Construction of PLM platform based on modular design

Through the discussion of the relationship between PLM platform and modular design and the support of modular design support of PLM platform, this paper helps manufacturing enterprises to enhance their understanding of PLM platform, so that platform can be combined with modular design to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises.

With the continuous evolution of the core of competition in manufacturing companies, traditional core competition has evolved from production scale to production cost, product quality, rapid response to market capabilities, and R&D innovation capabilities. A large number of manufacturing companies have introduced modular design concepts to improve R&D efficiency. Reduce production costs to achieve competitive advantage in an increasingly fierce market. The PLM platform for R&D informatization is positioned in the enterprise R&D design layer application. Its system function system is in good agreement with the modular design concept of shortening product R&D and manufacturing cycle, increasing product series and quickly responding to market changes. Therefore, it can be said that the PLM platform is an informational tool for enterprises to implement modular design.

1. The relationship between PLM platform and modular design

The concept of modular design is to combine some elements of the product to form a subsystem with specific functions, and to combine the subsystem as a universal module with other product elements to form a new system. A series of products that produce many different functions or the same functions but different performances. The PLM platform mainly consists of two parts, CAX tool software (product innovation tool software) and PDM system software (product innovation management software).

Through the definition of the PLM platform and modular design, it is easy to see the close relationship between the two:

(1) In terms of system goals, the modular design emphasizes shortening product development and manufacturing cycles, increasing product lines, and responding quickly to market changes. The PLM platform realizes the information management of the super BOM based on product development. By rapidly changing the spectrum of the product family, reducing the research and development cycle, improving the research and development efficiency, improving the design quality, reducing the design cost, and improving the rapid change of the market to the market. Responsive to competitiveness.

(2) In terms of scope of action, the core of modular design is to combine certain elements of the product to form a subsystem with specific functions. The PLM platform is an information system that can encapsulate the lowest-level components into a unified interface subsystem through the definition of product functions. It also provides a top-down advanced product design method (defining products according to the functional requirements of the product). Architecture and consider the constraints and positioning relationships between components and parts, parts and parts).

(3) In terms of participants, the modular design emphasizes the generalization and serialization of modules. The application of the PLM platform not only requires product design engineers to participate in the module design, but also requires the overall architect to lead the product architecture and define the constraints between the modules.

(4) In terms of data requirements, the modular design should provide a large number of standardized basic data management based on national standards and enterprise standards for the interface between modules, especially for the classification management of a large number of design data. The PLM platform has real-time data collection and centralized management functions for the general parts library and the standard parts library, and provides standardized classification management. It can be said that the modular design provides a set of advanced R&D design theory framework for the PLM platform. In turn, the PLM platform is a powerful tool for manufacturing companies to implement modular design. Enterprises can use the deep application of PLM platform as an information construction project to promote modular design. Through the complementarity of the two, it not only ensures the deep application of PLM platform but also promotes the pace of continuous design towards modular design.

2. PLM platform support for modular design

The key technologies of product modularization are serialization and combination, while modules are functional units of modular design and manufacturing. They have three main features: First, the modules are relatively independent and can be individually designed and manufactured. , modification and storage, it is convenient for different specialized enterprises to separately produce independent modules; secondly, the modules are interchangeable, the modules complete the structure and size parameters of each interface part through standardization, and can realize the interchange between modules. The module can meet the needs of different products; third, the versatility of the module is conducive to the realization of the module common between different products, to achieve the common between modules across the series of products.

1.PLM platform support for product common module management

The company optimizes and generalizes the product design according to the standardized parametric design concept, and realizes the modular design of the product. The PLM system can query and count enterprise standard parts, common parts, etc. According to the statistical results, the designer can consider classifying the parts with more reference times into modules.

According to the market demand, the product line is prepared for the technical platform of other information management (non-document data) related to the product through the planning and definition of the product line of the enterprise. When the definition of the product platform is carried out, it also needs to plan and define common component/component definitions, form modular management of components, improve the level of generalization, serialization and standardization management of enterprise products, and also configure modules for later products. The implementation laid a solid data foundation.

The common module is managed as a special component in the PLM system. The component attributes are used to manage the main feature parameters (material code, name, type, size, etc.); through the classification management of the common module, the R&D designers can quickly query and share the module library resources. , reduce the repetitive design; through the management of public module rights, realize the control of public module engineering changes, and combine the advantages of PLM system product structure management to realize where parts use query, change scope analysis, historical version query and derivation relationship Trace back.

2. PLM platform support for product serialization management

Due to the market demand and the diversity of end-user personalized requirements, the company needs to expand its product range, so the product variant design tends to be frequent, which directly leads to a large increase in data in the process of product design, process and manufacturing.

The serial development combines products with the same functions, working principles and manufacturing methods, and rationally defines and distributes the main parameters (types, dimensions, basic structures, etc.) of the products to coordinate the same type of products and supporting products. The relationship between products to meet the needs of different customers. The development steps of the series products are first to determine the basic type, then determine the similar types, parameters and size ratios, and finally form the main structure of the product and various drawing documents. Taking a typical automobile manufacturing enterprise as an example, the PLM platform manages the BOM of the same type of product family, builds a super BOM based on serialization products, and defines the main modular subsystems (such as doors, axles, and roofs). And the interface parameters between these subsystems are agreed to form subsystem supporting logic for different series of products, such as the famous BMW, and its series of products and X1 series products have many shared parts, while the five series and seven There are also many shared modules in the product, but there is a clear distinction between the personalization of these series of BMW products.

In the process of product R&D and design, the PLM platform provides rapid changes to the Super BOM of the series of products, and through the collection of personalized configuration information of customers during the sales phase, helps the company to efficiently complete product development to meet customer needs.

3.PLM platform support for product portfolio management

The combined management of products is the process of realizing different functional technical objects (machines, parts or parts) through a reasonable combination of different structural blocks. Since the structural blocks in the combined product are divided into different parameter levels, their structural blocks are also defined as product lines. The steps of product portfolio development are first to clarify the product requirements, to divide the product structure, and then to determine the role of each function of the product, the selection scheme (matching logic), and finally to form the main structure of the product and various drawing documents. Of course, the premise of product portfolio management is the standardized management of enterprises, which requires enterprises to classify and manage the parts and components needed for various products. The product modularization strategy is to meet the market demand by developing different product function modules and configuring different modules to form new products.

The summary of market demand sums up the standard and standardized market options (market characteristics) to drive the changes in the product functional structure (technical characteristics) of the standard to form a product structure with different configurations.

Taking a typical automobile manufacturing company as an example, the PLM platform provides general parts library management based on enterprise standards and standard parts library management based on national standards, classifying parts of the same specifications provided by different suppliers, and adopting scientific coding rules. management. The assembly process of the car is to combine the structural blocks processed by different factories or the functional parts returned from each other, provided that the interfaces between these "building blocks" are consistent and non-interfering, which requires modularization in the development process. The interface parameters between the systems are managed. The PLM platform can provide a top-down design method. In the process of product architecture implementation, the interfaces of each module (structure block) are designed, and each module (structure block) is bound by interfaces. The design is managed (building a 3D module library).

Conclusion

With the continuous introduction of modular design concepts, the demand for deepening application of PLM platforms by manufacturing companies will become increasingly urgent. At the same time, manufacturing companies need to adopt modular design as a guide to deepen the application of PLM platform, which can ensure the deep application of PLM platform, and further promote the deepening of modular design ideas through the deep application of PLM platform, and help manufacturing enterprises. Enhance core competitiveness in a highly competitive market environment.