On the surface, much of the IT, PLM and automation support currently being developed in the product realization area looks both exciting and productive. Digital twins, digital threads, Industrial IoT (IIoT), simulation, e-mobility, product-as-a-service models and more are all things that reshape many of the previously applied ideas in terms of process methodology, software capabilities and business models. Developing in parallel to these have been the socio-economic background dramatics and the environmental climate scenarios, which have created an almost revolutionary new reality.

Everyone realizes that navigating this landscape is anything but easy. However, it is equally clear that creating a map of the way forward is more important than ever, when the opportunities available are by no means fully defined or ready for active action. It is even the case that those who thought PLM was the solution to most things have been supplied with good reasons to rethink.

Although industrial segments such as automotive, machine manufacturing and other industries have generally been significantly affected by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, it has not been nearly as difficult as it has been for the aviation industry. From having transported several billion passengers annually, that number decreased by almost 99 percent in one fell swoop in 2020. Of course, this hit the heart of the aviation industry, which has always been at the forefront of PLM and digital product development. Against the background of desolate echoes in empty airport corridors, the industry has had to rethink many of its aspects in anticipation of brighter times ahead. Had it not been for the defense sector of the industry, where airborne systems are a core component, the disaster would have been total. But what does the future hold? What can be done to meet new technical, commercial and environmental situations? This is something that affects significantly more industries than those mentioned above. This year's autumn edition of PLM Road Map & PDT 2021 deals with a number of the factors that will affect the future, where knowledge of the new will mean a great deal for which route choices companies and organizations decide to make.

A Massive Upheaval

CIMdata's president & CEO, Peter Bilello, speaks about the backdrop to the upcoming autumn edition of the digital event PLM Road Map & PDT Fall 2021.

“There is a lot to this,” he says. “When industrial companies dig out of the reality created by the latest set of socio-economic disruptions, they often end up realizing that their long-accepted views on product lifecycle management (PLM) appear increasingly inadequate. Complexities, risks and opportunities that have been downplayed or ignored are now being tackled on the factory floor, in the field or in the executive suite and everywhere in between. The result is massive upheaval.”

The event’s co-organizer, Eurostep's marketing director Håkan Kårdén, agrees.

“Revolutionary technologies are in themselves nothing new,” he says. “They have always existed. What is new is that we all feel that the pace is increasing. Established companies in all industries are struggling to pick up new technologies and business models and feel the skin of newcomers who get attention and eat market share.”

The questions, answers and reasoning around these pieces are hyper-interesting, of course, and the speakers and presenters that CIMdata and the PDT organizers have gathered for the two half-day sessions on November 16th and 17th are world-class in these contexts. In addition to Peter Bilello, we will also meet Gartner's Marc Halpern, Boeing's Kenny Swope, Airbus’ Jean-Yves Delaunay, Gulfstream's Greg Weaver, ASML’s Martijn Dullaart, BAE Systems’ Rob Clifford and Cummings' Dr. Rodney Ewing.

Had it not been for the fact that the defense area existed, where airborne systems are a core component, the situation would have been even tougher in the aviation industry than it is today.

Few Industries Have Been Affected as Significantly as the Aviation Industry

There is a lot of aerospace and defense on the program. This in itself is highly reasonable, given that out of all the industries, the aviation side of the Aerospace & Defense business has been hardest hit by the dramatic changes brought about by the last two years. Although automotive and other industries have been affected, of course, it has not been nearly as hard for them as it has been for the aviation industry.

From transporting several billion passengers annually, the number decreased by almost 99 percent in one fell swoop in a period in 2020, according to IATA. This has effects on the whole industry, which has always been at the forefront of PLM and digital product development. Against the backdrop of desolate echoes in empty airport corridors, the industry has had to rethink many aspects in anticipation of brighter times ahead. Had it not been for the defense area, where government-financed airborne systems are a core component, the disaster in the aviation industry would have been total.

Therefore, there are good reasons to look particularly closely at how this industry encounters a completely new situation. Partly influenced by new technologies, and strongly related to PLM, e-mobility solutions are expected to reduce climate impact, as well as answer the question of how to get back on track after the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Increasing speed in development work requires leadership, agility and companies that are able to accelerate their digital transformations,” says CIMdata’s Peter Bilello.

Technologies That Can Make Businesses Flourish

But do not think that everything is dystopian and dark; it’s not. There are high hopes and opportunities in abundance. During the event, for example, CIMdata’s Peter Bilello talks about how the effects of things such as new technologies and business models affect company functions, how they expect to prosper and how they view themselves and their core competencies. In short, how to meet the development and what can you do?

“Increasing speed in development work requires leadership, agility and companies that are able to accelerate their digital transformations to sharpen their competitive advantages,” is some comprehensive advice from the CIMdata leader.

In his presentation, he introduces what he calls "CIMdata's Critical Dozen" as a way to illustrate why so many companies find their digital journey tricky. The Critical Dozen represents twelve familiar, evolving trends which are used to enable an organization’s digital transformation, and which an organization can not or should not live without.

“As such, we hope to be able to describe the Critical Dozen in this presentation, and how we will deal with each one in a connected and holistic way,” Bilello sums up.

