Engineering Intelligence - Special Edition - Summer/Fall 2018

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NOW AVAILABLE

Summer/Fall 2018 | SPECIAL ISSUE

CONTENTS

Engineering Workbench™ EXECUTIVE FEATURE

05 T ransformative Technologies & the Engineer Eight transformative technologies that drive (and are driven by) transformative engineering.

FOCUS

by IHS Markit

19 As Technologies Advance, Engineers Risk Falling Behind

10 Applications

Transformative technologies offer tantalizing opportunities for engineering leaders willing to embrace them. But engineers need the right skills and knowledge base to take advantage of the latest innovations.

of Blockchain Technology on Your single point of access to the engineering Traceability of content and tools needed to advanceParts innovation, Can blockchain maximize productivity, and reduce risk improve consumer

safety of electronic Leading organizations across industries turn to IHS Markit to ensure that their systems? engineers achieve on-time, on-budget delivery of complex, capital-intensive projects Design and new products.

13

Revolution:

Engineering Workbench is an engineering intelligence solution that combines essential Enabled by information for the technical enterprise with cutting-edge knowledge discovery technology Additive and content analytics. It solves the ‘information overload’ challenge by providing a powerful Manufacturing yet intuitive user interface that surfaces answers from the universe of technical knowledge04 & Generative residing both inside and outside the organization.

10

16

COLUMN

19

Design

Get ready for a seismic shift in mechanical design.

Beyond Information, Engineering Intelligence

EXECUTIVE MEMO Leading in a World of Transformation

16 Empowering

Field Service Techs with Knowledge

13

Optimized knowledge helps techs better serve customers.

IHSMARKIT.COM

BEYOND INFORMATION, ENGINEERING INTELLIGENCE

For more information and insights on engineering and product design, subscribe to the Engineering Intelligence Info Hub to track new developments and anticipate future trends in engineering intelligence.

AVAILABLE NOW

Learn more at ihs.com/EWB or Customer Care at 1-800-IHS-CARE Visitcontact www.ihsmarkit.com/EI

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EXECUTIVE MEMO

By John R. Yuva, Editor jyuva@ACBusinessMedia.com

Leading in a World of

TRANSFORMATION

Today’s engineers face the most advanced level of technological change in modern history.

I

t’s nearly impossible to clock the speed of technological advancement.

Things are always in motion, either emerging, evolving or expanding. At the heart of it all is the engineer.

In this latest special issue of Engineering Intelligence Review, the focus is transformative technologies and the role of engineering in driving, embracing and advancing such technologies.

Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud, Connectivity and others all fall within the realm of transformative technology.

What makes these technologies transformative is their innovative impact and potential disruptive nature on industries and the marketplace. Robots and drones are changing the face of warehousing. Blockchain has the potential to revolutionize supply chain transparency and security. IoT is moving the needle on data collection and analysis by providing insights that companies can leverage for competitive advantage.

Where on the engineering spectrum do transformative technologies land? Bill Morelli, senior research director at IHS Markit, says, “Whether you’re trying to design the next-generation product, or a plant engineer trying to make sure that your production line stays up and running as efficiently as possible, or a field engineer troubleshooting equipment using drones to reduce risk of diagnosing problems in hard to reach places, there are implications 4

for transformative technologies in all aspects of engineering.”

As transformative technologies evolve— and they will—quickly—engineers must stay abreast of the developments and expand their knowledge base not only to leverage what innovations may come but also to contribute to future technological offerings.

Yury Gogotsi, the Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University, says, “Engineering leaders that would like to leverage transformative technologies inevitably must consider the human side of the equation: How do they ensure their current and future engineering teams have the right knowledge and skill sets to effectively apply these technologies?”

In this edition of Engineering Intelligence Review, we provide a comprehensive overview of transformative technologies and the influence transformative engineering has on future innovations.

Additive manufacturing is not a new engineering concept. However, learn how the combination of additive manufacturing and generative design is redefining how products are engineered, and the future potential for mechanical design.

And lastly, as Gogotsi stated above, engineering knowledge is critical to better serving customers now and in the future. Read how engineering leaders are taking steps to maintain their skills for the next level of transformative technologies.

Happy reading!

ENGINEERING INTELLIGENCE REVIEW | Summer/Fall 2018 | SPECIAL EDITION

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Published by AC Business Media Inc. 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 (800) 538-5544 • www.ACBusinessMedia.com

www.SDCExec.com PRINT AND DIGITAL STAFF GROUP PUBLISHER Jolene Gulley ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Judy Welp EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lara L. Sowinski EDITOR John R. Yuva ASSISTANT EDITOR Amy Wunderlin WEB AND COPY EDITOR Mackenna Moralez CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Barry Hochfelder SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER Cindy Rusch ART DIRECTOR Kayla Brown AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Wendy Chady AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Angela Franks ADVERTISING SALES (800) 538-5544 JOLENE GULLEY, jgulley@ACBusinessMedia.com SHEILA SPINCK, sspinck@ACBusinessMedia.com EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LORA CECERE, Founder and CEO, Supply Chain Insights TIM FEEMSTER, President, Foremost Quality Logistics JOHN M. HILL, Director, St. Onge Company, and Board of Governors, Material Handling Industry of America RORY KING, Analytic and Big Data Advisor, SAS Institute KAREN MASTER, Vice President of Communications, SAP Ariba WILLIAM L. MICHELS, CEO, Aripart Consulting JULIE MURPHREE, Founding Editor, Supply & Demand Chain Executive ANDREW K. REESE, Senior Portfolio Marketing Manager, IHS, and Former Editor, Supply & Demand Chain Executive BOB RUDZKI, President, Greybeard Advisors CHRIS SAWCHUK, Global Managing Director and Procurement Advisory Practice Leader, The Hackett Group RAJ SHARMA, CEO, Censeo Consulting Group KATE VITASEK, Founder, Supply Chain Visions CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS P.O. Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605 (877) 201-3915, Fax: (847) 291-4816 Email: circ.sdcexec@omeda.com LIST RENTAL Jeff Moriarty, Infogroup (518) 339-4511 Email: jeff.moriarty@infogroup.com REPRINT SERVICES JOLENE GULLEY, jgulley@ACBusinessMedia.com AC BUSINESS MEDIA INC. CHAIRMAN Anil Narang PRESIDENT AND CEO Carl Wistreich CFO JoAnn Breuchel DIGITAL OPERATIONS MANAGER Nick Raether DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Monique Terrazas Published and copyrighted 2018 by AC Business Media Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive [USPS #024-012 and ISSN 1548-3142 (print) and ISSN 1948-5654 (online)] is published five times a year: March, May, June, September and December by AC Business Media Inc., 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. POSTMASTER: Please send all changes of address to Supply & Demand Chain Executive, P.O. Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605. Printed in the USA. SUBSCRIPTION POLICY: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the United States, Canada and Mexico to qualified individuals. Publisher reserves right to reject nonqualified subscribers. One-year subscription to nonqualified individuals: U.S., $30; Canada and Mexico, $50; and $75 for all other countries (payable in U.S. funds, drawn from U.S. bank). Single copies available (prepaid only) for $10 each. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Supply & Demand Chain Executive, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

The information presented in this edition of Supply & Demand Chain Executive is believed to be a­ccurate. The ­publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of claims or ­performances of items appearing in editorial presentations or advertisements in the publication.

