PreMade lean decision support gets real at Bombardier and Queen’s

The aim is to develop a methodology for semi-automated lean decision-making that will provide real-time metrics and cost models, using Delmia digital manufacturing simulation software. “We’ve been using Delmia software with SMEs for over five years and have recently worked with Bombardier in a research capacity to develop cost modelling and assembly methods,” says Dr Richard Curran, Premade’s academic lead and senior lecturer in aerospace engineering at Queen’s. “In a recent pilot study at Bombardier, we were able to identify a 20% financial savings in fuselage manufacture. Our first focus is on Delmia, and then we will look at how our principles will affect generic PLM [product lifecycle management] implementation.” “Technological dissemination is key to PreMade,” says Robert Burke, PreMade’s industrial lead and director of manufacturing engineering at Bombardier Aerospace, Belfast. “We want to find generic solutions to common problems and embed them in the software, enabling engineers to manage parallel activities, be more flexible, be able to respond to change faster and shorten the combined design and manufacturing cycle for new components,” he explains. Given the scale and complexity of variables in designing an aircraft, the hope is that PreMade will provide a rigorously defined systems engineering approach, creating that elusive balance between formal discipline and creativity. The three-year £2.5 million PreMade project has been awarded £1 million by the DTI Technology Programme as part of its second call, entitled ‘Design, Simulation, and Modeling’.