FEATURE MILITARY & AEROSPACE 3D MODELLING
in aerospace engineering B
razil-based Aerospace company Embraer produces aircrafts and
provides aeronautical services. As successful as the company has been to date, Embraer still faces challenges, such as how to become more global. In particular, Embraer must identify the best opportunities for partnerships that may spawn new technologies. To help the company achieve this
objective, Embraer partnered with Dassault Systèmes in 1997 and implemented CATIA 3D modelling software for the development of the Super Tucano light-attack aircraft. “Since then, we have worked together constantly to find new ways of improving the process of creating, developing and manufacturing new products and serving our customers,” says Humberto Pereira, vice president of Engineering and Technology at Embraer. Most recently, Embraer implemented Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform for the development of the Legacy 500 business jet and the midlight Legacy 450. “We chose the 3DEXPERIENCE platform because we believed it would allow us to do a better job integrating people and ideas, starting at the conceptual stage of product design,” Pereira notes. “Another factor was our belief that it would help us create a better product, which is important strategically.” Indeed, no aerospace company has the luxury of being content with the status quo; technologies and customer expectations are continuously evolving. Paulo Pires, managing director of Embraer’s Engineering and Technology Centre, says: “Dassault Systèmes solutions are helping Embraer meet the challenge. For instance, the Legacy 500 was the first aircraft fully designed to reuse product engineering information through different stages of development.” The business aviation market is ferociously competitive, and customers traditionally have high expectations in terms of technology, operating efficiency and the overall passenger experience. Market leadership requires continuous improvements in the design, quality and the support of the aircraft throughout its lifecycle. The introduction of new models
32 OCTOBER 2017 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Embraer has adopted Dassault Systèmes’ 3D modelling platform for design, data management, manufacturing, simulation and analysis
documentation and intermediate steps. Prior to the adoption of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, software code containing work orders for making a part might have to be converted as many as three times – from 3D to 2D and back to 3D – by the time it reached a milling machine. Not only were such steps time-consuming, but they also increased the risk of introducing mistakes into the production system. In addition, Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA application facilitates collaboration among shop floor employees and helps them better understand all of the steps involved in product assembly, increasing productivity. With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform,
typically stimulates market demand. Conversely, if an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) introduces a new model that fails to meet customer expectations, the experience can serve as an opening for an opportunistic rival. In this environment, even before the
first customer took delivery of the new Legacy 500, third-party assessments had already concluded the aircraft set a new standard for excellence – but that was no surprise to Embraer. “We used Dassault Systèmes solutions intensively to introduce new, best-in-class technologies, such as the fly-by-wire flight control system and a new interior design, and to deliver what we believed the market really expected,” Pereira says. Embraer Chief operating officer, Mauro
Kern, puts it another way: “We focus on our customer to determine what’s important to them. Can our airplanes be a differentiator? Can we de-commoditise them in a way that adds value?” The Legacy 500 is an example.
CROSS-POLLINATION OF DATA About 4,000 members of Embraer’s engineering, technical and product- support team uses Dassault Systèmes solutions. Adoption extends to the supply chain as well. The wide use of the software too comes with a number of benefits. For example, the 3DEXPERIENCE
platform, powered by ENOVIA, has allowed Embraer to shorten the time it takes to shepherd new products through development, from conceptualisation to manufacturing, due to improved communication between functional teams, as well as the elimination of some
Embraer has been using 3DEXPERIENCE to improve its ability to develop new aeroplanes
Embraer’s engineers also find they can cross-pollinate technology between civil and military aircraft platforms more effectively, another strategic benefit. Since the late 1990s, Embraer has had different types of aircraft in development and in production simultaneously at any given time. Throughout this period, it has recognised that innovative technologies developed for a business jet, for example, can help create a more compelling value proposition for a family of commercial jet airliners or a military transport aircraft, or vice versa. The challenge, however, has always been what is the best way to implement such technology transfers? The 3DEXPERIENCE platform allows
Embraer to efficiently evolve technology from one aircraft to another, regardless of which market the model serves because of how information can be shared clearly and seamlessly. Embraer has always been a creative
company that recognises innovation as a competitive differentiator. The issue is how to innovate at a faster pace, since competitors essentially are trying to do the same. The data-driven, model-based architecture of the 3DEXPERIENCE delivered by ENOVIA collaboration applications assists in this task.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE Embraer is just one of many aerospace companies who face the challenge of how to bring new ideas and new technologies to market faster and with greater efficiency. Reflecting Embraer’s collaboration with
Dassault Systèmess, Pereira says: “We are working in a more demanding and an increasingly complex environment, so we need to evolve fast because continuous improvement is necessary. Through the use of this tool, we have been improving our ability to develop new aeroplanes..”
Dassault Systèmes
www.3ds.com
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