Virtual Product Creation in Industry

 This book provides a unique view into realities of Virtual Product Creation activities and technical solutions in today's digital engineering execution. The book's content structure is divided into three major parts. Part one starts with a prologue to lay out the difference in approach in the young technical field of (IT) digital supported Engineering and Virtual Product Creation throughout the last fifty years. Part one also explains the transition of information technology and its organizational set-up in enterprises. The second part of the book (chapter 7 through 16) provides refined technical understanding on Virtual Product Creation technologies and methods, as well as their practical business use and today's limitations. The third part of the book (chapters 17 through 21) deals with business integration challenges of IT based digital engineering practices as part of Virtual Product Creation and with the outlook on future digital engineering approaches, business models and solutions. The book, therefore, offers a unique inside into critical digital capabilities for engineering and operations of technical systems from various perspectives (industry expert, manager, scientist and innovator). 

The term “information technology (IT)” comes with two meanings today: firstly, the original meaning in terms of tools and applications which create, transform or convert sets of electronically storable data and information. Secondly, the term IT designates a department or an organization within an enterprise which is held responsible for the operation of computers, servers and related “IT services and solutions”. This chapter provides a basic understanding about the history of information technology, the major software foundations for operating systems as well as the principles and tasks of modern IT operations and innovations in enterprises.

Virtual Product Creation is a discipline for digital engineering in Product Development (PD) as well as in Manufacturing/Production System Development and Process Planning. During the last ten years, it became evident that the ongoing digital activities of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and ongoing product updates have also become part of Virtual Product Creation activities. Especially functional product updates via the delivery of software updates as part of intelligent products as well as algorithmic self-learning aspects as part of autonomous operations will increasingly influence Virtual Product Creation capabilities of the future. Virtual Product Creation represents a major part of the digital enterprise. This chapter describes the fundamental mechanisms and principles of Virtual Product Creation and explains the interplay of its principle solution elements.

Before geometries were modeled in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software tools, geometries were drawn manually on paper. Since the tradition of manual drawings dates back several hundreds of years, it has evolved and improved over time. In order to understand why such optimized practices have been replaced by computer-aided tools, one has to understand the advantages of using CAD over the traditional methods. In addition, this chapter provides insight to the history of digital product validation and verification. The emerging path of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) is explained. Due to the sharply increasing need to store, exchange and manage such CAD and CAE models as well as other important product related information sets this chapter finally introduces the historic pathway of the new technology discipline Product Data Management (PDM).

The purpose of computer-aided design (CAD) is to determine and modify two and three-dimensional objects and to specify part manufacturing information. In the beginning of CAD, it started with 2D drawings that were similar to conventional technical hand drawings. This chapter provides an insight into the technology of CAD and into various application methods of CAD Modeling for technical component and system design in industry. Both, beginners and experts as well as Technical Management in Industry should learn how CAD works, which CAD modeling benefits exist and how modern CAD modeling approaches can be best integrated into the overall Virtual Product Creation solution portfolio in industry. From modeling theory and mathematical representations up to industry relevant working methods with respect to intelligent (and automated) geometric shape modeling, technical feature modeling and intelligent (associative) template modeling, all digital solutions levels of modern CAD are explained and enriched with best practical industry deployment and implementation advices. Examples from various CAD systems are illustrated and help to understand the digital modeling approaches.

Designers in the automotive industry as well as in other industries with high demands in aesthetic shape and style design most intensively use Computer-Aided Industrial Design (CAID), which is also known as Computer-Aided Styling (CAS). It supports the design/styling process much better than CAD systems because it is more intuitive to work with and allows inaccuracies in sketching as well as in modeling. This chapter provides a first insight into the underlying technologies of CAID and explains the specific surface modeling and surface quality analysis capabilities of modern CAID Systems. It is indispensable for all who need to become part of the class A modeling and reverse engineering community of product modeling.

This chapter explains all Virtual Product Creation technologies which are essential to transform the digital delivery of product development (represented by CAD models) into digital artefacts for production. Hence, this chapter deals with digital solutions which can formally and completely describe the working elements to eventually realize the physical shape of the product as part of the digital manufacturing process. The explanation starts with Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) and is followed by Computer-Aided Manufacturing and Numeric Control (NC).

