Total product modelling: technology and process

摘要

During the last decade, a focus on the early design phase in the product development process-optimising for the entire lifecycle of complex products and systems--has gained widespread acceptance. Perhaps the most important innovation is the ideaof concurremly designing the product and all of its lifecycle processes. However the greatest challenge facing this new process has been the fact that it was constrained by the lack of available technologies to allow it to frilly demonstrate itscapabilities.The 'virtual product' and the Virtual Product Development (VPD) process now offer significant opportunities for improved concept to market, innovation, enhanced product quality and lower lifecycle costs. VPD is the concept of developing entire productsand systems as electronic or digital models-envisioned by many as the Digital Mock-up (DN4U) concept. Using the virtual product, or digital master model, on-time delivery of digital product information to automotive subcontractors and partners makesresponsive supply and production chains much more realistic.Unigraphics Solutions provides comprehensive capabilities to help companies realise a frill, balanced arid cost-effective progression toward a fully digital 'total product development' environment.The virtual product is the digital definition of a product or system and all of its characteristics, its tooling and fixtures, its performance, and all of the processes used to operate, fabricate, assemble, test and repair it. A physical product or system is fabricated and assembled from materials and parts produced by the partner companies involved in the development process. The virtual product yields a customised physical product, built to order in a process known as "Virtual Product Development" (VPD). While some may have viewed VPD as being too futuristic, there are now many examples of customers who today routinely ship products created and produced in just this way. In a VPD environment work may be digitally defined and globally distributed. VPDsupports an extended enterprise-an alliance of companies including suppliers, partners and customers.