Engineering Information Management

Engineering Information Management

Dan McClung – V I Engineering, Inc. General Manager

Engineering Information Management [email protected]

Delivering Test Solutions for 12 years

Automated Test and Measurement Systems

• National Instruments Select Alliance Partner

• Automotive, Life Sciences, Aerospace, Heavy Equipment, DoD • Durability Test, Functional Test

• From R&D, Design, Prototyping, and to Production • Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Los Angeles

VISTA – Professional Software Engineering Practices

• Configuration and Project Management Tools • LabVIEW Productivity Tools

• Process Consulting

Objectives:

•To define EIM and the problem set it addresses

•To present use cases illustrating how companies

have benefited from EIM solutions

•To offer ideas on how to implement an EIM

solution and explain the high ROI possible with

these solutions

Costs of Ineffective Data Management

“

Highly paid people are spending too much

time going through stuff”

Facts

• Employees spend an average of 2.5 hours per day searching for data • 35-50% of information available is not centrally indexed

• A Group of 5 people, each paid $75,000 per year, will spend over

$100,000 per year searching for data

Engineering Information

Management

Promoting efficiencies throughout the design and testing process

– Faster, Easier, Access to Engineering Data – Automate Analysis tasks and Reporting – Traceability/Configuration Management – Build Institutional Knowledge

– Tight Integration with Business Systems – Efficient Resource Management

Current State of Affairs

Productivity Loss

• Fragmented, Inaccessible Information

• Ad-Hoc Analysis Methods • Wheel Reinvention

Poor Traceability

• Warranty / Liability / Recall • Revisions / Builds

• Retesting

Poor Decision Making

• Lack Of Big Picture • Ineffective System

Question #1

How do you search for test results within

your organization?

a) Central repository with search capability

b) Shared network drive with file naming strategy

c) We struggle to find test data

Question #2

How much time does your team spend

searching for information?

a) 10%

b) 20%

c) 30%

d) 40%

Question #3

How much time and effort does your team spend

processing and analyzing test data before a final

report is generated?

a) Manual process, automation could make a large impact b) Manual process, automation could help marginally

c) Varies, each person or area has their own techniques d) Very little, processes are automated

Cummins, Inc.

corporate analysis tools • DIAdem based custom

toolbox

• Leverages best practices • 90% productivity gain

through automation • Corporate taxonomy

– Universal naming conventions – Standard engineering units – Standard file types

Cummins

Inc.

PSD

(approximate PSD)

Engine

.bin Chart in_Excel

Acq Conv _.CSV .TXT .TXT .TXT Report in PowerPoint Convert Report to .PDF

Previous Flow Before DIAdem

2 Weeks (40 hours) 1 Week

New Flow with DIAdem

DIAdem Automation Engine Acq _.bin

.TXT .PDF Report 1 Week 4 Hours 90% Improvement 90% Improvement

IMATIS DIAdem Reporting Engine

reporting for LIMS

• Allows administrator to

develop templates and custom channel selection

• Role based privileges for reporting

• Users can request standard reports or ad-hoc

Automotive OEM

• Safety Data Analysis System

– Service for engineers across safety test systems for reporting – Reports automatically generated – Supports hundreds of users

– Quick plot clients for data verification

– COM+ controller allows external control of DIAdem

– Queuing, load balancing

– J2EE, BEA Weblogic, Oracle,

USCAR

• ATD Tracking, Verification and Inventory Management.

– Complete traceability of all ATD related activities

– Web-based search and reporting

– DIAdem automated analysis and report generation

– Data Driven… managed by process owners, not IT

– DIAdem, ASP, SQL, & Visual C++ Integration

Takata ASL

• Supports Entire Technical Center – Engineering, R&D, Prototype

Build & Testing, Chemical Lab • Centrally Managed

– Web based build and test request

– Search capability – Traceability

– Error proofing

– Automated report generation • COM+ controller

Ford Motor Company

• Full TRECS suite used

across safety labs

– Barrier, HYGE, Decel Sled, Component labs

– Used internationally – 250 users

– DIAdem based analysis and reporting

Suggestions for Progress

achieve quick success to demonstrate the benefits of effective EIM

– Build management consensus – Prove quick ROI

– Showcase visible improvement

• Solicit feedback from end-user community

– Ensures usability and buy-in

• Select common tools and architectures • Use COTS where possible

Project ROI Example

• Design Validation Test cycles are about 3 months long with

1-2 months downtime in between cycles

– This leads to a DVT cycle being in process 8 months out of a year.

• Test technicians spend 90% of their time manipulating data

and preparing reports and 10% of time setting up tests.

– Most of the 90% of their time is spent is determining the charting and

reporting for their customer.

– Data is manipulated and analyzed using Excel, not a professional

engineering or scientific tool and little automation (macros) is used.

• Engineers spend 10% of their time searching for

Project ROI Example

• If this system was able to save engineers just 50% of the

time searching for data and a burdened rate of $120/hr per engineer is assumed:

– 40 engineers x (50% savings x 10% effected time of

1880hrs/yr) x $120/hr = $ 451,200/yr

• If this system was able to save technicians just 40% of the

time spent manipulating data and preparing reports and a burdened rate of $90/hr is considered:

– 30 technicians x (40% savings x 90% effected time of

V I Engineering’s Unique

Perspective

“Our Test Domain Knowledge

Sets Us Apart in a Space Crowded with Non-differentiated IT

Companies”

• Understanding of test activities and the challenges that face teams of test

engineers and technicians

• Understanding of IT technology –

EIM Products and Services Offerings

National Instruments - DIAdem Automated Analysis, Visualization and Reporting

CARDIAC – Laboratory Information Management System

RSS Solutions – Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software SigmaQuest – Global Product Performance Intelligence

• Solutions Typically Built on Above Tools/Frameworks as well as custom • Specification and System Architecture

• Database Design • Web Portal Design

Conclusion

Promotes efficiencies throughout the design and testing process

– Foster Collaboration

– Faster, Easier, Access to Engineering Data – Automate Analysis Tasks and Reporting – Traceability/Configuration Management

Build Institutional Knowledge Leading to Engineering Intelligence