Summer/Fall 2018 | Special Edition

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{ TECHNOLOGY CHANGES}

EXECUTIVE FOCUS

By Mark Strandquest

TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

& THE ENGINEER

E

ngineering and technology are forever intertwined.

By definition, engineering is the application of knowledge in order to design, build and maintain technologies; and technology is the body of knowledge, systems, processes and artifacts that results from engineering. (www.eie.org) In this article, we will explore the latest “transformative” technologies and how they impact engineering as a discipline, and how engineering has impacted these technologies.

Recently, IHS Markit identified eight transformative technologies in its report, “8 in 2018: The Top Transformative Technologies to Watch This Year,” that have the potential to impact the world around us in ways never before seen.

These technologies are: ❯❯ Artificial Intelligence ❯❯ Internet of Things (IoT) ❯❯ Cloud ❯❯ Connectivity ❯❯ Blockchain ❯❯ Computer Vision ❯❯ Ubiquitous Video ❯❯ Robots & Drones To better understand the opportunities and impacts of these transformative technologies, it is critical to understand two things.

First, each of these technologies is developing at a rapid pace. And second,

that the rate of innovation related to these technologies is accelerating even faster by the fact that they are converging and becoming more interconnected. For example, while AI, IoT, machine vision, robotics, and the cloud are not necessarily new technologies, they are coming together in new and powerful ways to fundamentally change businesses, fuel innovation and disrupt industries— creating both threats and opportunities.

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Transformative technologies drive (and are driven by) transformative engineering.

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TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES DRIVE (and are driven by) TRANSFORMATIVE ENGINEERING For the better part of the last five decades, engineering has both enabled and benefited from digitization. This “digital disruption” has fueled new transformative technologies that drive paradigm shifts across multiple disciplines and across multiple industries. “It changes the way we think about and design equipment, the way we use equipment, and the benefit that we’re able to get from that equipment, no matter where the engineer sits in the product lifecycle,” says Bill Morelli, senior research director at IHS Markit.

“Whether you’re trying to design the next-generation product, or a plant engineer trying to make sure that your production line stays up and running as efficiently as possible, or a field engineer troubleshooting equipment using drones to reduce

risk of diagnosing problems in hard to reach places, there are implications for transformative technologies in all aspects of engineering.”

All of these transformative technologies have seen significant development and evolution over the past few years, and that the pace of innovation is only increasing. In fact, what we are now seeing is that innovation actually accelerates as these transformative technology trends start to converge. The synergies between the different technology trends can drive exponential rather than linear change.

CONVERGENCE OF TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ACCELERATES CHANGE These eight technologies are not developing in a vacuum, but rather evolving and becoming more interconnected. As each evolves, as new capabilities emerge, they start working together more and more. And the more they work together, innovation accelerates. As different transformative technologies come together, impact goes from linear to exponential.

Connectivity Connectivity has been a fundamental enabler of digitization in consumer, commercial and industrial markets for more than 20 years, leveraging a diverse range of wired and wireless technologies. Connectivity refers to the ability to link and communicate with other people, devices, computer systems, software or the internet. This includes both wired and wireless technologies utilizing point-to-point, broadcast and mesh topologies, among others.

Most engineers today have at least a working knowledge of connectivity.

“Connectivity has become part and parcel of what engineers need to understand in discrete and process manufacturing and field equipment,” states Morelli. “Connectivity has become a fundamental building block of design and manufacturing.

As soon as you connect a device, you dramatically increase the capability and the ability to connect to other devices and/or the internet—it opens the door to a lot of different possibilities.”

However, Morelli adds that “connectivity in and of itself isn’t necessarily a robust solution. In some ways, connectivity can be limiting in that it tends to focus more on a point-to-point solution. Where you have points and multipoints, you quickly evolve to a stage where you’re drowning in data.”

Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things (IoT) is an extension of connectivity. IHS Markit has identified four stages of IoT adoption and implementation: 1. Connect: embedding connectivity and processing capabilities into devices; 2. Collect: adding sensors and storage that enables devices to gather data on their surrounding environment; 6

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3. Compute: processing and

offers widespread access to shared pools of configurable resources—such as computer networks, servers, storage, applications and services—which can be quickly and dynamically provisioned involving little to no management effort, often over the internet.

“Cloud is synonymous with ‘server somewhere,’” according to Morelli.

“Server somewhere other than here allows me to access a database somewhere other than here.”

The Cloud gives engineers the ability to collect and store data,

analyzing large amounts of data generated by IoT devices; 4. Create: monetizing the IoT or creating unique solutions through access to transformational data.

It is not just the embedded connectivity in a lot of devices, some of which have historically been connected, but the addition of embedded processing capabilities and sensors that have many industries realizing significant improvements in efficiency and productivity.

“Connectivity has become part and parcel of what engineers need to understand in discrete and process manufacturing and field equipment.”

— MORELLI. “Even if you have limited processing to manage the connectivity, let’s put some level of intelligence into sensor X so that it knows what the different readings mean—what environment it’s operating in, what’s a critical reading, and what’s a non-critical reading,” explains Morelli. “If there’s a variation between X and Y, it’s not necessarily going to raise a flag, but as soon as it goes over Y, then raise an alert.”

But now the amount of data starts to escalate. A new transformative technology is needed to handle vast amounts of data. And advanced analytics become necessary to parse through that volume of data to separate the wheat from the chaff, and handle data from other transformative technologies (such as machine vision, covered later in this article).

whether it’s for a short amount of time to do immediate analytics, or for a longer amount of time to build a profile of, for example, a production facility in order to identify areas where you could increase efficiency, or optimize performance.

