Empowering PLM and the digital thread

AMMarch20Features - rolls1
AMMarch20Features - rolls1

Ian Parker speaks to Rolls-Royce’s director of digital manufacturing, Nigel Pearce to hear about the key role he is playing in helping to empower product lifecycle management and the digital thread.

 

As a pioneer in cutting-edge technologies, Rolls-Royce is at the forefront of developing engine and propulsion systems. The company has about 13,000 civil and 16,000 military engines in operation around the world. An increasingly important element is the information flow among all parties, including in-house development engineers, suppliers and customers.

The company’s R2 Data Labs are the data innovation catalyst inside Rolls-Royce, employing advanced data analytics, industrial artificial intelligence and machine learning to accelerate the development of new data insights and services. Its operating model, based on data innovation ‘sprints’, means it can unlock new value from data, combining the latest analytics technology with Rolls-Royce’s industry knowledge and engineering expertise to better support customers.

An engine for digitalisation

In software, a ‘sprint’ is a set period of time during which specific work has to be completed and made ready for review. Key to success for R2 Data Labs is linking in to the areas in which the data is generated. One of those key areas is the manufacture, assembly and repair of Rolls-Royce’s products.

Nigel Pearce, Rolls-Royce’s director of digital manufacturing

“We have been involved in the product lifecycle management (PLM) journey for about 15 years, which includes how products are specified and then how data is passed up and down the digital thread,” Rolls-Royce’s director of digital manufacturing, Nigel Pearce begins. “This term is bandied around quite a lot these days, but for us, it’s how do you have that visibility of the engineering definition through manufacturing and into service? How do you strengthen that digital thread with data?

“We think we’re unique at Rolls-Royce in that we have one PLM system type. All users can see the same state of maturity of an individual design at any one point. Many in the industry have multiple PLM systems as they choose to remain with legacy PLM systems for their legacy products, rather than migrate to the new as we have done.

“The objective is that we have a digital workflow that mirrors the lifecycle of a component from early concept all the way through its use. We’re trying to optimise that use of knowledge as we go through the lifecycle. When we produce one engineering definition, when it goes into manufacture, there are such things as the machining programmes, jig fixture designs, and all of the tooling for that part; we have about a one to 400 ratio, so one definition can produce around 400 artefacts - that’s a lot to manage if we do it manually - as we traditionally have done. As we move towards being fully on PLM, we become more joined up in changes that come through to us from engineering. We are operating in real-time, flowing with those 400 artefacts that define the manufacturing process.”

Rolls-Royce has pioneered the capturing of engine data. Its civil aerospace business works on a services-led model, with Rolls-Royce providing long-term maintenance services to operators - and takes on the engine maintenance burden and associated risk. Both parties work towards a shared goal of maximising aircraft availability – keeping aircraft flying. As the long-term focus of the business moves towards managing the in-service fleet of engines, the use of data will be key to increasing aircraft availability, forecasting costs and reducing risk.

The digital thread and digital lifecycle help Rolls-Royce to understand how all those components and systems are operating in service. The company is on the brink of being able to bring that manufacturing data together with the engine health data to leverage their combined effectiveness.

More and more data

“We’ve always generated a huge amount of data. As we move to digitisation of our processes, we’re generating even more data, and using that data to improve aircraft availability. What is the right data? That’s where data analytics comes in.

“We’re creating a ‘digital twin’ of our engines. This operates on many levels. It goes right down to every jig and tool that we make. It’s a whole, through-life digital twin. It will give us a much richer data set of what we will build, put on test, and then pass on to the customer.”

Digital twins are one part of Rolls-Royce’s ‘Intelligent Engine’ vision, which sees the physical engine seamlessly combined with maintenance services and digital technology. This starts from the manufacture of the engine, all the way through to the end of its life.

“Our PLM platform gives our people a very clear view of exactly where every design is, how mature it is, and we also have strong links into our supply chain and joint venture partners; we have different levels of interaction with the PLM system for those people. Our main suppliers can look into the system. It leverages a lot of communication through some fairly simple portals.”

The digital twin will support the real engine and will be linked by satellite to its operating environment

Many of Rolls-Royce’s suppliers work for multiple customers. “So, any OEM walking in and saying ‘you will use what we use,’ is never going to work,” says Pearce. No company has that power and scale. One of the challenges is getting better interoperability among different PLM systems, especially with SMEs and start-ups; they can’t necessarily afford the latest systems.

But what of recruitment and employee training?

“It’s encouraging that when we recruit interns, apprentices or graduates, their ability to pick up on the technology is amazing. They can bring a different mindset on how they want to move this forward. If we are recruiting experienced people, we are clear about what we want because things are moving on quickly.

“Bringing change in systems can always be a challenge. People get used to what they’re using and often like what they’re using. If you talk to an iPhone user and an Android user, they will tend to sing the merits of what they use. So, it’s important to explain that bigger journey and how the digital thread is becoming more and more important for us. Continuing to use a legacy system that is off the digital thread may be simpler in the short term, but in the long term it’s not going to be providing the benefit that we want.”

Pearce thinks of himself as bringing Industry 4.0 to Rolls-Royce. But technology continues to evolve so it’s more about the journey than a particular destination.

“We aren’t going to wake up one day and say ‘Hey, we got there’ - this is what makes working in digital manufacturing so exciting,” he concludes.

www.rolls-royce.com

Company

Rolls-Royce

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