DESIGN & PROTOTYPING FEATURE
that creates a reporting requirement for all companies publicly traded in the U.S. with products containing any of the four Conflict Minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold). Companies listed on the U.S. stock
market have until May 31st each year to disclose whether any Conflict Minerals are found in their products. Those companies not directly regulated by the SEC will also be impacted as audit requirements are pushed down through the entire supply chain. Due diligence on these substances includes supplier engagement, management systems, and addressing supply chain risks.
HOW PLM TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP As suppliers respond to these regulatory and market forces, the availability, cost and even the viability of the components and materials companies purchase for use in products will be impacted. Being able to manage and mitigate these supply chain risks, providing both an early-warning system and data to support effective decision-making in design and production, is critical. To get products right first time,
manufacturers need to be able to ensure that product goals are met early enough in the product lifecycle where
designs are still flexible. This approach, sometimes called ‘DFX’ or ‘design for X’ process, is critical because component and supplier decisions are made, and costs locked in, early on. This, however, is easier said than done.
Manufacturers must align product design and supply chain challenges in the earliest phases of product development in order to make better informed decisions. But, in many companies, engineers and product developers don’t even have visibility to the right information, let alone tools to analyse and make tradeoffs. Engineers by nature focus primarily on product form, fit and function, but there is a lot more to consider. Additional performance requirements and goals include: • Materials compliance • Cost • Mass/weight
• Sustainability/life cycle assessment • Reliability • Country of origin • Toxicity • Certification compliance (e.g. UL and CE) • Energy consumption • Risk exposure to parts with availability/obsolescence/counterfeit threats
• Recycled content.
Companies need to analyse and validate each of these factors, setting and measuring against targets from the beginning of the product development process. PLM technology is designed to address these challenges by providing the ability to manage complex BOMs
“A sustainability framework built on a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) foundation will allow designers to
phase-out non-sustainable components and materials and design-in new and innovative ‘green’ alternatives”
and frequent product changes with tracking and reporting of environmental compliance data and documentation. In addition, PLM systems give engineers visibility to make informed decisions with direct access to online content providers that supply compliance information on millions of parts. Because PLM associates all of this information to a single product record, it is easy to aggregate the data for compliance reporting.
Omnify Software
https://omnifysoft.com
Custom machined plastic parts UHMWPE - Nylon - Acetal - PTFE - Poly Carbonate +44 (0) 1484 864733
sales@pennine.org www.pennine.org
DESIGN SOLUTIONS | MAY 2018 33
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