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.