Fundamentally, it is important to remember that every company—and indeed, every conceivable kind of organization—runs on data. As a result, at its core digital transformation is about data; it is about creating and managing the organization’s intellectual assets. Without doing so, no digital transformation will be success. This truth forms the foundational and data-centric Critical Dozen trends and enabling digital capabilities.

"The business value of standards-based interoperability around the exchange of information in the aerospace and defense industries is great," says Boeing's Kenny Swope. Airbus' Jean-Yves Delaunay points out that this factor often "prevents the digital continuity needed to create a model-based business.”

Boeing and Airbus Find Added Value Through Compatibility and Standards

For Kenny Swope, senior head of architectural integration and interoperable standards at Boeing, the focus is on simplicity and tools for sharpening collaboration within the industry's large, globally distributed supply chain of design and development partners. There is great added value to be gained here by not letting oneself be hindered by inefficient interoperability and standards, he says.

Together with Jean Yves Delaunay, PLM interoperability officer at Airbus, these two deeply knowledgeable aviation industry players discuss industry-wide standards and selective functions covered by PLM providers.

"The business value of standards-based interoperability around the exchange of information in the aerospace and defense industries is great," Delaunay says. He adds that these two factors often "prevent the digital continuity needed to create a model-based business." The core message is that future development of civilian aircraft, space products and related systems will rely on model-based paradigms.

In addition, Swope points out that the model-based company will require long-term archiving and retrieval of the associated model-based designs, more specialized and complex data structures and management of their metadata.

Here, he says, PLM "in combination with standards for interoperability are important enablers to support the new ways of working, where digital twins will be included as pillars in a digital ecosystem."

The CIMdata initiative A&D PLM Action Group is also collaborating to examine the value proposition for this ecosystem, with recommendations on a set of standards for interoperability and a way to accelerate their uptake.

I’m looking forward to hearing more about these issues during the event.

Gulfstream’s investment in model-based design work has paid off, says Greg Weaver, corporate PLM director.

Successful Road to MBD Work

Speaking of working in a model-based ecosystem, which is now coming in on a broad front, Gulfstream's corporate PLM director Greg Weaver points to the difficulties of finding the right path on the journey towards minimizing document-based product definition and instead investing in MBD.

“Sometimes it has been like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he says, but points out that this search is necessary.

He claims that 3D model-based definition (MBD) has forever changed the way Gulfstream works and the ability to investigate and manage the design of the company's aircraft.

“Whether we like it or not, there is still a lot of document-based product definition that applies to get approved configurations. But our global service network has overcome its challenges by quickly finding these approved configurations through our indexing and browser application based on a commercial PLM search platform,” Weaver says.

Artificial Intelligence in PLM: "An Insecure Security?"

In other respects, we find the following on the agenda:

As usual at PLM Road Map & PDT, the analyst Gartner’s VP, Marc Halpern, will participate. The theme of his keynote revolves around AI and PLM. "An Uncertain Security" is the somewhat ingenious title of his presentation, which deals with how few technology trends have aroused more utopian and dystopian visions for our future than artificial intelligence (AI). There are certainly negative effects; however, Halpern states, “AI offers the promise to automate more work so that greater emphasis can be placed on moving the boundaries of discovery, innovation and productivity.”
Martijn Dullaart, business architect enterprise configuration management at ASML talks about the benefits of the transition from paper to digital files. “It did not fundamentally affect how configuration management is handled and still is done. But the process of becoming digital has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Data Management on Board the Top Modern Frigate Type 26

In the field of defense, there is another very interesting presentation by Rob Clifford, head of data, maritime and land sector at BAE Systems, who takes us aboard the British Type 26 frigate, which is a new class of surface vessel in the fleet.

“One of the most significant advantages of Type 26 is that it can meet future needs with its modular design and open system architecture,” says Clifford. BAE Systems has sold the T26 platform to the British Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy. BAE Systems has developed an end-to-end digital thread for the Type 26 platform, which puts data management and exploitation at the heart of product lifecycle management.

3D model of BAE Systems Type 26 frigate.

On the engine side, and linked to machine development, comes American Cummings and Dr. Rodney Ewing, director of PLM at the company's component business unit. In his presentation, he believes that the role of digital technology is expanding and enabling new business opportunities that utilize the existing basic PLM processes and data elements.

“While organizations are expanding the scope of PLM from the current technology-centric to a cross-functional focus, a balanced approach to strategy helps to identify, prioritize and organize the optimal mix of focus areas. This approach finds the right balance between risk and return,” says Dr. Ewing.

What is Required for New Technology to Be an Upheaval?

“Altogether, a very exciting event,” asserts Håkan Kårdén, who also claims that regulated industries such as aviation and defense are much tougher to remodel in terms of new technologies, based on the strict rules that surround the industry’s activities.

This also raises the question of what can be considered revolutionary, and what is required for such a technology to succeed?

“As we all know, technology is far from everything. People and processes, but also regulations, must exist. When looking at the agenda, things like future AI will be discussed but also more of what seem to be basic topics, such as standards and configuration management, will be examined from the perspective of disruption,” Kårdén says.

The balance between these pieces and the way forward will always be difficult to resolve to complete satisfaction, he continued. “But pragmatic ways must be found to keep the business profitable. We will take a closer look at this during the conference's two half days.”

The expertise is there to present, contribute and share experiences. My view is that this will be one of the year’s most interesting events.