Cloud now becomes a very important part of the story. But if you’re collecting critical bits of information from hundreds, then thousands, then hundreds of thousands of sensors, you can quickly start drowning in data and it becomes harder and harder to see the correlations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) With IoT starting to scale, companies are now shifting focus to how they can manage and utilize all of the data they are collecting. Dealing with millions or billions of data points exacerbates the big data problem. Deep learning, machine learning and artificial intelligence are fast becoming essential tools for the engineer.

AI refers to the body of science, algorithms and machines able to

Cloud As IoT has matured, and implementations have become increasingly sophisticated, cloud storage and analytics are now a critical enabler for scaling IoT solutions. Cloud computing

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perform some version of learning and independent problem solving, relying on sufficiently advanced software and hardware components. Within the AI field of study are other sub-branches of computer science, including machine learning, neural networks and deep learning, among others.

These can be incredibly powerful tools, not only for doing analytics on large data sets, but also to drive out insights and new ways of looking at the problem, because you’re really applying true artificial intelligence to it.

Machine learning is the first step, but then it starts being able to make correlations on its own and starts to see things the engineer may not be able to see, because there’s just too much data to wade through.

Returning to the sensor example, Morelli notes that “this is where machine-learning, deeplearning, neural networks - the technologies we broadly call AI - become really important because you’re able to start analyzing the data, looking for patterns among a lot of disparate data sets. You’re able to then, when you really reach full-blown AI, proactively identify things that you haven’t necessarily asked it to look for, and offer suggestions.”

Robots & Drones Robots and Drones are autonomous or semi-autonomous machines that are capable of completing complex, often repetitive actions. Robots may be fixed or mobile but are typically land-based, while drones are commonly viewed as aerial and include fixed-wing, rotorbased, airships and balloons.

Robotics have transformed manufacturing and are comparatively more mature in application and development than drones and are used extensively in manufacturing

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TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

aware of the surroundings. Their functionality increases exponentially if they have a solid machine-vision and/or computer-vision component where they are able to be aware of their surroundings, and adjust their behavior and actions on that basis.

Ubiquitous Video

and commercial operations. In the short term, robots will primarily help humans work more effectively; in the long term, robots will become sufficiently skilled and affordable enough to replace humans in many tasks. Already, professional service robots are utilized by early-adopter industries including agriculture, logistics, medical and healthcare, and domestic help.

AI is crucial to the next step in the evolution of drones and their broader adoption by more industries, to address key requirements such as collision avoidance—which is where AI will equip drones to make effective decisions regardless of circumstance.

As an example, the latest development in visual mapping and navigation technology for drones includes use of a laser or camera alongside stateof-the-art electronic components to help drones successfully carry out their mission. To date, enterprises are overhauling their logistics systems by incorporating drones in any number of ways, but AI is providing the longerrange control that allows drones to be moved outside a plant or factory for deployment in the real world, such as what Amazon is doing with drones in delivering products to customers through its Amazon Prime Air service.

8

Computer Vision (including Machine Vision) Computer vision is the application of technology to extract information from digital images and videos, with the goal of automating tasks that human eyes do today. Specific tasks that are necessary include image acquisition, processing, analyzing and understanding, to allow for decisions/ actions to be taken by the system, device or robot. Machine vision, traditionally found in industrial manufacturing, is generally considered to be a sub-set of computer vision and is also referred to as embedded vision.

The increasing importance of computer vision is directly tied to the mega-trend of digitization that has been playing out in the industrial, enterprise and consumer segments over the past 20 years. The proliferation of image sensors, as well as improvements in image processing and analysis, have enabled a broad range of applications and use-cases including industrial robots, drone applications, intelligent transportation systems, high-quality surveillance, medical applications, and automotive safety.

Computer-vision and machinevision go hand-in-hand with robots and drones. Robots and drones are only functional to the extent that they’re

Ubiquitous Video refers to the ability to capture, create, consume and distribute video content almost anywhere. The explosive growth of video services has been driven by multiple factors, including the high penetration of camera-enabled mobile phones and commoditization, which have enabled displays of various sizes and shapes to be placed in almost any location with a range of wired and wireless connectivity options.

For engineers, ubiquitous video provides the ability to consume video anywhere, anytime, on almost any device, as well as the ability to capture video from anywhere on almost any device. “It’s that proliferation of screens and lenses that are able to capture and display video that plays into what we’re talking about, to some extent, with robots and drones,” says Morelli. “It plays into solutions that we’re talking about with computer and machine-vision. Connectivity obviously is the underlying technology that is making a lot of ubiquitous video possible.”

Further, Morelli adds, “A picture is worth a thousand words—there’s a lot of truth to that, and being able to show, in real time, a video of an event, whether it’s a leak at a plant, or a piece of equipment that’s malfunctioning, or a screen that someone’s looking at that you need to be able to understand exactly what the read-out looks like so you can give them the best solution for how to handle maintenance.”

“In commercial and enterprise applications a few years back, the

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same, BYOD, and people have their own smartphones, their own tablets that they’re using for diagnostics, that they’re using to talk to the equipment.

You’ve got equipment that’s able to communicate via Bluetooth with machinery in the factory.”

Ubiquitous video in field service & support Ubiquitous video has implications for field and service and support. A technician troubleshooting or repairing a piece of equipment could use technologies such as smart glasses to utilize augmented reality. For example, an HVAC technician who’s out on the roof trying to diagnose a piece of equipment, can view and interpret a potential defective part and using AIenabled tools such as Engineering Workbench from IHS Markit (see www. ihsmarkit.com/EWB), retrieve specific knowledge such as specifications or maintenance manuals, projecting them on his smart glasses to help diagnose and manage the equipment.

FUTURE TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IMPACTING ENGINEERS—BLOCKCHAIN?

“It’s like a digital fingerprint for a physical or virtual object,” states Morelli. “What makes it so secure is it’s not being stored in one database that could be hacked or tampered with. The reason they call it a distributed ledger technology is it’s stored in a bunch of places across the internet.”

While these may work well in theory, there are real concerns with how efficient this approach would be.

Specific issues around latency, massive power use and data volumes are just some of the challenges.

Looking forward, there are transformative technologies like blockchain that may end up playing a larger role in the engineering discipline. Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger technology utilizing WHAT’S NEXT? cryptography and timestamps to It’s difficult to say. The pace of provide a permanent record of various innovation will continue to accelerate types of transactions and interaction. and transformative technologies will Blockchain is the underlying continue to fundamentally shift how technology enterprises enabling function.

