Background
Our aircraft manufacturing client wants to double its manufacturing capacity without adding staff. This is doable, but not with the disconnected systems and silos that this client was operating within. Systems didn’t speak to one another, teams were duplicating work, and there was a lot of manual, individual work being done.
Essentially, they needed help scaling their business by achieving better efficiency and visibility within the digital thread.
Solution
The client was struggling with figuring out how their systems worked together and where data resides and who owns what. To integrate their systems and get them working together instead of in silos, we had to make a plan and we did this by delivering a roadmap.
The first step was connecting the PLM and MES systems with an interface that ensures data flows into their manufacturing system. Second was connecting their PLM to ERP to ensure the same source of truth is in all systems. The third step connected MES to ERP, allowing communication on build progress, status of orders, activity on the shop floor and more. Lastly, we connected the sales system for configure price quote (CPQ) to PLM to configure orders and bills of material.
Results
While our work with this client is not complete, so far, the integrations we’ve completed are pushing data through and the client sees the big picture, and is already recognizing the value in reduced lead times and inventory costs.