By S Shyamala: Most firm today design digitally build prototypes of products and then go for manufacturing he prime minister’s ‘make in India’ initiative can be turned into a realistic possibility by using digital manufacturing technologies, say industry players. Though the platforms and technologies have been around for several years, their full-fledged adoption is yet to happen. By putting digital manufacturing technologies to effective use, project delays and cost overruns can be curtailed, which would directly add to the nation’s GDP.
Digital manufacturing is the use of an integrated, computer-based system comprising simulation, three-dimensional visualisation, analytics and various collaboration tools to create product and manufacturing process definitions, simultaneously. It is an end-to-end process from designing a product to virtually simulating it.
At present, most organisations design digitally but they develop physical product prototypes and then directly proceed to the manufacturing stage. Inconsistencies and design inaccuracies that crop up at the manufacturing stage or post-marketing result in enormous losses. Digital simulations can help prevent these losses.
“Digital design and manufacturing applies to almost all sectors. For example, while designing systems for heart bypass surgeries, it is physically impossible to check all possibilities. In a digital world, it is possible to slice and dice the heart to find out whether a particular process would be effective. This would help minimise errors while actually performing the surgery,” said Chandan Chowdhury, managing director of Dassault Systemes-India Geo.
“Extrapolating the processes to other sectors can help us understand the enormous amount of cost savings,” he added. Digital design technologies can help reduce product cycle times, enable faster reach to market and help minimise errors.
Recently, KPMG studied 239 central-sector infrastructure projects costing over Rs 1,000 crore and found that 110 have been delayed. The cost overrun of these projects was estimated to be Rs 1.57 lakh crore, or 21.3 per cent of the original cost. The top five reasons for the delays include change of design/scope, inadequate skilled resources, contractual disputes, collaboration issues and ineffective project and programme monitoring. Had they implemented digital design technologies effectively, all these problems could be overcome easily, Chowdhury added.
Coupled with 3D printing technologies that could help overcome shortcomings of geometry, digital manufacturing can boost the ‘make in India’ initiative. According to a Gartner survey, use of 3D printers as part of supply chain generally reduces the cost of existing processes, especially research and product development costs.
Says Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner: “The mean cost reduction for finished goods is between 4.1 per cent and 4.3 per cent, which is an impressive figure. It shows that early adopters of the technology are finding clear benefits, which are likely to drive further adoption.”Source: mydigitalfc.com
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