“I think there is a play Bitcoin but may Some of these for blockchain, but people be used for a technologies wide range of will continue to be still, are now right applications, to evolve and including grow – such frank, at the brainstorming engineering and as artificial stage where they’re trying supply chain. intelligence.

One potential The jury is to figure out if there is a application is still out on use for it, what’s practical, for traceability others, such of electronic as blockchain, actually we can and components as to how and and parts in the if they will implement this in the supply chain; impact real world.” for example, to engineering help prevent in the future. counterfeit parts by ensuring an What is certain is that engineering as a authentic part is being used and discipline will continue to be a driving warranty assured because blockchain is force in the future of transformative underlying the part registry. technologies.

trend was BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, where company-issued smartphones were being replaced by personal smartphones, for which the companies reimbursed the costs.

That move is now proliferating in industry, as well. It’s very much the

To download the complimentary “8 in 2018: The top transformative technologies to watch this year” whitepaper, visit ihsmarkit.com/8techtrendsin2018. To learn more about Engineering Workbench by IHS Markit, which provides single point of access to journal articles, patents, applied reference works, standards and more on transformative technologies, visit ihsmarkit.com/ewb.

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EXECUTIVE FOCUS

{ BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES}

By Greg Wood

APPLICATIONS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ON TRACEABILITY OF PARTS Can Blockchain improve consumer safety of electronic systems?

T

raceability of electronic components and parts in the supply chain is imperative to medical, transportation, and energy industries; and now has widespread impacts in every industry. Consumer safety

cannot be compromised. Traceability was mandated to U.S. defense and government contractors to reduce counterfeit and substandard electronic components from getting into products and compromising mission success.

As a result, starting in 2012 the U.S. government enacted the National Defense Authorization Act. Section 8181 of this legislation and subsequent revisions require traceability of parts in the supply chain pushing responsibility for tracking components to distributors and component suppliers. Commercial companies now adopt and maintain traceability initiatives to prove their products are environmentally compliant and to ensure accuracy of export control reporting.

THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO TRACEABILITY Traditional approaches to traceability of parts have focused on physical tagging to ensure part authenticity.

Counterfeit standards documents developed by SAE, IEC, IPC and JEDEC have enabled companies to implement best practices and educate their employees. More than 600 individual standards have been developed and adopted globally and hundreds of technical books have been published to help address the topic.2 Physical traceability included applying 10

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plant DNA aligned in a tiny but tough epoxy dot affixed to electronic or mechanical components.

The DNA could then be analyzed for authenticity by end users via an optical barcode or potentially tracked and traced via a cloud-based digital DNA authentication process.

have worked well for the defense industry but have added up to a seven-fold increase to the cost of these components over their nontraceable counterparts. The added traceability costs of these components make this approach impractical for commercial products where keeping costs down can be a requirement for product success.

NEW APPROACHES MISS THE MARK

COULD BLOCKCHAIN SOLVE THE TRACEABILITY DILEMMA?

Another physical traceability technology emerging from DARPA is the SHIELD program or Supply Chain Hardware Integrity for Electronics Defense. The SHIELD program involves implanting an extremely small DIE or “Dielet” which is a self-contained mini circuit within the electronic component. The Dielet can be activated via an external probe which powers the device and receives an encrypted code.

The encrypted code is then transmitted to the cloud by the probe, which then communicates with an external server to authenticate the device. An added feature to mitigate counterfeit attempts is that the dielet is easily destroyed should it be tampered with or attempted to be extracted.

These physical modifications to confirm authenticity of components

What the electronic component industry needs is a reliable, virtual (digital), low-cost and secure solution for traceability, not just satisfying one requirement in isolation. The blockchain could be utilized for such a low-cost solution. The advantages of a virtual approach using cryptocurrencies and the blockchain are:

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❯❯ Global advantages:

Cryptocurrencies are global currencies and not tied to a traditional currency which is only valid for an individual country or region. The electronic component supply chain is global as design, procurement, manufacturing and product sales almost always involve multiple countries.

❯❯ Authentic traceability tag:

With each electronic component transaction in the supply chain, a very small monetary transaction can act as a traceability element back to the authorized distribution channel and eventually the device manufacturer. ❯❯ Low cost: For each production run by the manufacturer, each component would have a traceability identifier included in the cost. Distributors and brokers could recoup the tiny

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BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES

traceability cost when they sell the component to the next distributor in the supply chain with the end user paying the tiny traceability amount for the parts they need. The advantage to the end user to incur this cost is that parts with traceability could be confirmed as authentic and worth the small extra cost, as low as 9 thousandths of a penny.

❯❯ Counterfeit mitigation:

Since the transactional information for the blockchain is not stored in a central location, but spread across many computers, the traceability would be less susceptible to hacking and would make counterfeiting of blockchain traceability much more difficult.

Counterfeiters would not be incentivized to ship counterfeit parts because of the authentic traceability in place.

be able to understand remaining authentic components in the market and would be able to value their remaining stock appropriately.

VIRTUAL TRACEABILITY SOLUTIONS STILL FACE CHALLENGES. Some of the challenges of a virtual traceability solution being debated today include:

❯❯ Adoption:

Perhaps the biggest challenge would be adoption by the various players in the electronic component supply chain. Manufacturers or distributors would need to provide information on parts produced and potentially related environmental compliance and export control/country of origin information.

would need to be modified to ensure adoption.

WHO WILL PIONEER THE CHANGE? In summary, blockchain technology could be the global mechanism to track authentic parts and provide companies with confidence that their products will operate safely within designed reliability parameters. There are a wealth of tangible, financial and quality benefits from taking a blockchain technology approach while improving the safety of end consumers (businesses and individuals). However, available tools and protocols would need to be modified for the industry to gain adoption of this approach by all companies in the supply chain. Who will step up to pioneer the change?

Will it be government that forces change—I doubt it unless there is a catastrophic event? Will it be the

“WHAT THE ELECTRONIC COMPONENT INDUSTRY NEEDS IS A RELIABLE, VIRTUAL (DIGITAL), LOW-COST AND SECURE SOLUTION FOR TRACEABILITY…” — Greg Wood, IHS Markit expert

❯❯ Access to industry data:

❯❯ Traceability:

❯❯ Availability to limited supply:

❯❯ Tools and protocols:

Environmental compliance information such as component RoHS and REACH could be included in the traceability information and potentially used to prove product compliance.

Country of Origin for the final assembly location could assist end users with export compliance reporting.

For discontinued components, a traceability approach using the blockchain could allow end users to locate remaining inventories of authentic components.

