potential customers experience how configured equipment will behave in their environment using high-fidelity simulations. We recognize that each company is different in their starting point, what will drive the most value, and the practical sequence in which they can implement changes. It's time to identify ways to get started, create a customized plan with first steps to drive business success, extend the value, and expand on the competitive advantages achieved. Let's look at some opportunities. Start Small, then Expand The opportunities are expansive and potentially overwhelming. Remember that every company is different in where they start and what will drive the most value. Don't try to do too much at once or skip maturity steps. Focus on the tangible steps that add value to your business. But, keep the big picture in mind to ensure that early successes can be built on to reach a higher vision.
ACE is Back!

- First, a confirmation about how different the Aras Innovator offering is
- Second, how that impacts the way Aras partners with others
- Third, that Aras Innovator can compete on the strengths of their solution capabilities even without the “Aras difference”
- Aras and Microsoft announced that Aras Enterprise SaaS is now available in the Azure Marketplace, allowing Azure customers to use their Microsoft Azure contract (MAC) credits gain to access Aras’ cloud-based PLM
- CTO Rob McAveney shared that Aras is not resting on their current platform advantage, but working on “next-gen low-code” that they will deliver over the coming years
- Aras’ Alan Mendel highlighted their efforts to help manufacturers achieve sustainability needs by leveraging a variety of Aras Innovator capabilities, this appears to be an important initiative for Aras


[post_title] => Apprentice.io Grows with Biopharma 4.0 SaaS Software (Insight) [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => biopharma-saas-software-insight [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-08-31 17:01:09 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-08-31 21:01:09 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18300 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [15] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18306 [post_author] => 2574 [post_date] => 2023-06-05 23:07:10 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-06-06 03:07:10 [post_content] =>

- Supply chain challenges and impacts in these disrupted times
- Drivers, benefits, and goals for investing in resilience
- The impact of having established and effective planning at various cadences
- The role of visibility to production capabilities and product changes in resilience
- Integration of varied disciplines and technologies to support resilience


Address Process Designer Challenges
Manufacturing Engineers Face Increased Complexity and Change
- Searching for data
- Rekeying information
- Recreating data
- Documenting feedback for others
- Modeling common assets
- Other activities that don’t involve engineering innovation and decision making
Recommendations and Next Steps
Make a Strategic Improvement Today’s product, manufacturing process, and market complexity demand new ways of working. The Top Performers are transforming manufacturing engineering through digitalization, better collaboration, 3D, and simulation allowing them to overcome efficiency, quality, and cost challenges. Using virtual, digital twins offers manufacturing engineers in the industrial equipment industry both the ability to improve their own performance and a strategic opportunity to increase overall product development profitability. These leaders spend 17% less time on non-value-added activities in manufacturing engineering, directly reducing development cycle times. Increase Quality Respondents indicate that they can reduce ECOs by over one-third. They do this by improving manufacturing process design using virtual technologies. Top Performers are more likely to find physical manufacturing issues in a virtual model than Others who are more likely to discover them in physical prototypes and actual production. Reduce Cost Survey respondents share that they can eliminate 37% of their prototypes by increasing manufacturing engineering maturity, leading to significant cost savings per product. They do this by shifting validation and issue identification sooner in the product development process so they need fewer physical prototypes. Improve Time to Market Survey respondents report that they can reduce time to market by 35% by using 3D and simulation to plan and validate manufacturing operations. This is done, in part, by increasing efficiency, reducing time-consuming physical prototyping, and lowering rework by finding issues sooner in product development. Get Started It’s time to improve manufacturing engineering productivity and performance. Industrial equipment companies can follow the lead of the Top Performers to increase maturity in how they plan, validate, and communicate manufacturing plans. To increase maturity, manufacturers should adopt the best practices of the Top Performers, including using integrated solutions such as 3D and simulation for manufacturing engineering. *This summary is an abbreviated version of the research and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Dassault Systèmes DELMIA (registration required). If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact us. [post_title] => Transforming Manufacturing Engineering in Industrial Equipment [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => manufacturing-engineering-in-industrial-equipment [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-01-30 13:56:35 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-01-30 18:56:35 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18276 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [17] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 18248 [post_author] => 2574 [post_date] => 2023-05-11 10:00:09 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-05-11 14:00:09 [post_content] => Jim Brown, Michelle Boucher, and I got an introduction to Canvas GFX and its Envision product for interactive work instructions in a recent briefing. The question I, as the manufacturing analyst had, was: Can a system for model-based interactive work instructions really be easy enough for non-engineering users to embrace? Canvas GFX says yes, and continues to enhance and expand its Canvas Envision product. Now, beyond a wide array of 2D and 3D CAD formats, it is ready to integrate with major PLM platforms such as Aras, Propel, and Siemens Teamcenter. This company has 30 years of history, starting in the 1980s as a Mac-based 2D illustration program. Since the mid-1990s, large aerospace, defense, and industrial equipment organizations adopted Canvas as a solution for technical illustrations. This foundation brings strength in 2D CAD, including some older and less-common formats. Canvas Envision came out in 2021, after new investors and executives joined. Canvas Envision is intended as a SaaS platform for all phases of work instruction: creation, customization, and consumption. However, some of its major customers have pushed it into on-prem and private cloud offerings. Canvas’ vision for Envision extends through the product lifecycle:- Manufacturing process instructions
- SOPs
- Technical documentation or manuals
- employee training
- MRO or field service repair guides


