Aras, the leader in open product lifecycle management (PLM) software for the enterprise, today announced its core tenets for managing simulation in anticipation of exponential growth in demand for simulation at all stages of the product lifecycle. The company projects a growing wave of simulation driven by increasing product complexity, competitive pressures to reduce time to market, and new technologies such as Digital Twin and IoT.

Connecting Simulation Across the Product Lifecycle

The benefits and rationale for broader use of simulation as an enabler for early design verification and reduced reliance on physical prototypes are well documented and an opportunity that manufacturers must pursue for both pragmatic and competitive reasons. As product complexity increases and businesses seek opportunities for growth, simulation moves to the forefront for strategic capabilities around the Digital Twin, for predictive maintenance and closed-loop development, as well as additive manufacturing and generative design. As a result, Aras anticipates a looming wave of demand for simulation that manufacturers need to prepare for and incorporate into their product design, development, and manufacturing processes to maximize simulation’s value.

Game Time for SPDM

Although access to simulation tools and their high-performance computing requirements has always been limited by the deep domain and technical knowledge required, the greater barrier to simulation’s inclusion in mainstream engineering processes has been the limited adoption of existing simulation process and data management (SPDM) tools. Without an effective SPDM capability, organizations are not able to efficiently incorporate simulation into systems engineering processes or to accurately connect simulation outputs with product data and product configuration during development, much less simulate an asset in service for many decades as in aerospace and defense.

Core Tenets for Managing Simulation at Scale

Aras believes the same characteristics of next-generation PLM – built on a platform that is open, flexible, scalable, and upgradable – must also apply to SPDM for it to effectively manage simulation at scale. Specifically, to support simulation across the lifecycle and meet the needs of manufacturers across a range of industries, SPDM must adhere to the following core tenets:

• Embrace in-house tools, including spreadsheets and custom applications, as well as the broad range of heterogeneous, commercial vendor systems
• Enable and support multi-discipline scenarios, mixed-fidelity models, and different data types that comprise the range of simulation expertise
• Support simulation use cases through the product lifecycle; most importantly, those that cross lifecycle stages such as from operational feedback to design or simulation of in-service performance
• Integrate simulation processes fully with model-based engineering processes to create and maintain the Digital Thread for today’s complex cyber-physical systems
• Be transparent and “invisible” to users in managing the pedigree of a simulation model and any associated geometry, performance parameters, and results.

Aras’ open, platform-based approach to PLM is transforming product processes for the largest Auto OEMs, Aerospace & Defense, Shipbuilding, and High Tech Electronics companies. Bringing this approach to simulation processes is critical to manage the coming demand for simulation and maximize its value in systems engineering, configuration and variant management, verification and validation (V&V), design reuse, compliance and emerging application in Digital Twin and IoT condition monitoring.

Supporting Quotes

• Don Tolle, CIMdata’s Practice Director for Simulation-Driven Systems Development, said, “Despite the availability of simulation process automation and data management tools for almost two decades, the utilization of such tools in industry has been far less effective and pervasive in comparison to CAD data management, especially outside of the major OEMs in Automotive and Aerospace.”
  
  

  “An enterprise simulation strategy and multi-year implementation roadmap supported by SPDM is critical to unlock the business value of simulation and enable its application throughout the product lifecycle and into customer usage and support as part of a next generation Digital Twin strategy,” continued Mr. Tolle.

• Marc Lind, SVP, Strategy, at Aras said, “Our customers want to expand use of simulation on a number of fronts, from replacing physical testing to enabling closed-loop product feedback and predictive maintenance with the Digital Twin. We are now able to help them incorporate simulation into mainstream design to achieve those goals. Most importantly, bringing simulation onto our open platform enables it to become an inherent part of the Digital Thread.”

Supporting Resources

• Aras PLM Platform
• Simulation
• Systems Engineering

About Aras 
Aras enables the world’s leading manufacturers of complex, connected products to transform their product lifecycle processes and gain a competitive edge. Aras’ open, flexible, scalable, and upgradable PLM platform and applications connect users in all disciplines and functions to critical product information and processes across the extended enterprise. Aras customers include Airbus, BAE Systems, GE, GM, Hitachi, Honda, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Microsoft. Visit www.aras.com and follow us on Twitter @aras_plm and LinkedIn.