Stocking distributors would also

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Although complete transactional traceability of components in the supply chain would be beneficial to end users, mid-tier distributors would not be in favor of identifying their source to their customers because their customers could source components higher in the supply chain and damage future business.

Tools and protocols would undoubtedly need to be modified and tailored for the complex information requirements of the electronic component industry while traceability information

OEMs placing mandates on their supply-chain—it’s a tough tight-wire decision of cost, safety and ROI? Will it be the component manufacturers— possibly because this could be a unique way to add value and differentiate?

But every stakeholder (participant) in the supply chain (a newly defined blockchain) will have to commit to change.

REFERENCED SOURCES: 1 Government Publishing Office – National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012, Sec. 818, December 2011 2 Research conducted in Engineering Workbench from IHS Markit, April 2018 3 Blockchain explained: It builds trust when you need it most; CNET, February 2018

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{ GENERATIVE DESIGN}

EXECUTIVE FOCUS

By Chad Jackson

DESIGN REVOLUTION:

Enabled by Additive Manufacturing & Generative Design Get ready for a seismic shift in mechanical design.

SOUND FAMILIAR? Well, it should. Such hyperbole has been used ad nauseam in the past. Yet, this time around, things are different. The combination of two new technologies, additive manufacturing and generative design, promise to fundamentally redefine how products are engineered. Given today’s tightening constraints on development, that’s not only a good thing, it’s a great thing.

The purpose of this article is to offer the first glimpse into the implications of these two technologies on mechanical design. To begin, we have to start with how manufacturing is fundamentally changing and its implications on design.

THE RADICAL IMPACT OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

is designing a space in a component completely surrounded by material.

The tool couldn’t get to the middle of a part without plunging into the sides, thereby violating the design. The same holds true of latticed geometry and myriad other designs. Some simply can’t be made with subtractive manufacturing.

What Exactly is Additive Manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing is a process by which material is added or joined to make a component. It stands in contrast with subtractive manufacturing, where tools are used to remove material from stock material, which includes all machining processes like milling, turning, laser-cutting and the like.

The Implications of Subtractive Manufacturing

CHAD JACKSON is an analyst, researcher and blogger providing insights on technologies used to enable engineers. He is a frequent publisher, speaker and researcher on critical topics that empower executives to reap more value from technology-led engineering initiatives in less time, with more surety, and less disruption.

Learn more at www.lifecycleinsights.com.

All these constraints, of course, dramatically affect how an engineer designs. Throughout the process, they must develop geometry that can be produced. In some cases, this inhibits their ability to come up with designs that could address product requirements in a unique or innovative way. In many respects, their hands are tied. They only have a few options to develop a new design.

The Constraints of Subtractive Manufacturing Before we can talk about the implications of additive manufacturing, we need to talk about the constraints of subtractive manufacturing. There are certain geometric challenges to using these production approaches.

For example, if you use mill machining to make a part, you cannot have overhangs. That essentially means the tool couldn’t reach the material you need to cut. It’s inaccessible.

Another impossible milling example

The Freedom of Additive Manufacturing Making components with additive manufacturing, in contrast, has far fewer constraints. Designs can be made

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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GENERATIVE DESIGN

with undercuts. They can be made with voids in their center. They can be made with latticed geometry. Why? Because the material is added or joined layer by layer. This approach means that, with supporting structures that are removed after completion, there are far fewer constraints in the production process.

applications to automatically and autonomously produce a number of alternative designs once given a set of engineering constraints. There’s a lot in that definition, so let’s dig a little deeper.

The use of the terms automatically and autonomously here are no accident.

Once you define some specifications such as loads, constraints and materials, the software produces new designs by itself. It sounds a bit like artificial intelligence (AI), and frankly, it’s starting to approach it. But the idea is that an engineer provides the inputs and walks away. When they return, the software has a number of design alternatives for them to review.

Why is Generative Design Different?

This direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) 3D printer employs an additive manufacturing technique that uses a Ytterbium fiber laser fired into a bed of powdered metal.

The Implications of Additive Manufacturing Fewer constraints, naturally, means there are less roadblocks for engineers.

They can design all these new geometries that can support innovative new ways to fulfill requirements. Their hands are untied.

On its own, additive manufacturing stands to deliver sweeping changes to how engineers design, making their lives easier than before.

However, there’s more in store for the transformation of design.

THE PROFOUND AUTOMATION OF GENERATIVE DESIGN

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Answering this question needs a little context. Traditional modeling capabilities in CAD software are exceedingly familiar to the steps used in subtractive manufacturing.

You can extend a cross section to cut material away. You can round edges.

You can add holes. These geometric operations inherently mirror traditional production procedures.

Generative design, however, differs in this regard dramatically. In fact, there are no overt geometry operations. Instead, these modeling capabilities have been developed to mimic growth patterns from nature. For example, some copy the processes used to grow bones or other cell structures in the body. Others imitate the way bacteria colonies grow multiple paths to food sources. Yet others copy how trees build their structure over time. The results are organic shapes that look far more like nature than anything produced in a factory.

What is Generative Design?

What are the Advantages of Generative Design?

Generative design is the capability of some computer aided design software

There are a few different ways that generative design is advantageous over

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traditional modeling approaches.

From a time perspective, generative design offers a significant benefit.

Engineers don’t have to manually develop new designs. This technology produces the design alternatives automatically and autonomously for the engineer. This allows engineers to walk away from the software to focus on other tasks. In this way, engineers can recoup their time and even multitask. In some ways, every engineer has the possibility to be a manager over a group of software agents, all leveraging generative design capabilities to complete various designs.

There are, however, significant advantages from a design perspective as well. The algorithms that mimic natural processes tend to produce more optimized designs, yielding higher strength with lower weights. Today, engineers are facing more difficult requirements for the products they design. Generative design technologies can help fulfill them.

This diagram shows how generative design differs from traditional ‘subtractive’ modeling capabilities by mimicking the ‘additive’ growth patterns from nature. The results are organic shapes that may look much different than anything produced in a traditional factory.

are extremely difficult to produce using subtractive manufacturing.

However, additive manufacturing can produce those parts with relative ease.

In the end, the combination of these two technologies hold the potential to transform engineering. Engineers are freed from the constraints of subtractive manufacturing with additive manufacturing. They are liberated to do more with less when they oversee a number of software applications, each applying generative design techniques to automatically and autonomously produce innovative designs.

Over the years, many technologies have claimed to transform design. This time, however, they might be right.

Get ready for a seismic shift in mechanical design.