- CalcuQuote: Purchasing automation software for electronics manufacturing service companies or contract manufacturers based in Dallas, TX, USA
- camLine: MES and advanced SPC-based quality for semiconductor and high tech industries that originated in Germany
- TenForce: Environmental health and safety (EH&S) software company out of Belgium that is strong in chemicals
- sedApta: Supply chain planning, execution, and intelligence solutions with strength in food and beverage and customers in process, batch, and discrete industries out of Italy has Elisa as a minority owner


Table of Contents
- Recognize the Opportunity
- The Value of Machine Builder - Operator Collaboration
- Take a Practical Approach with Room to Grow
- 1. Improve Equipment Data
- 2. Improve Service Response
- 3. Connect and Communicate
- 4. Increase Predictive Capabilities
- Get Started
- Acknowledgments
Has the Time for Servitization Finally Arrived?
The Service Relationship is Changing The relationship between machine builders, their products, and their customers is evolving. Many machine builders who traditionally followed "sell it and forget it" or "service it because you have to" models are moving to more closely aligned service relationships. Why? Manufacturers recognize they have a strategic opportunity to drive higher revenue and better profit margins by transforming their service approach. And in some cases, their customers demand it because they need to get the most out of increasingly complex machines to drive their own productivity and profitability. Time for a Practical Approach This shift is not new. Service transformation, sometimes called "servitization," has been discussed for well over a decade. We wrote about the trend in The Service Lifecycle Management Approach as far back as 2003. Since then, some companies and industries have made progress. The concept is well defined, and the enabling technology has come a long way. But few machine OEMs have been able to fully embrace the model, and reaching the highest level of service maturity still faces people, process, and technology challenges. Fortunately, it's not an "all or nothing" proposition. Machine builders have plenty of room to improve. And, even if they never reach the ultimate goal, there is value along the way.Recognize the Opportunity
Improving Service Benefits OEMs and Operators Improving service performance is a win-win. It brings machine builders new revenue, higher margins, better customer relationships, and a steadier income stream. In addition, transformation can provide strategic value by creating machine performance knowledge to improve engineering. It can also support significant business transformation, opening up the potential for new business models like "Product as a Service" (PaaS) or "Machines as a Service" (MaaS), where the machine builder takes on responsibility for delivering productivity instead of hardware. Finally, it can improve sustainability by optimizing energy use and supporting circular economics where machines could be resold, remanufactured, or harvested for valuable components and materials instead of scrapped. Transformation also helps customers better operate and maintain increasingly complex equipment. In turn, it allows them to increase uptime, plan for downtime, raise productivity, optimize performance, improve efficiency, reduce cost, and cut power consumption. The Potential for Transformation is Proven The value of improving service through tighter relationships and digital transformation is well documented. There are practical examples to follow. Other industries, including aerospace, have paved the way, proven the value, and developed best practices. There are experienced consultancies that know how to transform to servitization. Supporting technologies, including the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), analytics, Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), and Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), are more mature and accessible. The Potential for Transformation is Proven It's hard to argue with the value, but it's a significant change. Technology has advanced faster than companies can adapt. Collaboration requires a level of trust and accountability between partners. Some operators may not want their data connected to the internet or consider their operational data and processes part of their intellectual property and be reluctant to share it. Making the transition can also be a financial hurdle. Shifting how and when manufacturers record revenue is a major change, especially for those producing expensive machinery.
Take a Practical Approach with Room to Grow
Innovate, Experiment, Learn, and Improve Although the vision is more attainable, it may not be easy for every company to achieve. What can machine builders do now to start down the path toward value? We recommend that they understand the big picture but start small. But starting small doesn't mean the project has to be limited to a proof of concept. There are practical ways to create value now and make progress toward the future state as they gain experience improving service in a digital model. Machine builders can take tangible steps toward greater maturity by:- Improving collaboration with their customers
- Learning from the experience
- Repeating what works
- Extending their success
- Expanding to new areas
- What challenges do your customers face while operating your equipment?
- What would they value if you could change the situation?
- What would “change the game” for them?
- What are they willing to pay for it so that you can share in that value?
Get Started
Start Small, Then Expand Although few machine builders have reached the highest level of digital transformation maturity, it's essential to get started. These techniques are becoming more prevalent and achievable. It's time to collaborate on a small but meaningful project that solves a real problem. This project should provide benefits for both the machine builder and the operator. Choose a product line or focused use case and take an agile approach that gains value with a "minimum viable product" approach. Keep it simple so you, and your partner, can learn and extend based on experience. Manage Change Lastly, remember to manage the change. Educating management, personnel, and customers about the change and why it is valuable to them is critical. Next, develop a plan that addresses both business and technical requirements, and engage with engineers, operators, and service technicians to learn from their knowledge. Then, get started to create an advantage on your timeline before being forced to react to competitive threats. If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact us. [post_title] => Machine Builder-Operator Collaboration [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => machine-builder-collaboration [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2024-02-20 12:30:38 [post_modified_gmt] => 2024-02-20 17:30:38 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://tech-clarity.com/?p=18598 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 779 [max_num_pages] => 39 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => 1 [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => c44cbefc1caaa8c68beef7cf86840952 [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => 1 [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) [query_cache_key:WP_Query:private] => wp_query:396727aab8cb48e701ab9e1dbbd062b8:0.58912700 17581400120.60057300 1758140012 )All Results for "All"
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