In modern virtual product creation, functional and behavior simulations of products (and associated services) play a foundational and constantly increasing role. The need for not only creating a virtual model, but also “studying its behavior in reality” as well as “improving and streamlining its structure”. This chapter provides an insight how basic and advanced techniques of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) work, how Engineers can benefit from them and how different CAE models, methods and tools are used in industry. Overall it provides the right background and evolution of CAE and explains how CAE can be successfully applied in product development. The reader gets inside on how CAE model build works and which assumptions are important to leverage CAE solutions for product verification. In addition, advanced technologies such as topology optimization are described and practical examples are illustrated.

The basic need for and the role of data management in Virtual Product Creation, both have already been introduced in Chap. 4 (Virtual Product Creation (VPC) explained). The history of Product Data Management (PDM) has been explained in Sect. 5.​3 as part of the overall Chap. 5 (The technology history of Virtual Product Creation). This chapter defines and explains the use of Product Data Management (PDM) and Bill of Materials (BOM), based on given standards and the technological state of the art. Engineering and administrative tasks, carried out in specific functions of Product Data and BOM Management, as well as the related information architectures are both described in detail. Furthermore, this chapter provides an insight and a critical analysis on how engineers benefit from using PDM and BOM and how the IT technology behind the digital solution architectures works. This chapter also covers crucial integration aspects of PDM/BOM solutions within the bigger scope of PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and ends with an outlook on expected further development innovations for the future. This chapter is crucial for all beginners, experts and Managers to understand the underlying data management principles of Virtual Product Creation.

A Digital Mock-Up (DMU) is a digital collection of 3D models that represents a comprehensive physical entity with the help of a structured digital representation. Usually, two different types of comprehensive physical entities are subject for such digital representation, products like e.g. machines, cars, aircrafts, trains or ships and factory or production line environments. This book chapter explains the role of a DMU in product creation, the way a DMU is created from respective data sources and how a DMU is delivered continously to engineering and other functions in industry. A Digital Mock-Up has gained serious attention in Virtual Product Creation since it represents a virtual (“light weight”) representation of the entire product with all its variants, options and versions (depending of the type of DMU). This chapter, therefore, provides an insight into the technical delivery solution for a DMU, the enrichment options to integrate CAE results, DMU based clash and clearance analysis solutions and the extension of a DMU towards FMU (Functional Mock-Up) or FDMU (Functional Digital Mock-Up) solutions. In addition, detailed technical understanding is provided how rich and complex CAD model data can be converted into “light” visualization model formats for DMU usage of complex products and for mega-size DMUs of factory and city environments.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a digital technology in Virtual Product Creation which provides an immersive environment for reviewing, analyzing, interacting and potentially even creating technical systems and products as well as other objects of interest (sculptures, city environments etc.). This chapter introduces Virtual Reality (VR) as a major technology within the reality-virtuality environment in order to make it applicable for product creation tasks with respect to product engineering, manufacturing engineering, support in product use as well as product service and maintenance. The chapter explains technological solutions (e.g. viewing, tracking, modeling) which are key to realize immersion, imagination and interaction with VR. Today's engineering applications of Virtual Reality in industry are described and future innovative VR based design interactions are introduced.

In contrast to Virtual Reality (VR) applications, the Augmented Reality (AR) approach enriches real world objects with computer generated perceptual information by means of an overlay. This chapter introduces AR as a major technology of Virtual Product Creation by explaining its basic and advanced technological features. The following industrial relevant application areas are illustrated and described: product design and manufacturing, interactive CAE overlays for objects in life cycle usage, planning and commissioning, training, quality assurance and remote collaboration. The chapters also deals with different human interactions with AR and explains today's technological limitations.