Combining the Technologies Each of these technologies independently provide advantages. Yet, when they are combined, engineers truly see significant benefits. Additive manufacturing offers the largest advantage when it is used to produce lighter yet stronger components.

Generative design can deliver those designs. Furthermore, generative design produces organic shapes that

To read more about fast changing technologies used to design products and the latest technology trends impacting the engineering profession, visit the author’s Lifecycle Insights blog at lifecycleinsights.com or IHS Markit’s Engineering Intelligence information hub at ihsmarkit.com/EI.

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{ EMPOWERING FIELD SERVICE}

By John Yuva

EMPOWERING FIELD SERVICE T

with Optimized Knowledge that Helps Them Service Customers Qu Optimized knowledge helps techs better serve customers.

A

nnually, companies nearly 50 percent of maintenance cumulatively post activities are due to unscheduled hundreds of billions in maintenance, companies must be able equipment downtime to leverage new technologies and costs and unnecessary repeat visits data in order to reduce downtime by their field service technicians. and deliver sustained competitive By utilizing reliable knowledge advantage. management, field service teams can “One of the biggest challenges is achieve higher first-time fix rates, getting service technicians and service improved service level agreement engineers the right kind of information (SLA) compliance and better profit that they need to solve problems— margins. effectively and efficiently,” says Paul For companies that operate and Hamilton, IHS Markit’s executive service complex pieces of equipment, director of Global Technical Sales & field service operations can consume Services, “be it proactive, preventative significant total or corrective FIELD SERVICE IS A COST maintenance.” lifetime costs of CENTER, WITH heavy equipment. In The latter presents fact, maintenance particularly steep and repairs typically challenges for OF THE TOTAL LIFETIME constitute the largest organizations that portion of the operating COST OF HEAVY EQUIPMENT are asked to solve expense for such FOUND IN MAINTENANCE immediate problems equipment. Field on the fly, but that AND REPAIR. service is a cost center, may lack the onsite with 70 percent to 90 percent of the knowledge and expertise needed to total lifetime cost of heavy equipment meet those customer mandates. found in maintenance and repair. In the U.S., companies cumulatively post IDENTIFYING COSTLY a $53 billion loss per year as a result of INEFFICIENCIES unnecessary repeat visits by their field Searching for information and service technicians. sifting through data are timeUnscheduled maintenance—or those consuming, inefficient processes that repairs on unforeseen equipmentservice technicians and call center related breakdowns or failures—is representatives spend upwards of 40 particularly expensive. In fact, those percent of their time doing. In fact, repairs can cost three to nine times even the most senior technicians more than planned maintenance events need to search for repair and part due to technician road calls, expensive information. downtime, missed customer targets, For example, it’s not unusual to and/or poor customer satisfaction. see technicians rifling through paper In industries like oil and gas, where manuals while sitting in their trucks,

70-90%

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E TECHS

rs Quickly and Efficiently on the tarmac or at the plant—all with the goal of trying to determine if the manual and repair schematics are accurate (and the right version), for the model, year and condition of the asset needing repair.

The inefficiencies don’t end there. Technicians must also consult procedures, instructions, standards, service bulletins, and reference documents scattered across their organization’s service lifecycle management, enterprise content management, and other disparate systems. This is a persistent problem for field technicians, 41 percent of which say the “inability to integrate data in the field with enterprise systems” is an ongoing issue, according to a recent survey.

Other times, technicians are forced to call in to field service experts for additional support and guidance. All of these activities consume valuable time and resources in industries where budgetary and time constraints are common.

IMPROVING FIRST-TIME FIX RATES With one-in-four field technician visits requiring a follow-up visit, improving first-time fix rates and shortening the time it takes to repair equipment become strategic imperatives for companies in heavy industries. Those companies that take the steps to close these gaps not only improve their bottom lines, but they also enhance asset availability, increase equipment uptime and improve customer satisfaction levels. In the oil

and gas industry, for instance, every week that a well is out of commission offshore represents a $7 million loss for the operator. For the 1.2 well shutdowns that occur every day in the U.S., 23 percent are maintenance related and 92 percent of these are unplanned shutdowns.

“When a product is failing or a production line is down, service

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techs have to be able to solve those problems quickly,” says Hamilton.

“It’s about managing the workflow— via service lifecycle management or product lifecycle management—that wraps around some type of problem or maintenance issue.” To do this, engineers and service technicians must work through a series of steps, all of which are focused on getting

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EMPOWERING FIELD SERVICE

equipment up and running to customer requirements.

Engineering Workbench from IHS Markit fits and integrates into those workflows, and also optimizes information delivery in a way that gets vital information into the hands of the engineers and technicians that need it. Applicable for both high-volume/ low-cost products and low-volume/ high-cost products—and everything in between—the platform helps technicians solve problems quickly and confidently without the need for additional internet research, phone calls or support.

AN INSIDE PEEK AT WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON

experiencing repeated rework because its maintenance engineers couldn’t find information quickly or correspond fixes across teams and locations.

The airline provided examples of unscheduled maintenance resulting in 75+ hours of downtime due to its inability to find correct information.

Engineering Workbench helped the company federate search across its many systems and data repositories, while also providing research and knowledge discovery tools that helped technicians quickly find the information they needed. As a result,

THERE IS A BETTER WAY. ENGINEERING WORKBENCH, THE

and other challenges associated with field service information delivery. “Our solution doesn’t just index words as most other search engines do,” says Hamilton. “It reads and understands the words; the language in the document.

By understanding the language inside the documents, the solution can dynamically structure the search results based on language rather than predefined taxonomy and structure, thus resulting in lower costs related to knowledge consolidation, management, and structuring/organization. And it gets to the correct answer more quickly.”

IMPROVING THE WAY TECHS SOLVE PROBLEMS

It’s not unusual for Hamilton Companies have invested ENGINEERING INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM, to get an “inside peek” at how tens of millions of dollars in HELPS ORGANIZATIONS IMPROVE THE WAY companies typically handle content management systems TECHNICIANS IN THE FIELD SOLVE PROBLEMS, information management for their and enterprise search, yet their ALLOWING FIELD SERVICE TO BECOME A SOURCE knowledge workers, and the usual engineers and technical personnel FOR REVENUE RATHER THAN A COST-CENTER. picture isn’t very pretty. In fact, it’s can’t find the information they highly disjointed, has morphed over the airline has significantly improved need, in the context of the problems time, and isn’t very effective for today’s its fleet uptime and ability to comply they are trying to solve. So, companies fast-paced, high-demand business world. with airworthiness mandates. spend millions more tagging, scrubbing Service technicians, for example, often and organizing information. have to search through myriad, disparate NOT-SO-BEST PRACTICES There is a better way. Engineering systems (i.e., many internal knowledge In most cases, companies that want Workbench, the engineering intelligence sources as well as external knowledge to optimize field service information platform, helps organizations improve sources) to get what they’re looking for. delivery start by attempting to the way technicians in the field solve “It’s kind of crazy,” says Hamilton, “but consolidate all of their data into a single problems, allowing field service to that’s the typical world in which many source. “The problem with that is it’s a become a source for revenue rather than service technicians live today.” job that’s never done,” says Hamilton. a cost center.

