T-Systems and Hewlett-Packard develop with EADS-CASA an Industrial Reality environment for the A400M assembly

“HP’s technology and T-Systems’ expertise in the display industry have allowed to implement a visualization tool adapted to the industrial manufacturing field, making easier to define and optimize the industrial assembly processes”. Fernando Más, ACE-CAD/CAM manager

Business Environment:

EADS-CASA intended to set up an industrial visualization environment for designing, evaluating and improving the assembly processes of the A400M. The aircraft assembly requires designing and manufacturing additional machinery and industrial structures enabling the accurate positioning and assembly of its components; those are called “tooling”.

The design and assembly of these tools in the plant is enormously complex and it must be fully coordinated with the design of the aircraft itself. The management of the program and the development and manufacturing of the aircraft are handled by Airbus Military SAS, whose partners are Airbus (participated in 80% by EADS and in 20% by BAE Systems), EADS-CASA, TAI (Turkey) and Flabel (Belgium). Airbus Military is based on the experience accumulated by Airbus on the management of complex international programs in the field of civil aviation, and on the specialised technical knowledge and manufacturing expertise of the other involved companies. The workload is shared among the companies participating in the program, according to their involvement in the project. The first A400M will start flying in the fourth quarter of 2007, and the first deliveries are scheduled for 2009.

Challenge:

Implementing a visualization tool adapted to the field of industrial manufacturing, that ensures the use of a digital mock-up where each international team involved in the project can validate its design decisions and simulate different manufacturing processes, using off-the-shelf software and hardware. Such a visualization tool must use the same CATIA v5 original files of the project, in order to ensure a single interpretation of the design, as well as the immediate availability of any design modification to all members of the working team. The implemented solution must not require training or any additional resources on top of those already defined for the aircraft assembly. The tool must enable reusing the knowledge and expertise of the assembly and tooling design workers, thus increasing the efficiency of the industrial processes and reducing manufacturing costs. The visualization tool will be used for the A400M assembly and for validating the tooling.

Solution:

Creating an Industrial Reality Room that allows defining and optimizing the industrial assembly processes, where working teams, including subcontractors and suppliers, can concurrently verify decisions taken at the accessibility, maintainability, ergonomics and tooling levels. The visualization solution uses the common digital mock-up, displaying the model in 3D thanks to the stereoscopic capabilities of the software. HP’s hardware platform, based on workstations and Barco projectors, ensures the stability and operation of the solution.

Solution Components:

• HP workstations (xw8200) with Intel Xeon architecture processor and 512MB-NVIDIA graphic cards with stereo capabilities
• Barco projectors for rear-projection of the 3D image
• Catia V 5 (Dassault) as mechanical design software product
• Polarized filters and goggles for stereo vision
• Project-specific development by T-Systems

Results:

Operating since January 2005 and in just 3 months, EADS-CASA’s site at San Pablo ( Seville) has exceeded the best-case forecasts for use of the room, thus allowing the integration of traditional industrial processes and the new technologies. This Industrial Reality room is the first of its kind in Europe, where any design modification in any component of the A400M is available to other team members and does not require any conversion of information or files to be viewed in the room. By virtually assembling the aircrafts before the actual process, the learning curve is optimized, and the making of many physical mock ups us avoided. Therefore, assembly-related operating costs are reduced. The ability to work on advanced automation processes within the manufacturing environment itself, allows assembling and integrating complex structural elements.

Summarizing:

• Reduction of the design error rate.
• Optimization of the tooling design cycle, due to the use of a common digital mock-up by all project members.
• Improvement of individual productivity by using the same visualization software tool than in design.

“The designed solution that got deployed in the end was based on a scalable, modular, robust and standards-based architecture”. Jordi Muria, gedas Project Manager

Why HP:

“.. more than a single factor, it really was the ability of T-Systems and HP to win our trust by showing their ability to develop a stable and reliable solution”. Fernando Más, EADS-CASA.

The close cooperation between T-Systems and HP along all project stages removed any doubt regarding the feasibility of using visualization tools in the industrial manufacturing environment. Experts from both companies worked closely with the professionals in EADS-CASA project team, and the solution was developed in just 5 months, using off-the-shelf technologies and HP platforms. T-Systems and HP offered and still provide a turnkey solution, including a wide range of support services.

A Future Vision:

The edge of what the Industrial Reality room can actually offer has not been reached yet…. Given the success of the room and the commitment to use new technologies in the industrial process, the hardware platform would be upgraded in order to enjoy the best results that HP technology makes available. Along these lines, in order to improve the assembly processes and to further reduce production costs, the next steps will focus on extending the use of the Industrial reality room and, maybe, on creating soon a new room that allows starting new projects, either for EADS-CASA’s own aircraft (C295/CN235) or other EADS projects.

About EADS:

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. EADS is the major partner in AIRBUS, in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.

The company employs a workforce of more than 110.000 people in more than 70 production centers, located in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. 35 overseas offices sep close contact with customers all over the world. The San Pablo center in Seville, reporting to the Military Transport Aircraft division, is responsible for the final assembly of military transport aircraft, including the design and set up of the structural support (tooling) for such assembly, as well as the training required for those tasks.