This chapter deals with the implicit expectations and requirements with respect to Virtual Product Creation solutions by the engineering community, their users and the underlying core foundational principles of engineering. In many realization projects of new PLM functionalities, modified or newly introduced virtual product creation working solutions and associated responsibilities of individual roles and job functions those hidden demands are oftentimes not known, understood and/or not taken seriously into account. The chapter starts by describing typical innovation challenges, churn and frustration within today’s digital transformation scenarios. It then describes in detail the ten most important hidden demands of the engineering community towards digital solutions as part of today*s and future Virtual Product Creation. Each hidden demand is explained according to the following elements: background, explanation and rationale for the hidden demand, the resulting conflict potentials, the approach to mitigate the hidden demand conflict and the resulting need to change engineering principles.

This chapter aims at explaining the challenges and typical behavior types of Management in enterprises within the new competence field “Virtual Product Creation” (incl. all aspects of Digital Engineering, Product Lifecycle Management, Advanced and/or Model-based Systems Engineering, Digital Manufacturing and related IT-technologies etc.). Management as an organizational task and opportunity to change and develop new digital engineering principles, processes, methods, tools, data models and engineering model types, is a rather new skill set which is often missing to drive digital innovations and transformations in industrial companies. This chapter exclusively introduces the delicate subject of Management behaviors in leading digital transformation and operation as part of Virtual Product Creation. So far, Management behavior and skillset are often neglected in driving digital innovations within organizations, enterprise and specifically in engineering. This chapter, therefore, provides an insight view into this subject by describing typical failure modes as well as by explaining good and bad lessons learned from Management behavior in specific industrial cases. Based on the challenges in digital transformation the author explains the need for improved digital leadership of Management in Virtual Product Creation. This chapter provides additional tips and techniques to become a Digital Leader on all levels of Management by introducing the 3-pillar staggered digital management leadership responsibility and eight critical digital leader capabilities and tools/charts for digital value creation and digital business benefits.

This chapter deals exclusively with the hidden champions in digitalization, the Digital Technology Vendors (DTV). They act usually in a triple role, first as digital innovators for new VPC capabilities, second as suppliers for PMTI (Process, Methods, Tools and Information Standards) market solutions and third as partners and technology consultants for industry. The chapter starts by introducing the set-up of Digital Technology Vendors (DTVs) and their innovation pipelines, followed by a discussion of their traditional and upcoming future revenue models. The chapter continues by explaining the integration levels of DTVs into Virtual Product Creation solution development and execution. The third part of this chapter describes the upcoming transformation needs of Digital Technology Vendors and introduces the transformation levels from DTV (Digital Technology Vendors) to DEEP (Digital Engineering Excellence Provider). The fourth part of the chapters offers original viewpoints from six different international DTVs by adressing the following aspects: description of DTV offerings, DTV self-understanding of their roles, DTV vision for the future, DTV explanations of typcial inhibitors of digital capabilities in industry and DTV ways of successful with research and industry.

This chapter deals with the following topics.

This chapter deals with the future capabilities and solutions of Virtual Product Creation. Based on the introduced new technical system requirements and opportunities in the previous chapter (Industrie 4.0 and IoT Technologies) this chapter provides answers how future digital engineering elements will look like as part of future Virtual Product Creation. The chapter starts with Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and how it is connected by also different to Systems Engineering (SE). The theory and principles of MBSE are explained first before introducing the disciplines and the core elements of MBSE. Furthermore, the chapter explains the co-existence and interaction with the (classical) major technologies of Virtual Product Creation and describes examples of MBSE method and tools. It also adresses the challenge of introducing and integrating MBSE into industry. The second sub-chapter is devoted to the upcoming new key discipline of Virtual Product Creation, Data Engineering and Analytics (DEA). Here, the chapter introduces the eight disciplines of DEA and explains the connection to MBSE and AI. The third sub-chapter puts the focus on the new VPC capability called Digital Twin Engineering (DTE). The eight dimensions' model of Digital Twins and the design elements of Digital Twins are described with respect to the necessary engineering capabilities. The fourth sub-chapter deals with the fast-growing key VPC capability called Digital Platform Engineering (DPE) which includes new ways of distributed engineering as well as the new core technology streaming engineering. The fifth sub-chapter provides an insight how human skills for future Virtual Product Creation needs to be shaped and trained. The closing sub-chapter explains the Engineering System of the Future: new Engineering Intelligence levels and new/modified Engineering Principles are explained.