At least in my part of the world, the time of year for hot cheese dishes and a break from corporate life has arrived.  For this reason we’re closing shop at 3D Perspectives until next year (sounds long but it’s for just two weeks).

On behalf of the 3D Perspectives team and Dassault Systèmes, I wish you a happy holiday season and look forward to connecting with you in early January.

Best,

Kate

Every great chef knows: ingredients matter. It’s a little similar in the PLM world, only we’re talking about inedible objects like airplanes, clothes and mobile phones. Substitute taste for user experience, add the environment to the health bit, et voila! Now we’re warmed up to talk about the importance of material usage in product design.

As I mentioned in the introductory post of this Green PLM series, “The European Union estimates that more than 80 percent of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the product conception phase.“ That’s a high rate and why companies are investing resources at the 3D product design phase– to ensure their products are lean and green.

A big part of this involves selecting the right material to maximize structural resistance while minimizing the amount of material used. The 3D design phase is the best time to consider the following questions:

• Can I use lighter yet resistant materials?
• Can I reduce the number of parts?
• Will the materials biodegrade easily?
• Are the materials harmful to humans/the environment?
• Does the product maintain its intended structural resistance despite material change?
• (your turn to continue the list . . .)

Maarit Cruz is one of our Green PLM experts, so I took my video camera to her office to learn/share more:

One of the many sectors impacted by this is the aerospace industry. Integrating a higher percentage of composites into new aircrafts helps them to fly lighter and use less fuel, reducing emissions, noise pollution, etc. Also, because composites are ultra-light, extremely resistant materials, they can be formed into any shape, allowing for more innovative and fuel-efficient designs. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a good example.

Designed right, airplanes and other products are (kind of) like haute cuisine:

• Less material used = small portions
• Great experience design = amazing taste
• Small environmental footprint = healthy eats
• High customer demand = need to reserve ahead

In addition to aerospace, what other industry examples of product materials optimization can you think of? I know of industrial machining company Sanyo Machine Works that used PLM solutions to reduce the number of product parts by 25 percent. What about you?

Best,

Kate

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about composites and 3D virtual design, you may be interested to read about CATIA Composites Design.

I imagine I’d go crazy if I were a manufacturer today. There are so many regulations to follow, and with the burgeoning environmental/green standards, which can differ per country, the complexity grows. Then, when I begin to think about the various substances that are regulated, like lead, hazardous chemicals, etc., coupled with the specific industry regulations, I start feeling like I need a Business Intelligence solution to understand it all. (Breathe now.) And then, I imagine how extra-complex it must be for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers who are outsourcing their parts manufacturing around the globe, where depending on the country, the manufacturing cultures differ, and thus their awareness/compliance to the complex web of. . . directives.

Welcome to the second post in our introductory Green PLM blog series.

We can quickly get overwhelmed when we start digging into Compliance. When it comes to Green Compliance, we’re still in the early days, i.e. there’s a lot more to come. Most of the directives bubble up from Europe, and to my knowledge, so far there are no widespread, ISO-type standards.

Mike Zepp, our in-house regulatory compliance expert, used to deal directly with the type of scenario I imagined above, and now he helps Dassault Systèmes arm companies with tools to successfully navigate through the green compliance jungle. Mike was in Paris recently and kindly agreed to let me video-interview him. Here’s what Mike has to say about Compliance and the role PLM, particularly managing product-linked data throughout the lifecycle, can play to help. The real-life example he cites in the video is particularly telling:

It seems to me that using an efficient compliance assessment and impact analysis data management tool will help put some greenbacks into your Green PLM, or at least save you some. While this is only a piece of Green PLM, it’s a major one.

Stay tuned for my next Green PLM post on reducing material use in product design.

Best,

Kate

P.S. Here are some Green Compliance resources:

Examples of product recycling directives:
End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV)
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE)

Examples of banned substances directives:
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Directive
Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)

Whitepaper:
The Voice of the Customer: Process Integration and Traceability Through Requirements Management