By leveraging reliable knowledge “As soon as you think you are finished, By leveraging reliable knowledge management, field service teams achieve something else pops up that needs to management, field service teams higher first-time fix rates, improved be consolidated.” Most companies then achieve higher first-time fix rates, SLA compliance, and better profit begin to develop a common taxonomy, improved SLA compliance, and margins. And by equipping service but that process is both expensive and better profit margins. And by technicians with relevant knowledge, arduous (and doesn’t always produce the equipping service technicians with those techs can more readily diagnose desired results). relevant knowledge, those techs can and resolve problems; improve their “I’ve heard this from many companies more readily diagnose and resolve utilization and productivity; and solve around the world that cannot settle problems; improve their utilization more customer problems on the first on a taxonomy that works for their and productivity; and solve more visit. This, in turn, results in better businesses, service technicians, and customer problems on the first visit. customer service experiences and higher engineers,” says Hamilton, who sees This, in turn, results in better customer product uptime—both of which help Engineering Workbench’s semantic service experiences and higher product improve the organizational bottom line. engine, which understands natural uptime—both of which help improve For example, a leading airline was language, as the best solution to this the organizational bottom line.

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{ TECHNOLOGY CHANGES}

EXECUTIVE FOCUS

By Andy Reese

As Technologies Advance, ENGINEERS RISK FALLING BEHIND Transformative technologies offer tantalizing opportunities for engineering leaders willing to embrace them. But engineers need the right skills and knowledge base to take advantage of the latest innovations.

C

onsider nanomaterials.

Yury Gogotsi literally wrote the book on nanomaterials; his Nanomaterials Handbook is now in its second edition (CRC Press, 2017).

Gogotsi spends his days working with, and thinking about, these tiniest of materials known to industry, and his views of the potential for this transformative technology are as expansive as the particles are small.

“Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies are inevitably going to penetrate into every field. We are going to see new materials with magical properties that are going to make our lives better in every sphere of human activity,” says Gogotsi, who is the Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University, as well as director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute.

But despite his optimism, Gogotsi also foresees rough waters ahead for companies that want to ride the

swelling nano-wave. Because although “nano” is already a couple decades old, much of the work to date has been confined to universities and research labs, and the number of practicing engineers with experience working with nanomaterials is still relatively small.

For individual engineers, this kind of skills gap presents opportunities to leverage unique domain knowledge, but also the challenge of how to acquire that domain knowledge and how to stay up-to-date with advances in their field so they can keep their stills— and themselves

“Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies are inevitably going to penetrate into every field.

We are going to see new materials with magical properties that are going to make our lives better in every sphere of human activity.”

— YURY GOGOTSI

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—relevant. Similarly, engineering leaders that would like to leverage transformative technologies inevitably must consider the human side of the equation: How do they ensure their current and future engineering teams have the right knowledge and skill sets to effectively apply these technologies?

GET INVOLVED For individual engineers, Dan Houston advises that the traditional methods of keeping one’s skills up to date still apply, including engaging in professional societies, keeping up with industry journals, and finding opportunities to publish. Houston works in industrial engineering in the aerospace industry, where he leads projects applying quantitative methods, particularly using statistics and simulation, to software engineering. He is coauthor, with Raymond Madachy, of What

through the publications. He also has been involved in a conference on system and software process since 2000 as a contributor, presenting papers, and that puts him in touch with other experts in the field. Plus, he is on the program committee for the conference, so he sees all the topics on the conference agenda.

Houston’s active participation in his field helps keep his own creative gears turning, and Houston has authored numerous publications on statistical modeling and simulation of software development processes and related topics. His research and writing, in turn, has helped him foster and maintain professional connections across his field and around his industry. “Writing papers is very timeconsuming, but also very rewarding, because it puts you in discussion with lots of colleagues,” he notes.

NEVER STOP LEARNING

At the same time, Houston believes it’s important to gain experience outside of one’s field, given the growing intermingling of different engineering fields with each other Every Engineer Should and with fields completely outside Know About Modeling engineering. Blending engineering and and Simulation (CRC Press, law, for example, can be helpful for 2017). engineers that must “Professional “Writing papers is very deal frequently involvement,” with patents. time-consuming, but Combining Houston emphasizes, “is very important.” also very rewarding, a technical He participates in background with because it puts you several professional psychology can societies, including provide unique in discussion with lots perspectives IEEE Computer Society, for the on artificial of colleagues.” software side, and the intelligence or — DAN HOUSTON American Society human-machine for Quality (ASQ), for the industrial interface problems. Houston also engineering side. For the statistics side, recommends that engineering leaders he subscribes by email to the tables of consider hiring recruits with such contents for several journals and keeps varied backgrounds who can bring new an eye out for hot topics percolating perspectives to the table, contributing 20

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“outside the box” thinking that draws on their experiences in other fields.

For his part, Gogotsi suggests that practicing engineers consider pursuing continuing or advanced education as a pathway to keeping their knowledge and skillsets current. In the world of nano, for example, engineers already working in industry have the option of enrolling in one of the emerging master’s programs in nanomaterials that have opened their doors recently. This year, for instance, Drexel University, where Gogotsi teaches, is launching a master’s program in nanomaterials with the goal of educating people specifically about nano.

Gogotsi also recommends that companies consider sending their engineers to these types of programs for additional training, whether for a full master’s program or for individual courses. He says that this kind of specialized education is particularly relevant for a subject like nanomaterials, which can have properties unlike other materials that engineers may have worked with in the past, and which can entail special handling or health concerns.

“There are many issues that engineers and others need to be trained on to effectively—and safely—work with nanomaterials,” he cautions.

The Human Equation With so much focus today on the technologies that are transforming our everyday lives, it’s easy to lose sight of the human side of the technology equation. In engineering, in particular, the ability to listen, learn, and collaborate with others continues to be an essential skillset, according to Dan Houston, a longtime expert in Industrial Engineering and co-author with Ray Madachy of What Every Engineer Should Know About Modeling and Simulation (CRC Press, 2017).

