Critical Parameters Management, or CPM, facilitates the product development process by providing a constant, real time connection between people, helping them share knowledge as it becomes available from a variety of sources. The different levels of information and parameters to be managed during a development project begin at the highest level with the "Voice of Customer," or market requirements. A limited number of critical parameters are then selected as "CTQs," or Critical to Quality.

Those parameters are then translated into actual targets to be used as inputs for design and simulation for the solution being developed. Finally, all the detailed parameters and data are generated during detailed design phases. The need to closely track a limited number of critical parameters means that they must be carefully selected and permanently linked with the necessary performance variables, supporting documents, and reports tracked by management executives.
Number of pages in report, 16.

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A. The Aviation Challenge of Wire Harness Design (R)

Bombardier Aerospace has defined a clear and effective vision based on extensive experience replacing manual A. processes for wire harnesses with integrated ECAD and PLM systems, across engineering, operations, and technical publications. Bombardier's vision targets one database for all functions, instead of each division having a proprietary database with no electronic interface between divisions. With the objective of clearing away all manual tasks and reducing errors, Bombardier wants to eliminate the physical mock-up, by flattening the 3D CAD models to generate the formboards/jigboards.

Significant change impacting the organization poses many challenges. Nancy Atkins surmounted those barriers by assembling a team representing both the business users and the IT organization, with direct participation from manufacturing, engineering wiring design, customer support, and technical publications; they were seen as experts across all domains. Throughout the program it became clear that you can never have too much communication. Number of pages in report, 18.

B. Challenge of Mechatronics: Expert Panel Discussion (R) ,
(Complimentary Copy, Free of Charge, with Dual Report Special A.)

Three top operating managers from different industry verticals joined Nancy Atkins of Bombardier Aerospace in a panel discussion on the challenges of mechatronics, immediately following her presentation, The Aviation Challenge of Wire Harness Design, at CPDA's annual PLM Road Map conference.

Each explored the difficulties faced by end users across the full wire/cable harness development process with requirements management, functional and logical design, 3D physical design, and manufacturing. The panel covered a broad range of topics with a breadth of experience and viewpoints that balance the depth of the Bombardier case study published earlier. The combination creates an incisive review of current trends and challenges for wire harness design. Number of pages in report, 21.

Embedded software development needs to be integrated with PLM processes and solutions.

This report outlines seven areas of priority as discussed with a dozen leading manufacturers, and highlights their current levels of capability and maturity in those areas. Number of pages in report, 13.

Dassault Systèmes' newly released 3DLive solution for enterprise-level PLM data access and collaboration strikes at the heart of product development delays in non-productive time searching for information, attempting to contact and collaborate with colleagues, and resolving project status and dependencies. 3DLive offers users a single high-level environment that sits atop ENOVIA data repositories, CATIA, and DELMIA products for product and project data search, navigation, and collaboration.

Product stakeholders interact with a 3D graphics turntable of product structure as their window into ongoing product development. If Dassault carefully guides future enhancements to include not only access to non-Dassault-authored data, but also careful consideration of the tools provided to user companies to structure and filter data access, the true power of the 3D turntable interface will be fully realized to improve user insight into their product development processes.
Number of pages in report, 5.

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