CAD Systems have extended our capabilities in developing products. The time we took to create layouts, detail and assembly drawings in the days of the drafting table (and yes I am from that era) is greatly reduced. More and more we see integration of functions with tools and processes. However, is the work truly reduced for engineering or for the downstream functions dealing with the engineering data? Have we simplified our lives?
Duplication of tasks between Engineering and production functions is one of the leading causes of inefficiency and errors in the creation of Manufacturing Bills of Material (MBOM). It is not uncommon for companies to maintain several version of a single BOM for any given job. In most cases, a lot of time is spent creating a BOM within the CAD environment only to be re-typed into the ERP System, leading to increased man-hours and possible errors. There are a few true off the shelf solutions that integrate CAD systems and ERP Systems that enable extracting BOMs from the engineering definition , and import the data directly into the ERP system, eliminating typos and decreasing man-hours.
Designer interaction with ERP Systems
My experience and I must admit to most product designers and engineers, an ERP system is an abstract system and as something that requires additional time and effort, for little to no value. One reason for this perception is that most ERP systems are not integrated with the design engineer’s design system. Such integration typically requires a lot of customization that will again typically be done in the middle of a product development project. Such situation only adds to aggravation and frustration and obviously makes ERP Systems even less appealing to product designers and engineers.
I was told once by a former President of Roll Royce Canada, that perception is everything when it comes to the customer’s view of a product or how a service is rendered. The product designers and engineers are the customers who are being served a system that is usually poorly explained, therefore not understood, which results in an outright rejection.
Integrating Engineering with other Functions via ERP System
Unlike what most engineers believe, the world of product development doesn’t evolve solely around the engineering function. However, most product development datasets are issued from engineering using a tool solely used by engineering or designing functions; that is a CAD system. The closest to a CAD System any production function will get to is the viewing capability of the CAD System, as in many cases a 3rd party CAD viewer without writing rights, is used to consult the data from engineering.
It is important to understand that production functions should never work directly from the Engineering product Structure where all the product definition is defined. This is to avoid having the released engineering data tempered with by accident. This is why it is best to avoid “2 way direct” ERP integration with the CAD System. Data should never be written from a CAD System directly into the ERP system’s database tables and that applies also from the ERP to the CAD System. The industry has realized this and, for the most part, moved away from this integration solution design. The reasons for this are:
- Writing data directly into the product structure or the ERP system can corrupt the product structure.
- Designers/Engineers should never write directly in the ERP system to avoid corrupting the Master Bill of Material (BOM). Avoid having too many individuals entering data. The corruption increases the total cost as cleanup is required to cleanse the Master BOM.
Example: MS20426AD5-5 is not the same as MS 20426-AD5-5, or MS20426-AD5-5
- Restrictions on updating software; if systems are tied too closely together, an upgrade of the CAD or ERP software or both in order to maintain integration between the two may be required.
Consideration when Integrating a CAD System to the ERP System
Although some CAD Systems can directly communicate with ERP systems, this integration is quite complex; from both a technical point of view as well as a “workflow”. Some of the main issues to resolve in ERP integration with a CAD System include:
- Which system (CAD or ERP) is the authority? Is it the product structure in the CAD/PDMS or is it the product structure in the ERP System?
- Who owns the data?
- Will the EBOM output from the CAD System need to be modified or will the CAD model contain the final complete BOM including all fasteners, packaging materials, lubricants, instruction manuals, etc.?
- How will employees in manufacturing have access to BOM info? (Viewer, CAD Models, Drawing or ERP system).
- Is the data input into the CAD System and passed to ERP, vice versa or both? What is the interface?
- What are the attributes and who does the input into which systems?
- How will the initial input of items and BOM be handled and synchronized between the systems?
- How will revisions to items and BOM’s be handled and synchronized between the systems?
- How will you manage changes and non-conformance?
- How often will data be updated and synchronized between the systems?
- What is the trigger event for data input/output between the systems?
- What will be the driving attributes of the parts that will define a part?
- What about legacy data?
Downstream Impact when Engineering is not properly integrated
Lack of or no integration with downstream manufacturing planning activities will have the effects listed hereunder:
- Inability to reconcile EBOM to MBOM
- Inability to repurpose data to downstream functions, i.e.: Tech Pubs, Customer support, Supply Chain etc…
- Duplication of clerical tasks. Most of the information associated to a part definition in a drawing can be converted in attributes that will feed the ERP System. Attributes are like the DNA of a dataset that defines a Part,
- Errors due to duplication of tasks,
- More than one source of data, thus, introducing errors and duplicating data maintenance.
- Reporting of total cost of the product is seriously impeded,
- Difficulty to access the engineering data,
- Change management will be inefficient and ECO’s may increase, thus increasing cost,
- Inability to transition from a Drawing Based management to a Part Based Product management environment.
Closing Comments
Integrating a CAD System to the ERP system cannot be done in the middle of a product development project. To successfully implement this integration, team work between functional groups is paramount. Engineering cannot do this alone and must work with the other functions that are generally speaking already integrated within the ERP System. It is quite a cultural change for engineering as for engineers are creator, not very good in data management. Yet, understanding data management when integrating a CAD System with and ERP System is just what is required from the engineers. Engineers need to see the added value of performing such integration, as depending of the way data is entered into the ERP System via the CAD System to ERP System Interface, the downstream function will be able to efficiently use the data or curse those who created the data. It’s garbage in garbage out.