Houston cites a case study from his book with Madachy as an example of the importance of engagement: A government program office asked Houston to assess how long it would take for software development to be completed to support a planned satellite launch. The development timeline was crucial because of all the advance planning and scheduling associated with any space launch.

“The big uncertainty was how many times each test case had to be run, and this was information that we had to elicit from the testers,” Houston explains. “The engagement skills came in because we had to help people quantify their expectations in a way that allowed the information to be put into a model. We worked with the testers, they grouped the test cases into groups, and then they told us how many times they thought they would need to run those test cases based on their experiences with this kind of software in the past.”

When he ran the numbers through his model, Houston projected that the testing would take 20 months to complete, versus an original estimate of 8 months—a significant difference when a multi-million dollar launch is on the line. By leveraging the ability to engage with the testers and understand their perspectives, Houston says that the project saved the additional time and expense that would have come from having to repeatedly re-plan the launch based on faulty timeline projections. Based on this experience and others, Houston says that engagement skills are a key factor when he is hiring new engineers, alongside technical skills and background. a few year ago, engineers could pool their knowledge with other people in their organization, sharing information with a colleague in another cubicle, or with a mentor in an office down the hallway. That’s not so much the case anymore with global teams,” Filler says.

“And there isn’t as much brainstorming time built into the day—the demands are higher than ever to get products and projects out the door quickly and successfully.”

Filler see many organizations addressing these information challenges by implementing a new breed of digital platform intended

GO DIGITAL As Gogotsi implies, while individual engineers may focus on advancing their own skill sets, engineering organizations must ensure that their teams collectively have the knowledge they need to take advantage of transformative technologies. In addition to funding ongoing education, another focus for organizations is on providing engineers with the information resources they need to keep up with innovations in their field, according to Fred Filler, a director in the Engineering & Product Design business at IHS Markit. “Just

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The Nano Challenge Research into nanomaterials and their applications has been underway for decades, but engineers in industry are just at the early stages of figuring out how to incorporate the new particles into existing products, according to nanoexpert Yury Gogotsi, author of Nanomaterials Handbook (CRC Press, 2017).

“Big industry wants to take advantage of nano without drastically changing their manufacturing process, because that would be an expensive change,” says Gogotsi. “For example, industry doesn’t necessarily want to invest in new equipment to extrude plastics in a different way. But if they can use the existing manufacturing process while adding, say, a thin layer of nanomaterials at the end of manufacturing to increase the plastic’s strength, that allows them to improve their products while adding minimal cost.”

As a result, much of the focus in industry currently is on manufacturing and manufacturability, not just on creating new materials.

“It’s about finding ways to incorporate nano into existing processes, or matchmaking between the capabilities of existing nanomaterials and the current and future needs of technology,” Gogotsi explains.

specifically to help engineers discover, preserve and share technical knowledge. This kind of platform, which falls into the category of engineering intelligence solution, allows an organization to provide its teams with access to a curated library of technical content from both external sources and internal content. External content can include authoritative industry manuals like Gogotsi’s Nanomaterials Handbook and Houston’s What Every Engineer Should Know About Modeling and Simulation, as well as a broad selection of industry journals and trusted web sites. Internal content can encompass data and knowledge that otherwise would be locked in disparate corporate systems like PLM, CAD, ERP, intranets, shared drives, and so on. This external and internal content is combined with next-generation search technologies that leverage artificial intelligence capabilities such as machine learning and natural-language processing to help engineers navigate very quickly through large bodies of information to find specific answers to their questions and solutions to their challenges.

A key benefit of a digital platform, Filler says, is that it can deliver information to engineers in the context of their workflows, where they’re using the information. “Engineers typically like to read and discover new information,” Filler says. “A digital delivery platform can make the information available to engineers regardless of where they are physically in the organization. If they have access to a terminal or tablet, they can do the research that they need across the breadth of content available to them.”

FIND THE BEST TOOLS Sketching out the kinds of features that organizations should look for in a digital platform tuned to the needs of engineers, Filler says that users 22

should be able to preserve their ideas and knowledge within the platform for their own use, or for use by others in their organization, at a later date.

“They say that a lot of great ideas have been designed on the back of napkins or in the margins of handbooks or manuals. Now great ideas are being designed in digital project folders or in the annotations that engineers are appending to digital files in their online workspace,” Filler says.

An engineering intelligence solution can also help organizations overcome the problem of information overload.

Fact is, engineers are hit with so much information today, the challenge for them often is differentiating between what will benefit them and what won’t, Filler says. They may rely on a set of journals or online sources that they visit regularly, but in today’s information environment, the knowledge they need to solve a particular problem may reside in a source they’ve never heard of, let alone read. With a digital information platform, engineers can set up regular queries across a broad universe of trusted sources and receive alerts whenever new information comes up around the topics of most interest to them.

Filler believes that the organizations adopting this kind of digital information platform are positioning themselves to drive the greatest value from their engineering teams. “The best engineers have always benefited from access to the best tools. That was true in moving from doing calculations on paper, to using the best slide rule, to adopting increasingly powerful calculators and PCs, and now to adopting digital platforms that tie together curated content with advanced search technologies. The limitations today aren’t around the technology itself but much more around the willingness to adopt more effective and efficient research tools.”

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Go beyond BOM management.

Ascend to a higher level of BOM Intelligence.

Make better decisions faster — no matter how big the decision Managing electronic components is more crucial than ever as obsolescence, counterfeit product risk and environmental regulations continue to grow.

Counterfeit parts alone cost manufacturers $7.5 billion annually in lost revenue. Many BOM analysis tools in the market, however, fall short because they use a narrow component database to address expansive challenges.

Access the world’s most powerful, intuitive, and automated bill-of-materials analysis solution so you can meet production targets on time and within budget. BOM Intelligence, which evolved from BOM Manager, integrates your bill of materials with Product Change Notifications (PCN), End-Of-Life (EOL) alerts, and obsolescence, research and analysis data on hundreds of millions of electronic, electro-mechanical and fastener parts.

— Get the latest status for over 530 million electronic components — Get PCN and EOL alerts to manage compliance, obsolescence, and at-risk components — Differentiate products faster, optimize inventory, and avoid costly interruptions — Satisfy requirements for functionality, lifecycle, price and compliance — Integrate data on tens of millions of NSNs and defense part numbers

Learn more at ihsmarkit.com/BOMintelligence, or Call +1 303.858.6490 Copyright © 2018 IHS Markit. All Rights Reserved.

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